Review by LeeKai -- Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship ...
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LeeKai
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- Latest Review: Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby
Review by LeeKai -- Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship ...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord" by Braxton Cosby.]
This story Steel Reign: Flight of the Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby begins with a prologue of short phrases that paint the image of a man feeling regretful for something he did in his past. You read of his sister, Olia, and lover, Serias, and the prologue ends. It doesn't explain what happened to them or why he is feeling regretful for seemingly losing them, but that is good because it leaves the reader wanting more.
The beginning to this book is quite slow and sort of boring, in my opinion, but I'm thinking that it's simply because I don't enjoy this particular genre. I chose this book to read because the description actually sounded very interesting, a "thief turned spy, turned bounty hunter, turned hero" is exactly the sort of attention grabbing plotline that interests me. To be fair, it could also just be the style of writing is not something I find particularly entertaining. There's many references to sex and instead of using profanity, the main character Steel Reign says "sheat", "fook" and asks his new friend Gifford to refer to him as "daddy". This style of vulgarity disgusts me so it was hard for me to read these areas. Then there were things I would personally consider errors within the writing itself, like anytime a number was referenced in a word like "no one" it was written as "no 1", and I find this to be quite awful and unprofessional. Children write out numbers like this, not well achieved writers. The author writes in his "Word to the Reader" before the prologue that he does this on purpose to keep the reader "as focused as possible" and because he "selfishly wants you to LOVE this book", but unfortunately all this did was make me like it less for reasons I previously explained.
There are only a few curse words throughout this story, but that in no way means that it is void of them. Generally, beginning sentences with "and" or "but" is frowned upon in writing; you see it a lot in this book, but I also write how I speak, so I also often begin with 'and' or 'but'. There are also many jokes within this book that I find satisfying, like when Reign steals his crew mate Gifford's little catch phrase "You can thank me later". Or the time that Gifford expresses his idea about wanting certain "dark matter protocols" from the Starship and Reign replies "What are you going to do with it, disintegrate?" There's another comment made in Chapter 12 that Reign makes that I find all too hilarious: "But more often than not, women operate in the realm of make-believe and emotion." This statement couldn't be more true. As a woman myself, I totally agree.
This reminds me that I think the character building is nice. You learn a little more about each character every chapter and the dialogue between them is well put together and organized. Every scene is described in fine detail and I feel that this story would do well as a single season show or single film. Even while this wasn't my favorite read, it was still hard to put the book down. As for the main character design itself, I think that Steel Reign is a very interesting fellow. I get strange vibes from him for the first half of the book; he is a blunt and rude man who seems nearly too in love with his sister, by the way he talks about her. He even split a man's lip for touching her. He is often childish and resorts to violence, or he sure thinks about it enough. I personally don't like violence or aggressive mentality so this trait in him makes me dislike him and not understand why his ex girlfriend Serias would be so interested in him while she is so well grounded and civilized.
Somewhere deeper in the story, in Chapter 12, there is a fight scene between soldiers and Reign that I find incredibly amusing. It was very well designed and the end of the chapter was left on a cliff hanger, so now I'm glad this wasn't on TV! All of the fight scenes are well described and it's easy to understand the setting, which is nice when the beginning and a lot of the later half is fighting.
There is a wide array of emotions that the reader goes through during this book. There are plot twists and reveals every chapter, like Serias crying, Reign passing out, and all the different characters that are introduced throughout. Which, by the way, I think that Serias has every right to be mad at him at this point in the story, after she finds out the real reason he is doing what he does. I would be mad too. He lied to her, his crew, and to himself. I think lashing out at him and leaving was dramatic but I can understand her needing a break from everything for a while. Which, if you want that elaborated, you're just going to have to read the book!
Overall, I think this book was well written and the storyline draws you in, but could still use work, so I'm giving it a rating of 2 out of 4. I personally would have preferred less jokes and comments about sex, and instead of the fake profanity, just use the real words or don't have the characters say it at all. Writing the number instead of writing out the word, like "every 1" instead of "everyone" really stands out something terrible and ruins the story for me. Despite this, I'm sure I would read this book again sometime if it became available to me. It wasn't all that bad, just not my style in particular, but I definitely think that people who enjoy slow buildups to huge plot points, and definitely some plot twists, lots of action and drama, don't mind the vulgar dialogue, while also enjoying some sci-fi aspects would love this book.
******
Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
This story Steel Reign: Flight of the Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby begins with a prologue of short phrases that paint the image of a man feeling regretful for something he did in his past. You read of his sister, Olia, and lover, Serias, and the prologue ends. It doesn't explain what happened to them or why he is feeling regretful for seemingly losing them, but that is good because it leaves the reader wanting more.
The beginning to this book is quite slow and sort of boring, in my opinion, but I'm thinking that it's simply because I don't enjoy this particular genre. I chose this book to read because the description actually sounded very interesting, a "thief turned spy, turned bounty hunter, turned hero" is exactly the sort of attention grabbing plotline that interests me. To be fair, it could also just be the style of writing is not something I find particularly entertaining. There's many references to sex and instead of using profanity, the main character Steel Reign says "sheat", "fook" and asks his new friend Gifford to refer to him as "daddy". This style of vulgarity disgusts me so it was hard for me to read these areas. Then there were things I would personally consider errors within the writing itself, like anytime a number was referenced in a word like "no one" it was written as "no 1", and I find this to be quite awful and unprofessional. Children write out numbers like this, not well achieved writers. The author writes in his "Word to the Reader" before the prologue that he does this on purpose to keep the reader "as focused as possible" and because he "selfishly wants you to LOVE this book", but unfortunately all this did was make me like it less for reasons I previously explained.
There are only a few curse words throughout this story, but that in no way means that it is void of them. Generally, beginning sentences with "and" or "but" is frowned upon in writing; you see it a lot in this book, but I also write how I speak, so I also often begin with 'and' or 'but'. There are also many jokes within this book that I find satisfying, like when Reign steals his crew mate Gifford's little catch phrase "You can thank me later". Or the time that Gifford expresses his idea about wanting certain "dark matter protocols" from the Starship and Reign replies "What are you going to do with it, disintegrate?" There's another comment made in Chapter 12 that Reign makes that I find all too hilarious: "But more often than not, women operate in the realm of make-believe and emotion." This statement couldn't be more true. As a woman myself, I totally agree.
This reminds me that I think the character building is nice. You learn a little more about each character every chapter and the dialogue between them is well put together and organized. Every scene is described in fine detail and I feel that this story would do well as a single season show or single film. Even while this wasn't my favorite read, it was still hard to put the book down. As for the main character design itself, I think that Steel Reign is a very interesting fellow. I get strange vibes from him for the first half of the book; he is a blunt and rude man who seems nearly too in love with his sister, by the way he talks about her. He even split a man's lip for touching her. He is often childish and resorts to violence, or he sure thinks about it enough. I personally don't like violence or aggressive mentality so this trait in him makes me dislike him and not understand why his ex girlfriend Serias would be so interested in him while she is so well grounded and civilized.
Somewhere deeper in the story, in Chapter 12, there is a fight scene between soldiers and Reign that I find incredibly amusing. It was very well designed and the end of the chapter was left on a cliff hanger, so now I'm glad this wasn't on TV! All of the fight scenes are well described and it's easy to understand the setting, which is nice when the beginning and a lot of the later half is fighting.
There is a wide array of emotions that the reader goes through during this book. There are plot twists and reveals every chapter, like Serias crying, Reign passing out, and all the different characters that are introduced throughout. Which, by the way, I think that Serias has every right to be mad at him at this point in the story, after she finds out the real reason he is doing what he does. I would be mad too. He lied to her, his crew, and to himself. I think lashing out at him and leaving was dramatic but I can understand her needing a break from everything for a while. Which, if you want that elaborated, you're just going to have to read the book!
Overall, I think this book was well written and the storyline draws you in, but could still use work, so I'm giving it a rating of 2 out of 4. I personally would have preferred less jokes and comments about sex, and instead of the fake profanity, just use the real words or don't have the characters say it at all. Writing the number instead of writing out the word, like "every 1" instead of "everyone" really stands out something terrible and ruins the story for me. Despite this, I'm sure I would read this book again sometime if it became available to me. It wasn't all that bad, just not my style in particular, but I definitely think that people who enjoy slow buildups to huge plot points, and definitely some plot twists, lots of action and drama, don't mind the vulgar dialogue, while also enjoying some sci-fi aspects would love this book.
******
Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby
