Review by Frank de Swart -- Steel Reign: Flight of The S...
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Frank de Swart
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- Latest Review: Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby
Review by Frank de Swart -- Steel Reign: Flight of The S...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord" by Braxton Cosby.]
A good-paced science fiction adventure, STEEL REIGN by Braxton A. Cosby, is the story of an experienced mercenary with a tragic history and an uncertain future. Faced with a day-to-day existence and new dangers, Reign will reluctantly work with a team of new and old acquaintances as he continues on a rescue mission to find his sister.
After a much-needed merchandise exchange goes wrong, Reign escapes to a safe place to regroup. Along the way, he meets a hacker/tech/geek with a questionable plan to rescue Reign's sister, Olia. The plan escalates into starship (the Concord) theft, gaining a pilot and reuniting with an old love on the way. The result will be a daring raid into a crime lord's fortress starship where a surprising betrayal may lead to failure and death or finding Olia and living yet another day.
What makes this book a great story to read is its pace. The plot moves neither slow nor too fast. The story moves along with enough information and character details to get the reader involved with the story without losing the reader's attention.
While the main character, Reign, may come off as too focused on self-preservation, we learn why due to brief but telling memories of Reign's past. His broken family, his rough path to survival and adulthood, and the people he left behind all help explain Reign's character. As the story moves on and we learn more of his past, the author gets the reader to relate to Reign's motivations and stay attached to the characters as they stumble through a plan that, of course, isn't as predictable as it seems.
At the beginning of the book, Mr. Cosby explains a small experiment with numbers throughout the story. Subjectively, using "1" instead of "one" was distracting and hurt the story's flow. Also, thinly disguising profanity by adding an extra letter or three became a bit tired after the first couple of chapters.
This book could be enjoyed in one sitting were it not for the author's number experiment. I found that this was enough to halt the story in the middle of some good action scenes and character development.
While I enjoyed the path the heroes have to take to get to the finale, the ending was satisfactory but underwhelming and a bit predictable. One can argue that this ending helps set up the next part of Reign's story, but I would appreciate a bit more action and suspense.
Despite the "number experiment" and a desire for a stronger ending, I still feel this book deserves three out of four stars. I would recommend Steel Reign as a good sci-fi read. Its plot moves along well, and I feel and relate to the main characters. That is enough for me to look forward to more of Reign's adventures and look up his previous stories.
******
Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A good-paced science fiction adventure, STEEL REIGN by Braxton A. Cosby, is the story of an experienced mercenary with a tragic history and an uncertain future. Faced with a day-to-day existence and new dangers, Reign will reluctantly work with a team of new and old acquaintances as he continues on a rescue mission to find his sister.
After a much-needed merchandise exchange goes wrong, Reign escapes to a safe place to regroup. Along the way, he meets a hacker/tech/geek with a questionable plan to rescue Reign's sister, Olia. The plan escalates into starship (the Concord) theft, gaining a pilot and reuniting with an old love on the way. The result will be a daring raid into a crime lord's fortress starship where a surprising betrayal may lead to failure and death or finding Olia and living yet another day.
What makes this book a great story to read is its pace. The plot moves neither slow nor too fast. The story moves along with enough information and character details to get the reader involved with the story without losing the reader's attention.
While the main character, Reign, may come off as too focused on self-preservation, we learn why due to brief but telling memories of Reign's past. His broken family, his rough path to survival and adulthood, and the people he left behind all help explain Reign's character. As the story moves on and we learn more of his past, the author gets the reader to relate to Reign's motivations and stay attached to the characters as they stumble through a plan that, of course, isn't as predictable as it seems.
At the beginning of the book, Mr. Cosby explains a small experiment with numbers throughout the story. Subjectively, using "1" instead of "one" was distracting and hurt the story's flow. Also, thinly disguising profanity by adding an extra letter or three became a bit tired after the first couple of chapters.
This book could be enjoyed in one sitting were it not for the author's number experiment. I found that this was enough to halt the story in the middle of some good action scenes and character development.
While I enjoyed the path the heroes have to take to get to the finale, the ending was satisfactory but underwhelming and a bit predictable. One can argue that this ending helps set up the next part of Reign's story, but I would appreciate a bit more action and suspense.
Despite the "number experiment" and a desire for a stronger ending, I still feel this book deserves three out of four stars. I would recommend Steel Reign as a good sci-fi read. Its plot moves along well, and I feel and relate to the main characters. That is enough for me to look forward to more of Reign's adventures and look up his previous stories.
******
Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby
