Review of Cristos Rising

[aodonnell]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Cristos Rising" by B.T. Findley.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Science-fiction books can be made or broken by the quality of the author’s world building. Whatever shortcomings are found in B.T. Findley’s Cristos Rising, readers are introduced to a nuanced and well-developed universe.

Cristos Armida is the first-born son and future patriarch of his house. In order to take over, he needs to choose a matriarch from the eligible noble houses and produce a male heir. Cristos runs into trouble because he doesn’t want a cookie-cutter matriarch with no personality and individuality. Struggling to find a solution and facing pressure to choose a matriarch, Cristos returns to his country estate and finds that fate has intervened on his behalf. Silia is a Satarin female on a vacation touring the planets when she ends up crashing and being rescued by Cristos. Despite being different races, the two have instant chemistry and it’s not long before things get physical between them. Choosing a Satarin matriarch would be worse for Cristos than choosing one from a lower noble house, but Cristos is unwilling to let Silia go. But before he can claim his matriarch and his title, he needs to settle an old score and convince his father that change won’t destroy their family house.

I really enjoyed that Findley drops readers into an established universe instead of spending most of the first book building her world. Readers gain context and history through the conversations and experiences of the characters, experiencing Findley’s universe as a visitor instead of as an outside observer. Although we really only get to experience two of her planets, it’s clear that each planet and species has unique characteristics and cultures. This engages readers and helps them get involved in reconciling the differences between Cristos and Silia.

One thing I did not like was the author’s use of underlining text to emphasize it. Though it’s completely personal preference, I found it to trigger harsher emphasis in my mind than italicizing generally does. Additionally, I was unprepared for how erotic and sexually explicit this story was. I went into the story expecting an engaging sci-fi story and, while it certainly was that, had I known beforehand that it was heavily erotic, I would have passed on reading the book.

I rate Cristos Rising two out of four stars. The book was not professionally edited and didn’t appear to have even been read after completing the manuscript. The sheer volume of errors made it impossible to fully sink into the story. I made note of 31 errors in the first three chapters before I stopped noting every error. Though I didn’t continue marking them, the number of errors per chapter did not decline throughout the book. Additionally, the author’s descriptions were often cumbersome and clunky. The author crammed descriptions into long sentences that overloads readers.

Though the book needs additional editing before I could recommend it in good conscience, it is most suitable for readers who enjoy explicit romance and erotic stories. For casual sci-fi readers this book might be a shock. The graphic descriptions of sex, as well as heavy use of profanity, make this book appropriate for adult readers only.

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Cristos Rising
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[sunny4life]

Interesting review, it captures the storyline adequately before passing judgement on the perceived shortcomings of the book. Might give this a read if
it pops up on my bookshelves.

[cd20]

I am not a science fiction fan, but the review started out interesting. I am not into books with explicit anything and prefer no profanity. Thank you for an informative review.

[TheMazeRunner]

Sci-fi is my thing, I think I'll read the book. Great review!

[Dzejn_Crvena]

Thanks for the warning on the erotic scenes.
I'd be interested to read this book if not for that.
And I might have trouble going through the underlines and lots of errors.
Thank you for the thorough review.

[El_limitless]

Science fiction is one of my favourite genres to read. The plot here is interesting. I'll check this out.

[NetMassimo]

This looks like sci-fi porn! I hope the author follows your recommendation about editing, as a better developed novel would be more engaging to read. Thank you for your honest review!

[zainherb]

Sci-fi is my thing. The profanity and explicit scenes, not so much.
Thanks for an engaging, interesting and honest review.

[Mercy Osmond]

Am a lover of sci fic, I think i will enjoy this book. I hope the author works on the editing of the book

[Paluk Pathania]

I feel like I'm finally getting into sci-fi now, so gotta try reading this one! Thanks for your honest review.