Review of Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
-
Venah Gitahi
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 14 May 2021, 07:24
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 7
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-venah-gitahi.html
- Latest Review: Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby
Review of Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
[Following is a volunteer review of "Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord" by Braxton Cosby.]
Cassius Reign is on a mission to rescue his sister, Olia, from a space pirate. Star hacker Gifford persuades Reign to let him tag along. Together they gather a motley crew of new friends and old flames as they go, all while escaping bounty hunters, royal protection details and militant rebels by the skins of their teeth. Space pirates conspire with kings to obstruct his plans as a deadly virus threatens his chances of making full use of the once in a lifetime opportunity to free Olia.
Exposition is delivered in a fairly interesting manner. It is mostly conversational and quite abrupt. Characters speak in long and/or uneconomical sentences, seeming to cater to the level of knowledge of the reader rather than that of the person they are in conversation with. Plot progression through recall of the protagonist’s backstory has a disjointed feel to it, like a jigsaw piece forced into place. Being essentially numerous, tiny information dumps that sometimes happen to be timely and relevant but are often just jarring or distracting, exposition is far from seamless.
The plot lacks complexity. It appears to be a story with adult characters, as well as mature language and themes, written for kids. Plot twists are original and generally unexpected but lack a depth to them that could have been created by having more multi-faceted characters. Morality is one-dimensional in Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby. Conflicts lack nuance, with characters being either for or against Reign and anyone not on his side being evil and deserving to die. In this book, villains are evil for the pure, unadulterated pleasure of being evil. The plot seems to exist in a universe specially curated for its progression. It is all smooth sailing with even the periods of conflict feeling like tiny bumps in the road.
The emphasis on speciation and colourisation seen in the frequent mentions of the specific colours of random characters we only meet once is a bit much. Similarly, it is enough to know that there is variety in the universe without having to also know the name of every plant on every moon in every planetary system.
The main character is more a body without personality that simply reacts to events in ways that move the plot forward than a person with a foundation of principles and past experience from which to base decisions and actions. He is rather non-descript apart from in his taste for blood, perhaps in an attempt to make him more relatable. The extent to which Reign revels in violence and bloodshed with regard to both biological and non-biological life is disturbing. The villains are unfathomably stupid, pausing fights for the hero’s convenience and lacking expertise in anything. They seem to be unable to think for themselves and are mostly simply sentient plot points. Characters not having a foundation of lived experience, set values or, sometimes, common sense, is a widespread phenomenon. Everyone appears to think and speak using roughly the same words, almost as if they share a brain among all of them. Remarkable female characters are portrayed through a lens of femininity, attractiveness and sexuality.
A possible attempt at an informal speech-based style reads more as a lack of familiarity with patterns of speech and a lack of mastery of the language in general. Words are often used in contexts where their specific connotations create a slight disconnect in meaning, as in ‘garner attention’. While ideas are not impossible to follow and connect from line to line or paragraph to paragraph, their continuation is not particularly coherent. The proliferation of sexual innuendo, references and metaphors make it an uncomfortable read. Readers, especially female ones, may find it difficult to read due to the recurring undertones of women existing solely for the protagonist’s viewing and sexual pleasure. Overall technique is disappointing.
I rate this book at 1 out of 4 stars and would not recommend that others read it. The plot is conventional and could stand to be a lot more involving.
******
Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Cassius Reign is on a mission to rescue his sister, Olia, from a space pirate. Star hacker Gifford persuades Reign to let him tag along. Together they gather a motley crew of new friends and old flames as they go, all while escaping bounty hunters, royal protection details and militant rebels by the skins of their teeth. Space pirates conspire with kings to obstruct his plans as a deadly virus threatens his chances of making full use of the once in a lifetime opportunity to free Olia.
Exposition is delivered in a fairly interesting manner. It is mostly conversational and quite abrupt. Characters speak in long and/or uneconomical sentences, seeming to cater to the level of knowledge of the reader rather than that of the person they are in conversation with. Plot progression through recall of the protagonist’s backstory has a disjointed feel to it, like a jigsaw piece forced into place. Being essentially numerous, tiny information dumps that sometimes happen to be timely and relevant but are often just jarring or distracting, exposition is far from seamless.
The plot lacks complexity. It appears to be a story with adult characters, as well as mature language and themes, written for kids. Plot twists are original and generally unexpected but lack a depth to them that could have been created by having more multi-faceted characters. Morality is one-dimensional in Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby. Conflicts lack nuance, with characters being either for or against Reign and anyone not on his side being evil and deserving to die. In this book, villains are evil for the pure, unadulterated pleasure of being evil. The plot seems to exist in a universe specially curated for its progression. It is all smooth sailing with even the periods of conflict feeling like tiny bumps in the road.
The emphasis on speciation and colourisation seen in the frequent mentions of the specific colours of random characters we only meet once is a bit much. Similarly, it is enough to know that there is variety in the universe without having to also know the name of every plant on every moon in every planetary system.
The main character is more a body without personality that simply reacts to events in ways that move the plot forward than a person with a foundation of principles and past experience from which to base decisions and actions. He is rather non-descript apart from in his taste for blood, perhaps in an attempt to make him more relatable. The extent to which Reign revels in violence and bloodshed with regard to both biological and non-biological life is disturbing. The villains are unfathomably stupid, pausing fights for the hero’s convenience and lacking expertise in anything. They seem to be unable to think for themselves and are mostly simply sentient plot points. Characters not having a foundation of lived experience, set values or, sometimes, common sense, is a widespread phenomenon. Everyone appears to think and speak using roughly the same words, almost as if they share a brain among all of them. Remarkable female characters are portrayed through a lens of femininity, attractiveness and sexuality.
A possible attempt at an informal speech-based style reads more as a lack of familiarity with patterns of speech and a lack of mastery of the language in general. Words are often used in contexts where their specific connotations create a slight disconnect in meaning, as in ‘garner attention’. While ideas are not impossible to follow and connect from line to line or paragraph to paragraph, their continuation is not particularly coherent. The proliferation of sexual innuendo, references and metaphors make it an uncomfortable read. Readers, especially female ones, may find it difficult to read due to the recurring undertones of women existing solely for the protagonist’s viewing and sexual pleasure. Overall technique is disappointing.
I rate this book at 1 out of 4 stars and would not recommend that others read it. The plot is conventional and could stand to be a lot more involving.
******
Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Steel Reign: Flight of The Starship Concord by Braxton Cosby
