3 out of 4 stars
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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga #1), the first in a series of four books, by Janet McNulty is an entertaining novel in which four Earthlings from different time periods are brought together by a ship commanded by artificial intelligence to work alongside a woman, Rynah, from the planet Lanyr to try to solve the mysteries of an ancient legend in order to restore the balance in the universe which was thrown off by the betrayal of her fiancé. Rynah’s grandfather and Solaris, the ship’s AI, built their faith into ancient legend which brings four specific characters together: Solon, the wise philosopher, Alfric, the mighty warrior descending from royalty, Tom, an inventor skillful with machines, and Brie, a young girl with quite the timid nature.
I enjoyed the strong female characterization of Solaris and how Solaris always stuck to her sentiments which were always proven correct right despite Rynah’s opinions. Solaris’ sharp wit and uncanny sense of humor made this read enjoyable whenever her character was involved.
Despite the knowledge that Rynah needed these four Earthlings if she had any faith in the legend, she seemed to come across as elitist at times and frankly, a bit judgmental. I honestly felt her attitude towards Brie would change when Brie revealed her skills as a willing and able marksman, but Rynah kept this chip on her shoulder until the end of the book. The only time Rynah gave up any of her control was when she allowed Tom to navigate Solaris, and even then – she was snarky.
My favorite character was Alfric who was as loyal as he was brave. Alfaric was the protector of all of his fellow Earthlings without any regard for his own personal safety. With his broadsword in his hand, he was virtually unstoppable. While the ending of the book brought another hero, Alfric was a hero throughout each chapter.
One technical thing that I disliked occurred about half way through as the ship entered a cave. Solaris was instructed to do a 360 in order to face out of the cave. However, a 360 is a full circle and would have put the direction of the ship the same as it went in. Twice later, the correct term of 180 degrees was utilized.
Overall, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I chose to not award 4 stars because I feel that, while the overall nature of the characters was well developed, that the author could have expanded on some of the qualities so as to not make them 100% predictable in each situation they faced. I would have liked to see Solon utilize knowledge gained in his readings as well as Brie’s confidence to grow even more. I realize that there are four books in this series, and more of this may come to play in the future.
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Solaris Seethes (Solaris Saga book 1)
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