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Three young friends find an alien spaceship after one of them ran over its occupant. Uh-oh!Okay, so I'm a huuuuge fan of Dennis's books (the Bobiverse Series, Outland, The Singularity Trap) and I really looked forward to something new by him of late. And while this book was generally a good read... the story... well, it just wasn't his best. Dennis, my man, I hope you are not offended with me in anyway, but... the story was sub-par from anything you've done previously. The characters were almost lifted from that of Outland, by that, I mean that they all had high educational backgrounds and some sort of technical background. They also pretty much acted the same when confronted with a situations that were beyond their skillset. Young adults that rationally (and recklessly) used the tech for their own selfish needs.
Perhaps my beef isn't with that so much, more along the lines with the alien ship itself. Spoiler alert to those who have not read the book yet. Please stop here before going any further.... The ship, or Sheldon (as they've so named him) seemed way too cocky and belligerent for an alien AI to behave. While I'm sure this gives the character some comedic role to play, I just didn't find it to be necessary for him to be so condescending to the trio. Then there was the Laranic(?) threat (aliens trying to take over the world); I think there should have been more tension in the novel about them all. Yes, they did chase after them in several chapters, but, it wasn't very consistent. Two of them were left in the ship for many hours or days (did they not need to eat? Or use the facilities?), and what about that UFO guy? He was quickly dismissed after discovering everything, only to be thought of as dead... then re-appearing (Briefly at the end). Lots of questions with not real explanations, kinda put me off on that. I really, really wanted to give this book a huge number of stars for a rating, but sadly... I can't. This wasn't one of his better books. Usually I re-read (or re-listen the audible, in this case) over and over cause I can't get enough of the story–not this time, I'm afraid. I was only able to enjoy the book once... and that was it. I don't feel compelled to constantly hear the story again. Sorry, Dennis–I know this took you awhile to make, but every author has their good books and their not-so-great ones. Even I have to admit that for some of mine. I'll keep reading more from you, despite this one, and hope you've got more interesting titles to give to us DET fans. We love you're Bob books, still waiting for a sequel to Outland, and hopefully you'll give us some new characters that aren't all MIT or overly-educated University majors that can't get out of their towns. "Engineers, geez!" I rate this 3 our of 4 stars. Best I can do... it was good, but not good enough for the likes of me–sorry.
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AuthorJeff Walker - Distant Saga Trilogy: A Short Story Collection, The Mysterious World Of Professor Darkk And Miss Shadow, Outer Red and Your Service Is Required. Archives
December 2023
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