Shadow Run by Adrianne Strickland and Michael Miller
Series: Kaitan Chronicles #1
Rating: 3 stars
Published: March 21st 2017
Goodreads Synopsis:
Nev has just joined the crew of the starship Kaitan Heritage as the cargo loader. His captain, Qole, is the youngest-ever person to command her own ship, but she brooks no argument from her crew of orphans, fugitives, and con men. Nev can't resist her, even if her ship is an antique.
As for Nev, he's a prince, in hiding on the ship. He believes Qole holds the key to changing galactic civilization, and when her cooperation proves difficult to obtain, Nev resolves to get her to his home planet by any means necessary.
But before they know it, a rival royal family is after Qole too, and they're more interested in stealing her abilities than in keeping her alive.
Nev's mission to manipulate Qole becomes one to save her, and to survive, she'll have to trust her would-be kidnapper. He may be royalty, but Qole is discovering a deep reservoir of power--and stars have mercy on whoever tries to hurt her ship or her crew.
Another space adventure of epic proportions.
But, to me, maybe it was a little too epic.
We have alternating viewpoints of Qole, a captain of the Kaitan Heritage, and Nev, who joins her crew for more mysterious purposes. Turns out, Qole has something Nev believes would be beneficial to the entire galaxy. The only problem is, the entire galaxy is against the two of them getting to Nev's home planet Dracorva safely, including Qole's own crew. Qole, the young space captain, has abilities that only people on her planet of Alaxak have - Shadow abilities. She also catches Shadows in space as a source of income... think of it as some sort of high-sea fishing, if you will.
I think I've just been having trouble with books that take place in a new world/have alternating POVs. For some people, it works to navigate through all the action and piece together what everything is and how it all works. But for me, I just don't get it. I need a little explanation on the side, not a guessing game. I just felt frustrated trying to read this - it was both an info dump and an info desert - basically, we're provided with a ton of information but the information doesn't carry any weight. It falls through the cracks for me.
"Tell me about the crew. They're my crew too, now, after all."
"...What do you want to know?"
"Meeting someone is hardly knowing them."
This one quote sums up how I feel about the characters and their development. We meet them, yes, but they don't stick to me the way characters normally stick. There's so much information about their backstories that seems to be thrown in at the wrong time. Maybe place it in an appropriate mission, or in the midst of battle or something. It doesn't seem right to me.
"...You see, the myth is that Shadow caused the Great Collapse of the portals. But I know the truth. Shadow has something to do with the portals, yes, but quite the opposite of common belief."
I don't really know much about the Shadow - I just kept on thinking of big fish in a space sea, but I didn't fully understand what they were. Or what their purpose was. I just don't get it.
The action supplied most of the entertainment for me, and I did enjoy the banter between Qole and Nev, an example being.
Instead, we reaffirmed that Qole was not in the habit of exaggerating or lying. She tripped in her heels, and I almost stumbled in turn as her feet got caught between mine.
"See," she hissed. "I implode at this."
I grinned. "You made me cook, I make you dance. The universe is in balance."
Honestly, the storytelling style wasn't for me, but it might be for someone else.
No comments:
Post a Comment