Given that this is the fifth chapter of the series, a good, simple, up to the point re-cap is given with all the information that we might need in order to understand what has happened in the previous books, and we are ready to start rolling.
The scientific aspect of the book is very well put and attention is paid to the details, with reference to stars that actually exist, and bodies in space such as meteor belts, planets and even the constitution of such planets, which is awesome and gives another layer of believability to the whole book.
The narration is perfect, with a great pace, and the introduction of the actual story is very well made, making us, the readers become engaged with the plot and the characters with ease, even if we haven’t read the previous four book. The imagery on this great book is suggestive, being accurately descriptive but leaving room for the reader to take its own conclusions and put much of its own imagination on the book as the story develops with its consistent, deliberate pace.
The emotion of the characters is very well displayed in the interactions that occur, and the author can and does show the inner struggles of characters with ease that makes us readers understand, relate and feel the weight of such pains and joys, the doubts and fears in our own selves which makes the whole book even more intriguing.
It’s surprising to see how well Jeffrey A. Carter manages to make realistic interactions between characters according to their moods, and how natural the whole thing feels. It seems like the characters had a will of their own. Not only that but the internal thinking processes of the characters were also very well put and it helped in making the story more believable. We have curious characters, like god-like entities with extreme powers, others with extreme knowledge, but are not at all perfect, and although present many incredible traits, still have basic flaws such as uncertainties, fears and trauma.
There are some moments that you relate to the apprehension of the characters, like when they are trying to decide whether to enter a portal, accept a crazy mission, leave their friends behind or just be projected through space and time and risk their own deaths in the process, and if they survive such experience, to fight the deadliest force in the universe, in its purest form.
Mysterious conflicts and interests of the major ruling groups set the tone of many things, and the destines of our friends in this story, and it seems that they are being either manipulated all the way through, or there is in fact a disagreement that is creating factions of thought in the upper levels of the planet’s government, causing several complications on the common mission they are sending our team on.
The mystery and the amount of secrets inside the book is enticing, with questions growing and answers that take time to appear, as our characters try to work around the reason why are they being sent to several deadly missions and yet, not being acknowledge by anyone once they complete them, and we as readers are as clueless as the characters. Very nice.
There is a war between two planets that is threatening to destroy life itself by opening a portal in time to an ancient galactic evil, the Mindaru, and our heroes, tired from three missions that saved the several galaxies, are forced to take another mission that may ensure the survival of their worlds, and life itself on the universe.
Although there is a high plot-focus on the resolution of this war, preferably without causing destruction, there are other very interesting side-plots and the main story diverges into forks that later interconnect, because of the co-dependence of events, increasing both the thriller and the mystery aspects of the book.
To write such a long story, and keep it ever interesting to the reader, is a feat onto itself, a feat that Jeffrey A. Carver managed to do with apparent ease. The plots, the characters, the attention to detail and originality of the names, places and circumstances is something to admire and nod to. The author clearly took his time to develop the story and make sure that everything was properly set and kept consistent. Very nicely done.
So, we have two dangerous space mission, organized by separate parts of a mysterious government to face the deadliest foe in the universe, again, a billion-year travel backwards into time, and John’s Bandicut’s niece trying to reach his uncle that is at the edge of the galaxy. Three plots filled with mystery, uncertainty and the complexities of space travel and interstellar conflict, told in a measured and paced manner that will make the reading easy and ever interesting, although the main question for all of them stand: “Will they be able to find the Mindaru? If they do, will they be able to face them? And above all, how much luck will they need in order to survive this second encounter, this time with a force a thousand times stronger?“
Pros:
- Excellent character interactions
- Excellent descriptions of scenery, universal bodies and laws, the science part was solid, very solid
- Excellent character interactions and display of emotions, motives and states of mind
- Great narrative pace that kept the book going consistently without making the reader lose interest
- The author keeps the mystery of the story by leaving lots of dark points in the happenings from our characters and the readers
- Great plot development, and nice alteration between main and side plots
- Nice names of characters, the way of speech and the peculiar thing that defined each species and the way their anatomy was made as alien as possible
- Solid character consistency
- Lots of surprises in the developement of the stories that come out of nowhere
Cons:
- None
Scribble's Worth 