Joel Shepherd

this is the first book in the series so keep this in mind.I have to give this 5 stars because it wouldn't let me go to bed, it was THAT good. The only disappointment I have now is that I don't have book 2. No spoilers.....at one point though I did go what the hell just happened....and my mouth dropped because of how well this author weaved the story.
Pros;
great character development - you become invested and you have feelings strongly one way or another with different members
good physics - it was believable how physics worked. I know this is a futuristic book but it's how I imagined how it would work.

Cons:
I wish ship combat was more complex or I understood combat better. other authors go into this more in depth.
the author tried to physically kill me.... was up until 3am reading the book because it was that good.

I'll write more once I get some more coffee… (mere)

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Title: Rando Splicer
Series: Spiral Wars #6
Authors: Joel Shepherd
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 475
Words: 176K

Synopsis:

From Fandom.com

Separated from her ship, Major Trace Thakur is stranded on the reeh-occupied world of Rando. The native corbi have suffered beneath reeh tyranny for 800 years, and many have given up hope. But Trace needs the data stored in the reeh's genetic technology and command center - the Rando Splicer - if she's to learn how to save humanity from impending disaster, and is planning an assault against overwhelming odds. She'll need help from the UFS Phoenix, though, which is caught in a ritual medieval battle to change the croma leadership that sees her crew embarking on a perilous journey across a warring desert continent. Should they fail, humanity could be just one of many species to die.

My Thoughts:

Enjoyment-wise, this was a 4star book. But because of the very big issue that I mentioned back in my Currently Reading & Quote Post about this book, I just couldn't give it more than 3.5stars. Because no matter what I was reading, in the back of my mind was the little voice saying “10 Books. 10 Book. 10 Books!!!”

Thankfully Shepherd IS a good writer and I did enjoy the dual storylines. Unfortunately (for me) there was no “getting the reader up to speed” chapter at the beginning so I just dropped right into things and had to try to remember what had happened in Croma Venture. I actually didn't try to remember if you want to know. I just read the story and ingested it like a bowl of jello.

Of the two storylines, I much preferred the one that was on Croma dealing with the crew and the “special election” of a new leading party. Elections by battle sounds awesome to me. The storyline following Major Thakur had a lot more emotional navelgazing than I particularly wanted to read about.

I am looking forward to the next book, which I have on tap. With Shepherds output it is going to be at least 3 more years before the series is finished so my interest is definitely tempered. I just hope I can remember not to jump back into this series until it is actually finished.

★★★✬☆… (mere)