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A Galaxy Unknown (2000)

by Thomas DePrima(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

series

A Galaxy Unknown

review 1: The basic story is a fast-moving space opera with the heroine going from one crisis to another at breakneck pace. A sort of old-school wish fulfillment fantasy, perhaps reminiscent of E.E. Doc Smith in both pacing and logic, as the good guys fight pirates. The number of digressions for "explaining" sci-fi technology is mercifully small, with some information packed into the appendix. So it manages its one awesome victory after another pacing fairly well, until the ending when it seems to bog down into extended recap. It's certainly not a deep story, nor does it present much but cardboard characters, but it moves along well for the kind of adventure it intends. Unfortunately, several flaws drag it down.At first, several little things distracted me: why are we mixing metric ... moreand English units of distance? (The 5' 4" heroine hurdles a 60cm obstacle.) Strange phrasings (Contact off the larboard fo'c'sle at 96mil km? Ignore that larboard is already archaic, but at that distance does it matter what part of the ship you measure the angle from?) The awkward exposition ("The 21-year-old Space Command ensign", "The 5'4" blonde", after a succession of these "adjective adjective synonym-for-character" constructs, one just begs for a simple declarative sentence to describe someone - or leave a bit to the imagination.) The worst offense is the stupid villain syndrome, in which pirates are repeatedly defeated because of their own stupidity. The evil pirate leader and mastermind has quite a lair for himself, enough keep an R&D staff, which has discovered how to make people immortal. So the genius hatches his ultimate plan: becoming an immortal pimp with a harem of immortal slave girls to generate a perpetual stream of revenue through prostitution! Seriously, dude? If you've developed immortality, you don't have to pirate ore freighters or pimp slaves, people will ship you fleets of gold for the treatment! (Dr. Evil sticks pinky in corner of mouth.) Even by the oldest pulp fiction standards, it's hard to take reasoning like that seriously.
review 2: As is frequently the case, "A Galaxy Unknown" offers an initially awkward pace but ramps up substantially following the initial chapters. The book, when viewed as a whole, is a page turner with plenty of action in a variety of scenarios including interpersonal and ship warfare.Two editorial concerns/frustrations I encountered with the book are first, that the foreword includes information that drastically reduces suspense and does not contribute to the overall enjoyment of the book - really, it should have been the afterword. The second is another of my common pet peeves - awkward shifting between past and present tense in the midst of a chapter. There's also, of lesser annoyance, the in-depth discussion of the technology when it doesn't directly contribute to the storyline (this is more of an issue in later books, though).That being said, Jen Carver is a dynamic, interesting and compelling character to follow and the multiple POV setup to show what reactions are across the galaxy (which follows with the sequels) is interesting and keeps the readers' attention.Overall, highly recommended. less

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