And with this book Aldin is back. He’s in fine form here. This is a book filled with action and adventure out in space and also on another planet. The world-building is great, I can see the potential for a number of other books in this same world.
I got this book as a reward for backing it on Kickstarter last year. Something I’d quite forgotten until I came to write these words. I went back to double check where it had come from and discovered the Kickstarter…yes, I’d backed it and because I’d forgotten it was a really nice surprise to receive in the mail. You can tell I did the research after I wrote the first paragraph. If you hop over to the Kickstarter you’ll not only see a button to buy, but also information about how this is not the first book set in this world. Essentially, Aldin is way ahead of me.
The beginning of each chapter has a quote from a history book, or an encyclopaedia or some staff training. Don’t bother looking for these useful tomes as Aldin has written each of these specially for the book. I felt these excerpts gave an added dimension to the book. They really helped with the world building. Reading through them gave me an idea for a book that I don’t think will work. Some of the staff training quotes could be useful information for general life. I’ve noted one of them on page 97.
“You’re all gonna die young one day, recruits. Just try not to be young when you do it.”
I feel that is good general advice for anyone, especially young drivers. Or possibly even fast drivers who are not necessarily young people. Or…well…anyone.
Aldin has written a female protagonist. She is really bad ass, young, but with a good head on her shoulders. The men all have issues and then they die, I make it sound as if it’s cause and affect, but it’s not. The females seem to be a bit better at staying alive, and the kid, too.
So much to like about this book. The squad all have dog tags. It’s what soldiers would wear when they go to war, but the squad is more like police than soldiers. Maybe soldiers doing police work. I mean they’re maintaining the peace around the planet, or rather, maintaining the exclusion zone. What I really liked about the dog tags is that they’re modern and up-to-date. You can pop them into a computer and record stuff onto them for in case. Yes, we saw the ‘in case’ and that’s how come we see the dog tags. Think USB keys rather than dog tags.
I really liked Private Westermann. She’s got her mind on the job despite not having kept her mind on all of her briefing. She rolls with the punches and comes up trumps. We see sexist comments as given to her and how she rolls her eyes and tries to not draw attention again. I probably should be upset that a man has written a woman, but he seems to have done a good job.
In case you’d like to buy the book and judge for yourself here is an affiliate link. I do appreciate all the people who have clicked on a link this week, it gives me heart.