Review – Firmament: Radialloy
Surprise!
I had to do a bit of post shuffling so Radialloy’s review is here today!
Radialloy, book one in the Firmament series by J. Grace Pennington, is an introduction. A thrilling introduction!
The year is 2320. Andi Lloyd is content with her life as the assistant to her adoptive father, a starship doctor, but her secure world turns upside down when she begins uncovering secrets from her past. When her father mysteriously starts losing his mind, she finds that she can no longer count on him to guide or help her. With mutiny breaking out on the ship, and two factions desperate for a valuable secret she holds, she must race to help her father and herself before time runs out.
A character centered story, Pennington uses the opening chapters to connect her readers to the people within the story. I quickly grew to like Andi and the relationship she had with the Doctor. The descriptions of their past together only served to cement my feelings towards them as a two person family. Some might consider the set-up of the characters too long, but while reading, I had no such feeling. The first moment of “real” action actually caught me by surprise to which I tip my hat to Pennington for lulling me into the same sense of security that Andi had.
As a reader, and a writer, I love unsuspecting twists or reveals and am always a bit disappointed when I can guess the reveal before it happens. Happily, I can say this did not happen with Radialloy. At most, I was only able to guess at the significance of Andi’s secret and was happy to, not be proven wrong, but to find the answer more appealing than I had guessed.
Though this is a character centered story, it is not lacking in action. Plenty of times I found myself eagerly skipping from page to page as suspense unfolded before my eyes. Another positive note was that, despite the amount of action (with fist fights and shootings), nothing was overly descriptive Even the medical scenes (seeing as the MC works in sick-bay) were enough to let you know what was happening, but not in a cringing sort of way.
If I had to pick a favorite character (from among the secondary characters) I’d have to pick August Howitz. The more I learned about him, the more I grew to like the quiet man. Personally, I’m hoping to hear more about him in future Firmament novels.
If you’ve already had the chance to read Firmament: Radialloy, who is your favorite secondary character? If not, why not give the book a read and let me know when you’ve picked one?
Ah, wonderful, someone else who agrees with me on August. ^_^
Love this book!
Good review. My favorite secondary character is Guilders.
[…] also picked August as his favorite, saying he understood Aubrey’s obsession. Later, my friend R. S. Sharkey agreed with them, and a few other girls have since said the same, making August the most popular […]
The Month of August | J. Grace Pennington said this on August 1, 2012 at 10:46 am |