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Hard Setdown (Sam Cane 1)
Sam Cane – ex-con artist (sort of), ex-soldier (definitely), and woman on the run.She's looking to escape a life of petty crime on Earth that's got her in too deep with the wrong people. Taking a job with one of the corporations contracted to open up and exploit new worlds in the growing Commonwealth, she's assigned to a young colony right on the edge of human space. It looks like the perfect escape, until she arrives on IGC-187X and things start to go downhill. Fast.Out on the fringe, she'll find out that what you're running from isn't always the thing that will kill you.
133 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 3, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 20, 2019
Sci-Fi is not a genre that I read very often but I do enjoy it if it is well written and this most certainly is that. It is quite a short book that manages to pack a punch of action between its pages and left me definitely wanting to know what comes next.
We join the story as Sam Cane is waiting in a landing pod, about to be jettisoned in to space to join a remote space colony for a few years. She has a shady past and an uncertain future and has no idea what she is getting herself in to – a set up which leaves a lot of scope for a good story.
Because this book is short, the writer keeps character development to a minimum. Sam is the only one we really find out anything about, and even huge chunks of her past are only hinted at, leaving the readers with a lot of tantalising questions about what has gone before. This is is either a clever ploy to make you want to read the next instalment in the hope more details are revealed (which is how it worked on me) or frustratingly hole-y, depending on your perspective. This limited character development does mean that the reader has very little connection with the other characters in the book, which has the effect of lessening the impact of some of their fates and making others’ motivation somewhat of a mystery that is barely touched on.
The world building the author has done is more detailed, which makes me think this is where his true interest lies in the writing. The topography and workings of the planet are well established and there is a lot of information about the mechanics of how things work – tools, weapons, machinery, logistics. To anyone less interested in this aspect of things, parts of the book may drag a little, particularly in the beginning, as it gets very technical. Other people will revel in the fact this has all been carefully thought out. Depends what floats your particular boat.
The greatest strength of this book is the action and the author manages to shoehorn a lot in to a little space. There is plenty going on, and it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, providing thrills, tension and proper shocks. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen, and cleverly/ annoyingly, the author leaves enough loose ends in the book to mean that I HAVE TO read the next instalment. Don’t start if you don’t want to be dragged into the trilogy!
My verdict? An interesting exercise in pushing my horizons that is in equal parts entertaining and frustrating but left me needing to read on.
We join the story as Sam Cane is waiting in a landing pod, about to be jettisoned in to space to join a remote space colony for a few years. She has a shady past and an uncertain future and has no idea what she is getting herself in to – a set up which leaves a lot of scope for a good story.
Because this book is short, the writer keeps character development to a minimum. Sam is the only one we really find out anything about, and even huge chunks of her past are only hinted at, leaving the readers with a lot of tantalising questions about what has gone before. This is is either a clever ploy to make you want to read the next instalment in the hope more details are revealed (which is how it worked on me) or frustratingly hole-y, depending on your perspective. This limited character development does mean that the reader has very little connection with the other characters in the book, which has the effect of lessening the impact of some of their fates and making others’ motivation somewhat of a mystery that is barely touched on.
The world building the author has done is more detailed, which makes me think this is where his true interest lies in the writing. The topography and workings of the planet are well established and there is a lot of information about the mechanics of how things work – tools, weapons, machinery, logistics. To anyone less interested in this aspect of things, parts of the book may drag a little, particularly in the beginning, as it gets very technical. Other people will revel in the fact this has all been carefully thought out. Depends what floats your particular boat.
The greatest strength of this book is the action and the author manages to shoehorn a lot in to a little space. There is plenty going on, and it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, providing thrills, tension and proper shocks. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen, and cleverly/ annoyingly, the author leaves enough loose ends in the book to mean that I HAVE TO read the next instalment. Don’t start if you don’t want to be dragged into the trilogy!
My verdict? An interesting exercise in pushing my horizons that is in equal parts entertaining and frustrating but left me needing to read on.
September 21, 2022
Excellent sci fi horror
But I don't like horror; it's my own fault for not reading the categories assigned to the book. The worldbuilding is excellent. I like Sam. The body count is horrific.
But I don't like horror; it's my own fault for not reading the categories assigned to the book. The worldbuilding is excellent. I like Sam. The body count is horrific.
February 14, 2017
Short and fast
The main character isn't good at everything, but she is determined to survive. A lot of potential to this series, I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. Gory, but the gore isn't focused on, and the main character has a pretty sane reaction to stuff that happens (writing reviews without spoilers is hard).
The main character isn't good at everything, but she is determined to survive. A lot of potential to this series, I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. Gory, but the gore isn't focused on, and the main character has a pretty sane reaction to stuff that happens (writing reviews without spoilers is hard).
November 26, 2016
Excellent
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews