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Derelict Saga #1
Marines
Fifty years ago, Mira, humanity’s last hope to find new resources, exited the solar system bound for Proxima Centauri b. Seven years into her mission, all transmissions ceased without warning. Mira and her crew were presumed lost. Humanity, unified during her construction, splintered into insurgency and rebellion.
Now, an outpost orbiting Pluto has detected a distress call from an unpowered object entering Sol space: Mira has returned. When all attempts at communications fail, S&R Black, a Sol Federation Marine Corps search and rescue vessel, is dispatched from Trident Station to intercept, investigate, and tow the beleaguered Mira to Neptune.
As the marines prepare for the journey, uncertainty and conspiracy fomented by Trident Station’s governing AIs, begin to take their toll. Upon reaching Mira, they discover they’ve been sent on a mission that will almost certainly end in catastrophe.
The Derelict saga is a suspenseful mashup of hard military sci-fi, space opera, and mystery.
Some mysteries shouldn’t be solved.
Now, an outpost orbiting Pluto has detected a distress call from an unpowered object entering Sol space: Mira has returned. When all attempts at communications fail, S&R Black, a Sol Federation Marine Corps search and rescue vessel, is dispatched from Trident Station to intercept, investigate, and tow the beleaguered Mira to Neptune.
As the marines prepare for the journey, uncertainty and conspiracy fomented by Trident Station’s governing AIs, begin to take their toll. Upon reaching Mira, they discover they’ve been sent on a mission that will almost certainly end in catastrophe.
The Derelict saga is a suspenseful mashup of hard military sci-fi, space opera, and mystery.
Some mysteries shouldn’t be solved.
226 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2017
303 people are currently reading
525 people want to read
About the author
Paul Elard Cooley
34 books249 followersPaul E Cooley is a full-time writer and Parsec Award Winning podcaster from Houston, Texas. In 2009, he began producing free psychological thriller and horror podcasts, essays, and reviews available from Shadowpublications.com and iTunes.
His stories have been listened to by thousands and he has been a guest on such notable podcasts as Podioracket, John Mierau‘s “Podcast Teardown,” Geek Out with Mainframe, Shadowcast Audio, and Vertigo Radio Live. In 2010, his short story Canvas and novella Tattoo were nominated for Parsec Awards. Tattoo became a Parsec Award finalist. He has collaborated with New York Times Bestselling author Scott Sigler on the series “The Crypt” and co-wrote the novella “The Rider” (projected to release in 2014). In addition to his writing, Paul has contributed his voice talents to a number of podiofiction productions.
He has two Amazon best-selling series: The Black and The Derelict Saga.
He is also a co-host on the renown Dead Robots’ Society writing podcast.
His stories have been listened to by thousands and he has been a guest on such notable podcasts as Podioracket, John Mierau‘s “Podcast Teardown,” Geek Out with Mainframe, Shadowcast Audio, and Vertigo Radio Live. In 2010, his short story Canvas and novella Tattoo were nominated for Parsec Awards. Tattoo became a Parsec Award finalist. He has collaborated with New York Times Bestselling author Scott Sigler on the series “The Crypt” and co-wrote the novella “The Rider” (projected to release in 2014). In addition to his writing, Paul has contributed his voice talents to a number of podiofiction productions.
He has two Amazon best-selling series: The Black and The Derelict Saga.
He is also a co-host on the renown Dead Robots’ Society writing podcast.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
September 25, 2017
Well hell.
I'm kind of at an impasse here with Derelict. On the one hand, there's some solid ideas at play here, and Mr. Cooley does have a grasp of the perils of putting humans in stressful situations in space. On the other hand, I never got much of a sense of the characters (they tended to blend together, as characters sometimes do in military-based fiction), and there was quite a lot of build-up to a very unwelcome cliffhanger ending.
Look, I love me some military Sci-Fi. I really really do. And my standards aren't even that high with these types of tales (I mean, come on, we aren't reading Pride and Prejudice or Les Miserables here). Set the date a few hundred years in the future, throw in some lippy space marines, a few badass weapons, and an enemy that needs immediate obliteration, and I'm a pretty happy camper.
But though I could get behind the gist of Derelict, with the concept of a long-lost spaceship returning from who-knows-where having imminent appeal, this book didn't quite get me there. I never really got to know any of the characters. There's some hints at backstory thrown around, but nothing that really sticks. Though we get multiple viewpoints from various "main" characters, the chapters tended to blend together, as each of the marines has a similar narrative voice. Also, we have a few of the marines who behave like...well, like they aren't part of a space-bound search & rescue team. We get a bit of backstory that tells us about some insubordination and other problems these folks had, and when the chips were down in past events, these folks survived by NOT being stupid. But in Derelict that knack for survival seems to have gone by the wayside, and many of the main characters who should know better just seem to make dumb decisions that space veterans wouldn't make.
As this is the first book in an ongoing series, there's not much action to speak of. The book is mostly establishing the team and narrating the trip out to Pluto to investigate the Mira, a ship lost over 50 years prior. We get some training, we get some superior to subordinate pep talk, and we get some newbie soul-searching, followed by a whole lot of discussion about that they'll find. Admittedly, the vagaries and dangers of space travel are handled well, and there was a decent feeling of tension once the crew reached their destination. But the pacing was off a bit, and there just wasn't enough oomph. 90% of the book is prep & talking about prep, travelling & talking about travelling, and arriving & talking about arriving.
Near the 75% mark, our plucky marines finally arrive in the area of the derelict ship, and a minor mishap occurs that seems to set us up for some actual "marines shoot some shit" shenanigans. We get like "aww yeah, shit's about to get real!"
But then Derelict turns into a big tease. A big tease who knows it's a tease and revels in the teasing. All this buildup, all this setup, all this talk about what to expect and what they'll find and "what the great and holy hell is THAT on the ship's hull!?" and then ONE little moment of insanity, followed by...curtains. Like, that's really it. Not much happens, not much happens, still not much happens, then here's an ACTUAL event and...tune in next time folks. I just kind of felt cheated. I get that the cliffhanger endings are supposed to get us salivating for the next book, getting the hooks in so we just have to know "what's going to happen next!?". The problem with this, however, is that I didn't get invested enough with the characters to really care.
Look, there's some good stuff going on in this book. And maybe it's just the "first book slump" that keeps this one from being better, and maybe the next books in the series will deliver on all the subtle promise of Derelict. And just maybe, I'll read those other books and find out. Or maybe I won't. But that's a lot of maybes...maybe one maybe too many.
I'm kind of at an impasse here with Derelict. On the one hand, there's some solid ideas at play here, and Mr. Cooley does have a grasp of the perils of putting humans in stressful situations in space. On the other hand, I never got much of a sense of the characters (they tended to blend together, as characters sometimes do in military-based fiction), and there was quite a lot of build-up to a very unwelcome cliffhanger ending.
Look, I love me some military Sci-Fi. I really really do. And my standards aren't even that high with these types of tales (I mean, come on, we aren't reading Pride and Prejudice or Les Miserables here). Set the date a few hundred years in the future, throw in some lippy space marines, a few badass weapons, and an enemy that needs immediate obliteration, and I'm a pretty happy camper.
But though I could get behind the gist of Derelict, with the concept of a long-lost spaceship returning from who-knows-where having imminent appeal, this book didn't quite get me there. I never really got to know any of the characters. There's some hints at backstory thrown around, but nothing that really sticks. Though we get multiple viewpoints from various "main" characters, the chapters tended to blend together, as each of the marines has a similar narrative voice. Also, we have a few of the marines who behave like...well, like they aren't part of a space-bound search & rescue team. We get a bit of backstory that tells us about some insubordination and other problems these folks had, and when the chips were down in past events, these folks survived by NOT being stupid. But in Derelict that knack for survival seems to have gone by the wayside, and many of the main characters who should know better just seem to make dumb decisions that space veterans wouldn't make.
As this is the first book in an ongoing series, there's not much action to speak of. The book is mostly establishing the team and narrating the trip out to Pluto to investigate the Mira, a ship lost over 50 years prior. We get some training, we get some superior to subordinate pep talk, and we get some newbie soul-searching, followed by a whole lot of discussion about that they'll find. Admittedly, the vagaries and dangers of space travel are handled well, and there was a decent feeling of tension once the crew reached their destination. But the pacing was off a bit, and there just wasn't enough oomph. 90% of the book is prep & talking about prep, travelling & talking about travelling, and arriving & talking about arriving.
Near the 75% mark, our plucky marines finally arrive in the area of the derelict ship, and a minor mishap occurs that seems to set us up for some actual "marines shoot some shit" shenanigans. We get like "aww yeah, shit's about to get real!"
But then Derelict turns into a big tease. A big tease who knows it's a tease and revels in the teasing. All this buildup, all this setup, all this talk about what to expect and what they'll find and "what the great and holy hell is THAT on the ship's hull!?" and then ONE little moment of insanity, followed by...curtains. Like, that's really it. Not much happens, not much happens, still not much happens, then here's an ACTUAL event and...tune in next time folks. I just kind of felt cheated. I get that the cliffhanger endings are supposed to get us salivating for the next book, getting the hooks in so we just have to know "what's going to happen next!?". The problem with this, however, is that I didn't get invested enough with the characters to really care.
Look, there's some good stuff going on in this book. And maybe it's just the "first book slump" that keeps this one from being better, and maybe the next books in the series will deliver on all the subtle promise of Derelict. And just maybe, I'll read those other books and find out. Or maybe I won't. But that's a lot of maybes...maybe one maybe too many.
January 27, 2017
Badly Written Wannabe "Alien" Ripoff
"Derelict: Marines," is a poorly written, wannabe "Alien" ripoff. The author spends the first half of the book in a boring, plodding, logistical recap of preparing for a mission. The characters are mainly one-dimensional, angst driven, corny, cardboard figures, fully self absorbed and whiners. The Search and Rescue (S & R) marines are portrayed as marionettes, who never ask the most basic and logical questions about their mission, when confronted with contradictory and conflicting data.
The author snarkily implies certain crew members are "...bunk mates...," uses numerous religious deities from across the spectrum as swear words, with a leaden and unnatural hand, and even promotes his earlier books by naming the marine ship, the "S & R Black," in a naked self promotion. Nothing really entertaining or exciting takes place until the final half of the book. Even then, the "action," is primarily occupational space workplace in nature.
The book is not recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.
"Derelict: Marines," is a poorly written, wannabe "Alien" ripoff. The author spends the first half of the book in a boring, plodding, logistical recap of preparing for a mission. The characters are mainly one-dimensional, angst driven, corny, cardboard figures, fully self absorbed and whiners. The Search and Rescue (S & R) marines are portrayed as marionettes, who never ask the most basic and logical questions about their mission, when confronted with contradictory and conflicting data.
The author snarkily implies certain crew members are "...bunk mates...," uses numerous religious deities from across the spectrum as swear words, with a leaden and unnatural hand, and even promotes his earlier books by naming the marine ship, the "S & R Black," in a naked self promotion. Nothing really entertaining or exciting takes place until the final half of the book. Even then, the "action," is primarily occupational space workplace in nature.
The book is not recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited.
February 14, 2022
I really didn't like this book, and it definitely didn't feel like a book. It felt like part 1 of a larger story, where part 1 had almost nothing to add.
40% of the book takes place before these space marines even leaves their base, and even then they don't get to Mira before the 70% mark. Which means up until then it has been an.. slice-of-life? read of the everyday life of space marines and how they operate outside of life-or-death situations. Which means, it was incredible dull.
I kept expecting the action to start, just for it to never actually start.
You can make an excuse, that maybe the author wanted you to get properly invested in the character before the life-of-death part started, so that if anyone died you'd be impacted. That could work, if every character other than Kali wasn't dry as bread and could easily be switched out with each-other. And even Kali was very bare boned.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, with not a single question answered. It was so incomplete it's ridiculous. I feel the only reason this isn't a 600 page book, and instead a trilogy, is to boost sales only or something.
40% of the book takes place before these space marines even leaves their base, and even then they don't get to Mira before the 70% mark. Which means up until then it has been an.. slice-of-life? read of the everyday life of space marines and how they operate outside of life-or-death situations. Which means, it was incredible dull.
I kept expecting the action to start, just for it to never actually start.
You can make an excuse, that maybe the author wanted you to get properly invested in the character before the life-of-death part started, so that if anyone died you'd be impacted. That could work, if every character other than Kali wasn't dry as bread and could easily be switched out with each-other. And even Kali was very bare boned.
The book ends on a cliffhanger, with not a single question answered. It was so incomplete it's ridiculous. I feel the only reason this isn't a 600 page book, and instead a trilogy, is to boost sales only or something.
July 11, 2017
As usual, after finishing this one I checked a few of the reviews. The ones who didn't like it complained that the pacing was too slow, that the characters were one-dimensional and/or not credible, and that there was too much focus on the minutiae of military missions in space. I agree, to an extent, with the first complaint but not with the others. This is plot-driven horror, not character-driven drama, and some significant percentage of the cast are redshirts anyway, whose primary reason for appearing in the story is to demonstrate how badass the monster is, by dying horribly. It's also (reasonably) hard sci-fi, so the author portrays space travel as a pretty complicated and hazardous affair, instead of just hand-waving it away. If you don't like plot-driven horror, or hard sci-fi, you're not likely to enjoy this book. But if you do, and if you don't mind the slow pacing too much, you probably will.
June 14, 2017
Like most of Cooley's work, this is a Thriller with a capital "T".
The first part in what will be a multi-volume work (how big? No idea. More than this book clearly), but the story is more than satisfying on its own.
I won't go into the substance of the story, but it features Cooley's signature "slow burn" style of tension building that has used in his "Black" series, this time in outer space.
Highly enjoyable read that will only disappoint you with the realization that you have to wait for the next book . . . a satisfying disappointment indeed.
The first part in what will be a multi-volume work (how big? No idea. More than this book clearly), but the story is more than satisfying on its own.
I won't go into the substance of the story, but it features Cooley's signature "slow burn" style of tension building that has used in his "Black" series, this time in outer space.
Highly enjoyable read that will only disappoint you with the realization that you have to wait for the next book . . . a satisfying disappointment indeed.
November 8, 2018
There is a lot of build up. 90% of the story is world building and character building. The Author wants you to know all the characters, wants you to know the story behind everything. So when the crap hits the fan, you feel for guys. You want them to succeed. You want them to find the truth.
The story is built up so well that by the end, you want to know what happened to Mira. How did it happen? Have they just opened a can of worms they cannot put back in? Looking forward to the second in the series.
The story is built up so well that by the end, you want to know what happened to Mira. How did it happen? Have they just opened a can of worms they cannot put back in? Looking forward to the second in the series.
March 4, 2024
Pulpy, but enjoyable. Good buildup. Not much was concluded in this book alone, the heavy use of cliffhangers in the series makes me think it'll be easier to write a review once I finish the 4th one.
May 5, 2017
I've had bad luck this week. Of the last 6 books I've read, 5 have left me totally hanging!
6: Her childhood best friend is the arch-villain after all! Oh noes! (To be continued...next book out in July)
5: normal whodunnit, mystery solved
4: Author: I know the ending doesn't make sense! Haha, fooled you!
3: Surrounded by cultists. Diary cuts off mid sentence (To be continued...next book in June)
2: Here are 3 scenarios of what might have happened. Pick the one you like to imagine best. The end.
1: and then this one that ends with (Next book will be out, but no date announced)
I can't be too mad about having to wait though...I discovered this author by accident, amused by back cover description of The Black, and absolutely loved it and it wound up being one of my favorite trilogies last year. Really, if you enjoy the movie The Thing, you'll like Cooley. I hope there's a new Black set out soon--they did take like the one sample to Area 51 and enlist all the survivors to help.
This is more Event Horizon than The Thing though. Futuristic world, now controlled by a Solar Federation, but really big interplanetary mining corporations run the show, guarded by underpaid space marines. The last big thing Earth did 70 years ago was build a special spaceship to check out a habitable world a solar system away--The Mira. When it didn't come back, colonies on Mars revolted, which was quelled. And now the ship has drifted back, lifeless right by Pluto. A group of marines stationed by Neptune get the unfun job of checking out the famous ship. The vast part of the book is basically putting cargo away for the mission and anxiously preparing. So prepare for a slow burn...
I am expecting things to go VERY badly in the next book, but I don't get all the boring comments entirely. You had AIs that might be going insane and working against you, and who wants HAL + Xenomorphs at the same time? Ice storms, floating pools of acid, weird pine cones everywhere, headless corpses of the original crew floating around--so I feel like I got my money's worth out of this book. It would make a fantastic movie (and since all we saw of the monster is the one claw, who knows what else is in store). Cooley's voice is a little dry maybe--in the sense you have the feeling he knows what he's talking about--all the chemistry research he did paid off in the Black--and here there is a lot of back and forth telepathically between the various characters and the computers running the ship.
Cooley writes women very well too--which is refreshing in thrillers. Hope the second one, Derelict: Tomb comes out soon!
6: Her childhood best friend is the arch-villain after all! Oh noes! (To be continued...next book out in July)
5: normal whodunnit, mystery solved
4: Author: I know the ending doesn't make sense! Haha, fooled you!
3: Surrounded by cultists. Diary cuts off mid sentence (To be continued...next book in June)
2: Here are 3 scenarios of what might have happened. Pick the one you like to imagine best. The end.
1: and then this one that ends with (Next book will be out, but no date announced)
I can't be too mad about having to wait though...I discovered this author by accident, amused by back cover description of The Black, and absolutely loved it and it wound up being one of my favorite trilogies last year. Really, if you enjoy the movie The Thing, you'll like Cooley. I hope there's a new Black set out soon--they did take like the one sample to Area 51 and enlist all the survivors to help.
This is more Event Horizon than The Thing though. Futuristic world, now controlled by a Solar Federation, but really big interplanetary mining corporations run the show, guarded by underpaid space marines. The last big thing Earth did 70 years ago was build a special spaceship to check out a habitable world a solar system away--The Mira. When it didn't come back, colonies on Mars revolted, which was quelled. And now the ship has drifted back, lifeless right by Pluto. A group of marines stationed by Neptune get the unfun job of checking out the famous ship. The vast part of the book is basically putting cargo away for the mission and anxiously preparing. So prepare for a slow burn...
I am expecting things to go VERY badly in the next book, but I don't get all the boring comments entirely. You had AIs that might be going insane and working against you, and who wants HAL + Xenomorphs at the same time? Ice storms, floating pools of acid, weird pine cones everywhere, headless corpses of the original crew floating around--so I feel like I got my money's worth out of this book. It would make a fantastic movie (and since all we saw of the monster is the one claw, who knows what else is in store). Cooley's voice is a little dry maybe--in the sense you have the feeling he knows what he's talking about--all the chemistry research he did paid off in the Black--and here there is a lot of back and forth telepathically between the various characters and the computers running the ship.
Cooley writes women very well too--which is refreshing in thrillers. Hope the second one, Derelict: Tomb comes out soon!
March 12, 2023
First of a trilogy, does not standalone. Too slow and detailed in places. Am hooked in that I want to know what happens, but not enough to invest my time reading two more books that would presumably have the same pace and style which I did not enjoy. Nearly three weeks to read 274 pages shows that I did not find it very compelling.
February 3, 2017
Derelict: Marines is the first book in a new space marines series by Paul E. Cooley. The same careful attention to technical detail that thrilled readers of his The Black series has been applied to the vagaries of interstellar space travel, combat and operations. One of the consistent styles that Cooley applies to his book is the slow burn - a gradual increase in tension and complexity that serves as a simmering literary fuse. The conflict is introduced by peppering seemingly disparate elements throughout the build-up to the explosive climax, where the careful machinations of the plot manifest with such rapidity that it becomes difficult to put the book down.
The book feels a bit like a season of television, with such a delicious cliffhanger at the end, that you can’t wait to see the next season. In this case, it’s the next book in the series, where hopefully some of the burning questions that were carefully introduced will be answered.
The book feels a bit like a season of television, with such a delicious cliffhanger at the end, that you can’t wait to see the next season. In this case, it’s the next book in the series, where hopefully some of the burning questions that were carefully introduced will be answered.
July 2, 2017
Imagine a crew of diesel mechanics sent out to fix a broken down tanker in the countryside. Now imagine their journey and repairs in every tedious detail. That is essentially what this book is. There's science fiction, then there's technical science fiction, then there's mind-numbingly minutely described technical science fiction. I think it would have been more exciting to read the technical manual of a Ford Focus! If we're so far in the future that we have thought reading AI's and nanotechnology would we really have old-style command structures with Marines going Hoo-Hah?
The way the story 'ends' would work fine on TV 'Same time, same channel!' but is a terrible way to finish a novel, even if it's only the first in a series.
The way the story 'ends' would work fine on TV 'Same time, same channel!' but is a terrible way to finish a novel, even if it's only the first in a series.
April 5, 2017
This book was only fair. It was interesting enough to keep reading till the end, But I did not like it enough to want to read the next book. The characters were fairly good, But the story was all horry old writers tricks to try to hook you into reading the next book. Nothing but endless teasers and no actual story. It has the feel of a series that will not live up to all the build up, And will only let you down when you find out what "the big mystery" finally is. No thank you.
June 19, 2017
SLOW AND BORING! Overly descriptive, good grief! FIVE, yes FIVE, paragraphs to describe Kali needing to go for a pee! Countless needless descriptions of g forces and acceleration. They barely made to the Mira and the book ends. Everything leading up to their arrival at the Mira was BORING beyond belief! Hopefully the next book will be more exciting.
June 7, 2017
DNF: 8%
Too much military stuff, not enough sci-fi. Guess I should have known from the title.
Too much military stuff, not enough sci-fi. Guess I should have known from the title.
September 25, 2017
All in all a good solid story, mostly let down by over description, poor pacing, and an unnecessarily short length I can only assume is a marketing ploy to get you to read the next book at full price. I am unlikely to continue the series.
Plot:
The premise of the plot is actually very good, however its execution not so much. From reading the blurb we know for a fact that something is not quite right with the derelict ship and that something bad will happen to those who go near it. Very similar to the movie event horizon, only in this book we're seeing more of the preparation for the mission than the actual mission itself. By that I mean we get to read about how the marines train, how they load their equipment and stow it, and most importantly of all how much coffee they drink, and they drink a lot. But the biggest issue for me is how the marines themselves are expecting so much trouble, it almost feels like they read the blurb too. In reality their rationalisation of the situation should be something like "oh look a ship that's been missing for 50 years has returned to our system, it's been heavily damaged in what looks like a collision and is adrift without power. Must have been a collision after all, no mystery there." Instead they're filled with a sense of dread for what's on board, having dreams about eyes in the dark. All this in a narrative that hasn't mentioned any kind of alien encounter or anything to cause such alarm just takes away from the suspense. Remember in the movie Alien, they went into an derelict alien ship without weapons and with very little precaution, remember the tension those scenes caused, this book loses any of that with it's gung-ho loaded for bear badass marines. Perhaps it was trying more for Aliens instead of Alien, which without that established threat didn't work so well.
Characters:
I found them annoying. I have served in the military myself and find the behaviours and treatment of the marines to be a result of watching too much full metal jacket. Soldiers are still meant to be people with families and lives, but as is all too often they're all dedicated to the corps and behave like mindless robots. As a result we get a bunch of very two dimensional characters all working towards the same goal and with very cliche flaws i.e. one is insubordinate (although never directly shows it), another is an inexperienced leader (although very really makes a bad call), and the SNCO and officers are just sadists who just need to see a little dedication for their inner fatherly warmth to shine through. The only time the character developing worked was during the quick flashes of memory we see from a couple of the characters, more of this and less description might have gone a long way for me.
Technicality:
It's actually very well written. The words flow from the page with good solid prose and little derailing. However I did take issue with the slow pacing. Loading equipment into a storage bay shouldn't take up an entire chapter, I appreciate the author might have been going for the hurry up and wait aspect of the military, but having lived it myself I really didn't enjoy reading about it. The over description really prevented me from getting a sense of atmosphere from the book, I never felt like I could picture myself on the ship, or in space or that matter. But on the positive side I did very much like the sci-fi aspect of the equipment and the descriptions of how things worked.
Summary:
Due to the short length and the fact that the action is so slow in coming and then ends abruptly ready for you to buy the second book, I can't recommend this book to anyone. This kind of dirty trick might be effective, but is very disrespectful to the fan base the author might have. I was able to read this book without purchase through the new amazon prime service but would have to pay for the second book and at this point I'm simply not willing to invest more time or money into something like that. Apologies to the author if he reads this, but the fact is a meatier first book might have gotten me more invested in what could have been a great series, or singular book.
Plot:
The premise of the plot is actually very good, however its execution not so much. From reading the blurb we know for a fact that something is not quite right with the derelict ship and that something bad will happen to those who go near it. Very similar to the movie event horizon, only in this book we're seeing more of the preparation for the mission than the actual mission itself. By that I mean we get to read about how the marines train, how they load their equipment and stow it, and most importantly of all how much coffee they drink, and they drink a lot. But the biggest issue for me is how the marines themselves are expecting so much trouble, it almost feels like they read the blurb too. In reality their rationalisation of the situation should be something like "oh look a ship that's been missing for 50 years has returned to our system, it's been heavily damaged in what looks like a collision and is adrift without power. Must have been a collision after all, no mystery there." Instead they're filled with a sense of dread for what's on board, having dreams about eyes in the dark. All this in a narrative that hasn't mentioned any kind of alien encounter or anything to cause such alarm just takes away from the suspense. Remember in the movie Alien, they went into an derelict alien ship without weapons and with very little precaution, remember the tension those scenes caused, this book loses any of that with it's gung-ho loaded for bear badass marines. Perhaps it was trying more for Aliens instead of Alien, which without that established threat didn't work so well.
Characters:
I found them annoying. I have served in the military myself and find the behaviours and treatment of the marines to be a result of watching too much full metal jacket. Soldiers are still meant to be people with families and lives, but as is all too often they're all dedicated to the corps and behave like mindless robots. As a result we get a bunch of very two dimensional characters all working towards the same goal and with very cliche flaws i.e. one is insubordinate (although never directly shows it), another is an inexperienced leader (although very really makes a bad call), and the SNCO and officers are just sadists who just need to see a little dedication for their inner fatherly warmth to shine through. The only time the character developing worked was during the quick flashes of memory we see from a couple of the characters, more of this and less description might have gone a long way for me.
Technicality:
It's actually very well written. The words flow from the page with good solid prose and little derailing. However I did take issue with the slow pacing. Loading equipment into a storage bay shouldn't take up an entire chapter, I appreciate the author might have been going for the hurry up and wait aspect of the military, but having lived it myself I really didn't enjoy reading about it. The over description really prevented me from getting a sense of atmosphere from the book, I never felt like I could picture myself on the ship, or in space or that matter. But on the positive side I did very much like the sci-fi aspect of the equipment and the descriptions of how things worked.
Summary:
Due to the short length and the fact that the action is so slow in coming and then ends abruptly ready for you to buy the second book, I can't recommend this book to anyone. This kind of dirty trick might be effective, but is very disrespectful to the fan base the author might have. I was able to read this book without purchase through the new amazon prime service but would have to pay for the second book and at this point I'm simply not willing to invest more time or money into something like that. Apologies to the author if he reads this, but the fact is a meatier first book might have gotten me more invested in what could have been a great series, or singular book.
April 24, 2025
I'm glad I knew this whole series is essentially one book chopped into parts, otherwise I would have been so mad. The plot just stops after it gets through the introductory arc. To be continued in the next volume.
It's hard to judge this book because it's just 1/3 or 1/4 of the whole thing. There's a lot of... slice of life? long descriptions of mundane tasks like loading the cargo, prepping the ship, meetings, and making a boatload of coffee. I enjoy technobabble much more than an average person, but even I was tired. The world is interesting and I found this spin on Earth's spacefaring ventures and space army fresh enough, but surely it could have been condensed into more concise text. Funnily enough, despite so many descriptions, I still have no idea what the mc ship, S&R Black, looks like. I imagine it as an irregular brick. The only things mentioned are its color and that the main engines are in the rear. The inside is an even bigger mystery.
The characters were getting on my nerves in the first half of the book. I really don't get those stereotypical army dynamics. Officers being assholes, but the soldiers enjoy being treated like dirt and the whole company is still bonding somehow? Thankfully characters stop being so damned stupid and one dimensional once they actually get to Mira. Most of them are kinda blending into each other, but I'm starting to recognize some. Their decisions are fine, which is much better than most horror books with the dumbest humans imaginable. They take a lot in the stride and don't question things much, but maybe it's because soldiers are not supposed to do that? Idk, but their decision making was not immersion breakingly horrid and I was grateful for that. Btw, they become much more tolerable once you realize they grin like madmen over everything not because they're psycho, but because the author just doesn't give them any other facial expressions. I'm actually in the middle of the next volume now and they're still grinning. It's probably how they are. I'm trying to ignore it.
I didn't like the AI subplot. Why can't it be humans vs Event Horizon or aliens without extra handicaps?
Overall, a good introduction, if overly wordy.
It's hard to judge this book because it's just 1/3 or 1/4 of the whole thing. There's a lot of... slice of life? long descriptions of mundane tasks like loading the cargo, prepping the ship, meetings, and making a boatload of coffee. I enjoy technobabble much more than an average person, but even I was tired. The world is interesting and I found this spin on Earth's spacefaring ventures and space army fresh enough, but surely it could have been condensed into more concise text. Funnily enough, despite so many descriptions, I still have no idea what the mc ship, S&R Black, looks like. I imagine it as an irregular brick. The only things mentioned are its color and that the main engines are in the rear. The inside is an even bigger mystery.
The characters were getting on my nerves in the first half of the book. I really don't get those stereotypical army dynamics. Officers being assholes, but the soldiers enjoy being treated like dirt and the whole company is still bonding somehow? Thankfully characters stop being so damned stupid and one dimensional once they actually get to Mira. Most of them are kinda blending into each other, but I'm starting to recognize some. Their decisions are fine, which is much better than most horror books with the dumbest humans imaginable. They take a lot in the stride and don't question things much, but maybe it's because soldiers are not supposed to do that? Idk, but their decision making was not immersion breakingly horrid and I was grateful for that. Btw, they become much more tolerable once you realize they grin like madmen over everything not because they're psycho, but because the author just doesn't give them any other facial expressions. I'm actually in the middle of the next volume now and they're still grinning. It's probably how they are. I'm trying to ignore it.
I didn't like the AI subplot. Why can't it be humans vs Event Horizon or aliens without extra handicaps?
Overall, a good introduction, if overly wordy.
May 2, 2025
I wanted to give this book a better rating, since I liked "The Black", but since it's not actually a whole book, and there are too many issues, I cannot. First of all, it's slow. So so very slow. I'm a reader that often complain that modern male writers make books shallow & paced like action-movies, & I cannot abide it. But this isn't the slow of character or world-building, but of pure paperfill. I suspect books 1 & 2 could easily be coalesced into one solid book. The endless repeating of mundane things & above all, coffee-drinking, is beyond tedious. No author worth their salt bores a reader half to death like this. Shame on you Mr Cooley for putting us through this just for word-and book-count. Even more shame since this is a decent author that doesn't have to pull cheap insulting tricks like this. That's 2 stars off for me.
Second, the last star removed is because of the tired machismo clichés. The emotional woman in command falling for the bad boy in her squad (and his name is Dickerson, because of course). A line like 'You’re so beautiful when you’re pissed" belongs to the last century, not the next in a spacefaring species. It's trite and disappointing. If she was truly a Marine, focused on her career, a manbaby like that wouldn't have a chance with her, and the blushing & swooning for a few half-assed compliments, her liking his puerile attitude & jokes during actual missions, nah I don't think so - it's just not credible. It's also not charming or likeable, it's just simply off-putting. I suspect it only gets worse in the next book. It's a slight to do this kind of lazy writing and to add a clumsy, cliché, and not in any way needed romance that feels like either wishful thinking or ticking of boxes from the author's side. I expected more. We, readers, deserve more.
Second, the last star removed is because of the tired machismo clichés. The emotional woman in command falling for the bad boy in her squad (and his name is Dickerson, because of course). A line like 'You’re so beautiful when you’re pissed" belongs to the last century, not the next in a spacefaring species. It's trite and disappointing. If she was truly a Marine, focused on her career, a manbaby like that wouldn't have a chance with her, and the blushing & swooning for a few half-assed compliments, her liking his puerile attitude & jokes during actual missions, nah I don't think so - it's just not credible. It's also not charming or likeable, it's just simply off-putting. I suspect it only gets worse in the next book. It's a slight to do this kind of lazy writing and to add a clumsy, cliché, and not in any way needed romance that feels like either wishful thinking or ticking of boxes from the author's side. I expected more. We, readers, deserve more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2023
Okay, so you get the gist of what the book is about from the book's description. A group of marines who typically execute search and rescue space missions is assigned to visit Mira, a spacecraft sent by humanity to a distant star that has now returned. It wasn't supposed to stop transmitting 7 years after its departure and its return gets everyone wondering WTF?
Not a bad premise for a book, but the book has a few challenges. Firstly, the reader is dragged through a ton of minutia while the crew is introduced during their training, and everyone gets geared up to go to the far side of Pluto on a supposed training mission. It is not until probably 85% or 90% that the marines actually make it to the vessel.
When contact is finally made, we see a dark and quiet ship (a very long ship) that is tumbling and the first order of business is to stabilize the ship. With painstaking detail, we watch as the nervous crew makes their way to the rotating craft to mount thrusters on various parts of the ship. Aside from the thrusters, this is feeling like 2010: Odyssey Two. All we need is an AI that has gone off the reservation. Oh, wait, the AI's that coordinate the rescue ship seem to be conspiring together to accomplish something that so far feels nefarious.
Of course, given it took so long for the book to get there, the last 25 pages is where things, predictably, start to go wrong. Just in time for a cliffhanger with a sign pointing to book 2. I am hoping that book 2 hits the ground running and that all the content of book one that set up the story arc is behind us. Hopefully, book 2 also bucks the trend in which many second books of a trilogy are, shall we say, less than stellar. I will give it a go, fingers crossed.
Not a bad premise for a book, but the book has a few challenges. Firstly, the reader is dragged through a ton of minutia while the crew is introduced during their training, and everyone gets geared up to go to the far side of Pluto on a supposed training mission. It is not until probably 85% or 90% that the marines actually make it to the vessel.
When contact is finally made, we see a dark and quiet ship (a very long ship) that is tumbling and the first order of business is to stabilize the ship. With painstaking detail, we watch as the nervous crew makes their way to the rotating craft to mount thrusters on various parts of the ship. Aside from the thrusters, this is feeling like 2010: Odyssey Two. All we need is an AI that has gone off the reservation. Oh, wait, the AI's that coordinate the rescue ship seem to be conspiring together to accomplish something that so far feels nefarious.
Of course, given it took so long for the book to get there, the last 25 pages is where things, predictably, start to go wrong. Just in time for a cliffhanger with a sign pointing to book 2. I am hoping that book 2 hits the ground running and that all the content of book one that set up the story arc is behind us. Hopefully, book 2 also bucks the trend in which many second books of a trilogy are, shall we say, less than stellar. I will give it a go, fingers crossed.
December 19, 2023
Originally posted on the book blog Creature From the Book Lagoon.
I love sci-fi horror. After reading Paul E. Cooley’s Station 3, I was ready to check out his space horror Derelict saga! 😀
Now, I love a good ol’ missing space ship suddenly reappearing after several years plot with sprinkled on a possibly AI uprising trope to ponder over. Book 1, Marines, is fantastic! I really enjoyed this story. :D It ticked all my boxes. Just throw in some aliens and- oh, wait, there are aliens too?? Niccccceee….
I’ve seen some people really complain about the lack of answers with this story. Some complained about not getting to know the characters very well. Others even mentioned not even really having very much time at said missing ship.
So, yeah, valid points. This is a book 1 with a space truck ton of setting up. A LOT of set up! If you didn’t know this was going to be a series, I could understand feeling a little unsatisfied…. I knew going in that this was a series, so I really enjoyed the questions and cliffhangers of book 1. I also didn’t have to wait for the next book, which helped, too.
Marines is narrated by the author. He did a decent job. His style fit well with the characters. Some voices do get a little confusing at first, but as the story went on, it was easier to tell who was who.
I had a great time listening to Derelict: Marines! I could not wait to get my hands on book 2!! The cliffhangers had me uber hooked on the series. I needed more STAT! 😀
I love sci-fi horror. After reading Paul E. Cooley’s Station 3, I was ready to check out his space horror Derelict saga! 😀
Now, I love a good ol’ missing space ship suddenly reappearing after several years plot with sprinkled on a possibly AI uprising trope to ponder over. Book 1, Marines, is fantastic! I really enjoyed this story. :D It ticked all my boxes. Just throw in some aliens and- oh, wait, there are aliens too?? Niccccceee….
I’ve seen some people really complain about the lack of answers with this story. Some complained about not getting to know the characters very well. Others even mentioned not even really having very much time at said missing ship.
So, yeah, valid points. This is a book 1 with a space truck ton of setting up. A LOT of set up! If you didn’t know this was going to be a series, I could understand feeling a little unsatisfied…. I knew going in that this was a series, so I really enjoyed the questions and cliffhangers of book 1. I also didn’t have to wait for the next book, which helped, too.
Marines is narrated by the author. He did a decent job. His style fit well with the characters. Some voices do get a little confusing at first, but as the story went on, it was easier to tell who was who.
I had a great time listening to Derelict: Marines! I could not wait to get my hands on book 2!! The cliffhangers had me uber hooked on the series. I needed more STAT! 😀
February 4, 2017
As a long time listener of Paul's podcast DRS and fan of his series The Black, picking up a copy of "Derelict: Marines" was a no-brainer.
The narrative structure is well-made, with clear beats, scenes and progression elements. Cooley once again does an excellent job of dipping into the realm of hard science fiction, by providing ample details (to be fair, at times TOO much detail) on how and WHY technology works in his world.
Characters are depicted in a full fashion - flaws and virtues get equal billing. And the character development plots and arcs are done well and with a deft hand. The author seemed to capture the monotony of daily life in training and in space. Much more technical than I expected.
He made some interesting and uncommon choices in the book, which I appreciated from a risk / reward perspective.
My biggest challenge with "Derelict: Marines" was the pace and escalation process. As a reader I was interested in the background of characters, history of his world and other details - which were faithfully provided in spades. More than a few infodumps, which were necessary.
But, to me, the book really did not hit its pace until well after the 75% done mark. Much of the book prior to that, is exposition and narrative foundation creation - necessary but too much. Once things started moving, they moved fast and escalated quickly. But it seemed a slow burn to get to that point.
The narrative structure is well-made, with clear beats, scenes and progression elements. Cooley once again does an excellent job of dipping into the realm of hard science fiction, by providing ample details (to be fair, at times TOO much detail) on how and WHY technology works in his world.
Characters are depicted in a full fashion - flaws and virtues get equal billing. And the character development plots and arcs are done well and with a deft hand. The author seemed to capture the monotony of daily life in training and in space. Much more technical than I expected.
He made some interesting and uncommon choices in the book, which I appreciated from a risk / reward perspective.
My biggest challenge with "Derelict: Marines" was the pace and escalation process. As a reader I was interested in the background of characters, history of his world and other details - which were faithfully provided in spades. More than a few infodumps, which were necessary.
But, to me, the book really did not hit its pace until well after the 75% done mark. Much of the book prior to that, is exposition and narrative foundation creation - necessary but too much. Once things started moving, they moved fast and escalated quickly. But it seemed a slow burn to get to that point.
January 10, 2025
Ciencia ficcion : 5/5 ; Ambientada en el futuro de la humanidad ok, colonizacion del sistema solar ok, viajes espaciales ok, IA ok, sistemas artificiales de reparación dentro del cuerpo humano ok, naves con capacidad de realizar viajes espaciales prolongados ok, no-estamos-solo-en-el-universo ok .
Thriller : 5/5; Existen al menos 3 grupos que mantienen ocultas sus intenciones y aunque están presentes desde el inicio de la historia poco a poco van liberando información que puede o no ser verdad, lo que causa mayor interés por conocer sus objetivos finales.
Terror : 0/5; Por el momento no existe pero hay indicios de que estará presente en la siguiente parte.
Personajes : 5/5; Buen desarrollo de personajes.
Trama : La historia se narra de manera lineal; los acontecimientos, descripciones de las acciones de los personajes y algunas menciones de recuerdos/experiencias de vida mencionadas son consistentes y crean verosimilitud.
¿ Por que 4/5 estrellas ? Considero abrupto final de la narración del #1 obligando a continuar inmediatamente la lectura #2. Personalmente hubiera fusionado #1 y #2 en un solo libro.
Tal vez sea por lecturas previas de otros autores pero me parece encontrar ciertos guiños / huevos de pascua de : Aliens 2, 2001 la odisea del espacio, Event Horizont por mencionar algunos.
Recomiendo su lectura: Si
Thriller : 5/5; Existen al menos 3 grupos que mantienen ocultas sus intenciones y aunque están presentes desde el inicio de la historia poco a poco van liberando información que puede o no ser verdad, lo que causa mayor interés por conocer sus objetivos finales.
Terror : 0/5; Por el momento no existe pero hay indicios de que estará presente en la siguiente parte.
Personajes : 5/5; Buen desarrollo de personajes.
Trama : La historia se narra de manera lineal; los acontecimientos, descripciones de las acciones de los personajes y algunas menciones de recuerdos/experiencias de vida mencionadas son consistentes y crean verosimilitud.
¿ Por que 4/5 estrellas ? Considero abrupto final de la narración del #1 obligando a continuar inmediatamente la lectura #2. Personalmente hubiera fusionado #1 y #2 en un solo libro.
Tal vez sea por lecturas previas de otros autores pero me parece encontrar ciertos guiños / huevos de pascua de : Aliens 2, 2001 la odisea del espacio, Event Horizont por mencionar algunos.
Recomiendo su lectura: Si
May 23, 2020
A very good series. The Derelict ship, Mira. Left earth 50 years ago. 45 years later never heard from it again. Now a beacon.
Might want to look at reading some of his other books.
Derelict: Marines is the first book in a new space marines series by Paul E. Cooley. The same careful attention to technical detail that thrilled readers of his Black series has been applied to the vagaries of interstellar space travel, combat and operations. One of the consistent styles that Cooley applies to his book is the slow burn - a gradual increase in tension and complexity that serves as a simmering literary fuse. The conflict is introduced by peppering seemingly disparate elements throughout the build-up to the explosive climax, where the careful machinations of the plot manifest with such rapidity that it becomes difficult to put the book down.
The book feels a bit like a season of television, with such a delicious cliffhanger at the end, that you can’t wait to see the next season. In this case, it’s the next book in the series, where hopefully some of the burning questions that were carefully introduced will be answered.
Might want to look at reading some of his other books.
Derelict: Marines is the first book in a new space marines series by Paul E. Cooley. The same careful attention to technical detail that thrilled readers of his Black series has been applied to the vagaries of interstellar space travel, combat and operations. One of the consistent styles that Cooley applies to his book is the slow burn - a gradual increase in tension and complexity that serves as a simmering literary fuse. The conflict is introduced by peppering seemingly disparate elements throughout the build-up to the explosive climax, where the careful machinations of the plot manifest with such rapidity that it becomes difficult to put the book down.
The book feels a bit like a season of television, with such a delicious cliffhanger at the end, that you can’t wait to see the next season. In this case, it’s the next book in the series, where hopefully some of the burning questions that were carefully introduced will be answered.
June 4, 2018
So, I really wanted to like this novel. I am a big fan of podcast novels and I thought the productions values were really good. However, this novel could have been condensed into a quarter of what it was, and folded into the next book in the saga.
First, the good: The concept of having sentient AIs with personalities and agendas of their own throws a nice spin on the "space military faces unknown foe." The idea that there is a council of such AIs adds even more to the story. Also, I appreciated the fact that there are multiple female Marines (and not just the token one female character).
The not so good: As I said, this novel was basically all exposition, and I think with some editing it could have been condensed dramatically. Also, there is a scene in which the main character, Corporal Kalimura, is taking a shower, and there are at least five mentions of how naked she is (literally using the word "naked" five times). I had to roll my eyes a bit.
First, the good: The concept of having sentient AIs with personalities and agendas of their own throws a nice spin on the "space military faces unknown foe." The idea that there is a council of such AIs adds even more to the story. Also, I appreciated the fact that there are multiple female Marines (and not just the token one female character).
The not so good: As I said, this novel was basically all exposition, and I think with some editing it could have been condensed dramatically. Also, there is a scene in which the main character, Corporal Kalimura, is taking a shower, and there are at least five mentions of how naked she is (literally using the word "naked" five times). I had to roll my eyes a bit.
August 18, 2018
Tight, tense and inexorable well describe the first book of Paul E. Cooley's Derelict Saga. In this latest series, the chronicler of dangers that prey from the dark leaves Earth for outer reaches of the solar system. Humanity's first and only interstellar spacecraft tumbles back into the Kuiper belt decades after it was lost, apparently dead except for a distress signal. Humanity sends the marines. Mr. Cooley does what he does so well, assembling a company of fourteen people whose ordinary lives already threaten to slip control, and then calling them to the attention of something very bad for which they are utterly unprepared. As part 1 of a larger story, the body count is restrained, but there is an abundance of the elegantly built suspense that always foretells signature Cooley terror. Fast paced and masterfully told, Derelict: Marines lays compelling ground for stories to come. It's a great read.
September 22, 2017
This one had a lot of potential, but fell short. There is page after page of the most minute of tasks, then a complete gloss over of other items that could be important. The first third of the book was going well, it started losing interest for me, and I distinctly remember at the 80% mark getting bored and taking a break. Upon finishing the book, and book is an understatement, I was beyond frustrated as it just stopped – right in the middle of a scene with no logical conclusion. To understand what happens, you need to purchase book two of the series. What a waste of time.
I won’t be along for the ride. Luckily, I picked this up for free with my Kindle Unlimited plan. If I had paid the $3.99 price tag, I would have felt ripped off as this title is incomplete. I would give this one a wide pass.
I won’t be along for the ride. Luckily, I picked this up for free with my Kindle Unlimited plan. If I had paid the $3.99 price tag, I would have felt ripped off as this title is incomplete. I would give this one a wide pass.
November 17, 2020
Ik ben deze gaan lezen omdat ik de podcast van deze schrijver, Dead Robots Society, regelmatig luister en in alle eerlijkheid is het een beetje meh. Het is zeker niet slecht geschreven maar het is vrij voorspelbare, militaire Science Fiction die heel netjes op de platgetreden paden blijft. Men neme een onzekere luitenant die de leiding krijgt over een ploegje door de wol geverfde mariniers die eropuit gestuurd worden als aan de rand van ons zonnestelsel, in de Oort wolk een signaal wordt opgepikt van een van de weinige schepen die de mensheid ooit de interstellaire ruimte ingestuurd heeft. De Mira. Dit boek beslaat de reis naar de Mira en wat er misgaat wanneer ze het wrak eindelijk bereikt hebben.
Het voelt een beetje als een popcorn actiefilm. Het vraagt weinig van de lezer. Al met al een prima tussendoortje, niets meer en niets minder.
Het voelt een beetje als een popcorn actiefilm. Het vraagt weinig van de lezer. Al met al een prima tussendoortje, niets meer en niets minder.
May 27, 2025
This novel walks on well tread ground when a derelict ship returns from its journey outside the Sol system after going missing for decades. This is genuinely a setup that I love and can be fantastic when done well.....This novel does not do well.
The vast majority of the novel is spent getting to know the cast of marines that are being sent to the derelict ship. The arduously long journey tries to build suspense but never manages to make a coherent reason why every character is immediately aware of the genre of book that they find themselves in. The characters are profoundly uninteresting and despite spending so much of the novel describing how they are exceptionally well trained they are, they end up bumbling directly into every obstacle. They lose two Marines before we even get inside the ship and they lost me before I could finish the rest of the series.
The vast majority of the novel is spent getting to know the cast of marines that are being sent to the derelict ship. The arduously long journey tries to build suspense but never manages to make a coherent reason why every character is immediately aware of the genre of book that they find themselves in. The characters are profoundly uninteresting and despite spending so much of the novel describing how they are exceptionally well trained they are, they end up bumbling directly into every obstacle. They lose two Marines before we even get inside the ship and they lost me before I could finish the rest of the series.
July 8, 2017
I've read previous books by this author and have enjoyed what I've read. He does a good job at developing characters that the reader begins to feel for and want to survive--or bite the dust. That being said, I understand other reviewers who feel that this book takes a long time to get going and that the author spends too much time in describing and elucidating the military aspects of the novel. Seeing as it is the author's first foray into military thrillers and sci-fi military at that, I think it is understandable.
Having started to listen to the podcast of the second novel in this series, Derelict: Tomb, I can say that the action certainly picks up and quite quickly right where this volume ends.
Having started to listen to the podcast of the second novel in this series, Derelict: Tomb, I can say that the action certainly picks up and quite quickly right where this volume ends.
July 26, 2019
Science fiction with echoes of Aliens and Event Horizon. There's definitely less suspense here than there was in P.E. Cooley's The Black and the ending of the book is a little abrupt as this first installment is a good 150 to 200 pages shorter than books two and three.
The end result is that short but very enjoyable read that introduces lots of plot threads and finishes on a cliffhanger just as things start going to helll. It's like if Alien cut to credits just as the facehugger grabs Kane in the egg room and kept the rest of the film for sequel material. Frustrating but there's potential in the story.
May 23, 2017
4 stars because it was an enjoyable read and I liked the book, but -1 star because it is basically chapter one in a larger series and does not stand alone. There is a long set up, character building, etc, and when it finally gets good and the action is about to happen- end of book!! Which is frustrating because I want to know what happens and I have to buy the sequel. I would rather this had been combined with book 2. That said, I didn't find the characters poorly written or flat, and I like where the story is going. I am a sucker for 'explore big dumb object' stories.
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