Name: Alpha Blade (Wilds of Wynmere)
Rating: 3.43 (3 reviews)

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July 8, 2018

Despite the asseverations of the Author's note, this novella can hardly be made sense of without any knowledge of the previous book in the Wilds of Wynmere universe, Alpha Commander. For it begins in medias res with a dialogue between human admiral Merrick and the mated heroes of Alpha Commander in such fashion that one makes neither head nor tails of the situation at hand, before the three of them get separated by an attack mounted by a third party and Merrick falls in the hands of said enemy. The confusing yet barely there plot is not helped by the all telling and no showing writing, by the extraordinary absence of sci-fi background (of universe building there is not an ounce within these covers, belying the statement in the Author's note that this can be read as a stand-alone), by the sheer idiocy of the two leads, by the inability of the author to find the right pace between slow-burn and rushed urgency, and by the sophomoric evocation of the protagonists' shifting feelings. As for the English cultivated by Mrs Petit, its quality is aptly epitomized in the following snippet, where an atrocious, wholly unnecessary, metonymy comes hot on the tail of the most ridiculous instance of repeated word ever: "he almost hated to do it. Almost. Canthor’s fist cocked back and and met with the grim determination of the Admiral's jaw". For the entire book oscillates with no taste or discrimination whatsoever between naively pompous, or clumsily technocratic, parlance ("“well, if you've read Cobbson’s discussion of the romanization of Wym’meln to the more familiar Wynmere, and the retention of the indigenous formulation amongst East Asian speakers, then I have some interesting research to share with you”" ~ "“your research on Wynmerian linguistic patterns relative to meta-dimensional social structure was the foundation for my work at the academy" ~"a breath caught in Merrick's dry throat. The Wynmerian was the most striking he'd ever seen. His skin was vermilion and underlined with the leanest run of muscles he'd ever seen on one of his kind. It made him look at once more slight and more powerful. It was a strange and imposing look for one such as him. His eyes were large, violet, and crystalline. His uniquely thick Wynmerian hair was a shade of umber") and the kind of jejune writing that would be more suitable to teenagers or swooning ladies with no college education than to a 43 year-old, linguistically trained admiral ("“let's grab lunch and see if we can spin a story for the boys back home”" ~"once, in his youth, Merrick had been a fantastic soldier, full of courage and natural talent. But in battle you are allowed no mistakes. And even someone like him, with skill and heart, could fail once. Ten years ago, in his thirty-third year, he failed. That failure haunted him—swelled his brain, buckled his knees. When he thought about his lover’s face—young, proud, hopeful—the face of a newly minted officer ready to see the stars—he sometimes grew sick. Sometimes he just went numb. Even after all these years. His thumb rubbed against the ring he wore on his middle finger, the ring his lover had given him before he died. It was a memento of a love and a mistake he'd made once upon a foolish youth" ~ "“run hard,” said Tanner. “If we get cut off again, we're good as dead.” “Then get ready to fight like dead men,” snapped Merrick as his eyes fell on a squad of Wildmeres rounding the corner" ~ "“good morning,” said Merrick. No response. “I'm guessing you took the liberty of reading the name off my uniform, so you know who I am. Do I get the same pleasure of making your acquaintance?” "). To cut a long story short: this novella is barely readable as it stands, it pits two wholly cardboard characters who break the ice in record time, and provides very little entertainment.

Alpha Blade

Jamie Petit

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Jamie Petit

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