In this Epic Saga’s 4th episode, the crew of the Tempest are still trying to recover from the loss of the crew from the shuttle accident after getting free of the strange creature and the anomaly in book 3. They are now continuing their mission to ‘Andromeda’, and although they have lost time, none of them have forgotten their goals.
It is fascinating how quickly this book quickly picks up from the earlier work that Warren has already done with his characters, and immediately starts to develop them further, using the Main Characters to drive elements of the story and making it clever and creative, and utterly intriguing. As Cas struggles with the loss of Blohm, and Evie struggles with the impending meeting with her Father, Zenfor has suddenly realised her has taken an affinity to the crew, partly from missing his own position amongst the Sil, but partly because, although once they viewed her with fear, even contempt, they now see her, whilst not maybe as a part of the crew, but mostly certainly as their saviour, as a friend, and have started to treat her as such.
It is the simple act of physical intimacy, patting her on the shoulder or arm and thanking her for her efforts against the entity that nearly killed them all, that finally sees Zenfor turn her back on one of the Sils highest decrees, and one Zenfor said she would not break, to share their technology. And this is the spectrum of intelligent character driven writing that we have come to expect from Warren, and he delivers repeatedly, as Zenfor battles her own ethics, and finally succumbs, integrating speed algorithms into the human ship, allowing them to traverse space in days instead of months. (It conveniently allows Warren to get to his story point quicker to – I see what you did there Eric!! Great use of Technology to get your story moving!!)
As part of the continuing Character development, the Tempest has to stop at Evie’s home world for repairs, but this allows her to see her dying father. I do not want to give away any spoilers, so won’t discuss this at length, but this part of the story is not only intriguing as far as the actual story goes, it is also brilliantly written, creating powerful and emotive scenes. Warren is an exceptional writer, crafting these storylines that leave you giggling one minute, and then feeling distraught for a character the next.
Box continues to be one of the best characters in the series, you can always count on him for some hilarious comments, inappropriate comments, and commentary on mating rituals that he has been studying and what peoples interests are, which is just brilliant in a sickbay situation with a very serious and deep intense conversation happening. Box as an almost true AI, is masterful in every sense of the term as a piece of Character writing, and he alone is worth reading this series for.
Journey’s Edge sees the Tempest finally reach the area in which the ‘Andromeda’ threat was meant to be, but everything is not as it seems, and again, no spoilers. The crew are in for incredible challenges, and it is Evie who is the only one who is able to save them. But can she really do it in time, and will the others listen to her, given the fragile state of her psyche with the situation with her Father?
This is another extraordinary episode in what is one of the best series I have read in this genre. My only disappointment is that I have not read it earlier (But then again, that works to my advantage, as all the books are done, and I don’t have to wait for the next book in the series, THAT would have killed me!!)
If you are a fan of Sci-Fi, Mil Sci-Fi, Space Opera, Star Trek, any of those things, you will be wishing you had found this a long time ago and read it and re-read it, and want to know when the TV series is coming.
I am already into part 5, and it is just as good, get into this now!