Iain Hawkes’s Reviews > Aurora's End > Status Update

Mixed, but good overall. Looking at this book structually, a lot of it feels less like its own plot and more as payoffs for what was set up in the prior book. That's not necessarily a bad thing, given this is a trilogy, but noticeable, especially when it comes to the 2177 material. The 25th century stuff does tend to blur together in that it's arguably one large action scene, but it does its job (and hah, I was...)

Sempiternity final goodbyes manage to straddle the line between humour and tragedy, so that's neat as well.

Definitely getting Flood vibes from the ra'haam, and not for the first time. Anyway, it's still decent. Tyler making his way back to Aurora Academy gives the story a sense of coming fool circle. It's nice to get Magellan back, but his whole "we planned everything all along!" revelations really stretch credulity, even by the standards of the story/genre. The revelations with Kim and the crystals are well done.

Mixed thoughts, but they're mostly positive. While the time loop could have worn out its welcome (and might still do), it's managed to be somewhat funny, along with a sense of dread (e.g. the amount of time left for each loop is steadily decreasing). Calling it, Lae is Tyler's future/alternate timeline daughter. The stuff with Scarlet and de Seel is okay, bit gratuitous, KimxZee is a bit more restrained.

Nice thinking, Tyler.

It's okay, getting bogged down by minutia.

Despite some of the gripes I've had with the novel thus far, this latest batch of writing has been solid. Kal's backstory, while established at this point, is conveyed effectively. There's also decent mindscrews with the time travel elements. So, one group of protags is in the future, another in the past, while Tyler seems to be the only one still in 2380. Writing flows well, stuff's hitting hard.

Too short a group of pages to really say much. The ra'haam have taken Earth, and now I'm getting Dead Space flashbacks. 0_0

Not that the Aurora Cycle is going to win points for scientific accuracy, but I'll say it again - dark matter and dark energy don't work like this! Gah! Well, anyway, the writing in of itself is fine.