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A review by bookishhill
Dark Planet Warriors: The Complete Serial by Anna Carven
3.0
3/5 ⭐️s
Sometimes a narrator can kill a book, and I feel like that happened here. Todd McLaren’s POV narration for Tarak was probably intentionally stilted to emulate the straightforward persona of a career military general, but it took a lot of the emotion out of the story. And his voice for the FMC was truly atrocious. This probably would’ve been closer to a 3.5/5 had I read the physical copy instead of listening to the audiobook.
The story itself had a lot of promise! Anna Carven’s a new to me author, and I think she has a genuinely interesting story to tell here. The world building was great, and I love the idea of a “dark planet” with an alien species that will follow in the tracks of their dying sun if they don’t branch out past their own people.
The writing is somewhat simple at times, but I can look past that for a good story. I do wish the pacing had been better; it dragged in some places while speeding through crucial plot in others. It also felt like key plot elements were dropped a lot throughout the book. What about Tarak’s headaches or his issues with the empress? I also need his backstory with experiments explained. I hope we get answers and a more fleshed out story in book two.
The romance had a lot of moments I loved. Tarak and Abbey started out strong, and their growing respect and attraction throughout the book was great! I’m excited to see them in a new environment in book two.
Spice: 3/5
Sometimes a narrator can kill a book, and I feel like that happened here. Todd McLaren’s POV narration for Tarak was probably intentionally stilted to emulate the straightforward persona of a career military general, but it took a lot of the emotion out of the story. And his voice for the FMC was truly atrocious. This probably would’ve been closer to a 3.5/5 had I read the physical copy instead of listening to the audiobook.
The story itself had a lot of promise! Anna Carven’s a new to me author, and I think she has a genuinely interesting story to tell here. The world building was great, and I love the idea of a “dark planet” with an alien species that will follow in the tracks of their dying sun if they don’t branch out past their own people.
The writing is somewhat simple at times, but I can look past that for a good story. I do wish the pacing had been better; it dragged in some places while speeding through crucial plot in others. It also felt like key plot elements were dropped a lot throughout the book. What about Tarak’s headaches or his issues with the empress? I also need his backstory with experiments explained. I hope we get answers and a more fleshed out story in book two.
The romance had a lot of moments I loved. Tarak and Abbey started out strong, and their growing respect and attraction throughout the book was great! I’m excited to see them in a new environment in book two.
Spice: 3/5