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A review by crofteereader
The Odyssey: Wine Dark Deep: Book Three by R. Peter Keith
2.0
Probably the weakest in the series to date, the prelude to book, or rather episode, four says it all. These books don't stand on their own. I read books one and two no more than two weeks ago and I was already fumbling to realign where we left off.
I think the real issue comes from the fact that the depth of our characters exist off-screen. We get a few tiny hints about pasts (ie Cal and the Doc were married and divorced and Cal got married again; pilot Sarah has some kind of history with Cal because he got her on the ship) but no actual concrete growth, development, or history. The characters were essentially placeholders for their job - except the Doc; they just bring her along everywhere to ask questions and force exposition (until she's forced the be the smart one in the room). I think if we got to see them grow or adapt or come to terms with the emotional/mental toll of everything that's happening, it would have made me both anchored and invested in the story.
It's all plot. (Except for the 50 pages in the middle I skipped because I got tired of reading their fumbling attempts to talk with an alien) A happens and then B happens and then C happens, but the events don't seem to be feeding each other or compounding much. And then we end with a cliffhanger, which book four will probably immediately follow with no catch-up.
But also, a two page flicker to the villains from book one (who were not mentioned at all in book two or the first 368 pages of book three), which I guess is supposed to bring all of the events of the books together, was kind of too little, too late, time for a gimmick instead.
The writing is dense but I like how smart the science always feels. It does get a little repetitive, but I can't imagine science changes all that much in the span of one space journey. I really think that the series' biggest weakness is the lack of depth to the characters - which could really bring everything into focus and make it so much more engaging. Like, the plot is cool, but why should I care whether these people make it out? Other than because they're human beings and I supposedly have empathy?
{Thank you Smith Publicity and Uphill Downhill Press for the advanced copy; all thoughts are my own}
I think the real issue comes from the fact that the depth of our characters exist off-screen. We get a few tiny hints about pasts (ie Cal and the Doc were married and divorced and Cal got married again; pilot Sarah has some kind of history with Cal because he got her on the ship) but no actual concrete growth, development, or history. The characters were essentially placeholders for their job - except the Doc; they just bring her along everywhere to ask questions and force exposition (until she's forced the be the smart one in the room). I think if we got to see them grow or adapt or come to terms with the emotional/mental toll of everything that's happening, it would have made me both anchored and invested in the story.
It's all plot. (Except for the 50 pages in the middle I skipped because I got tired of reading their fumbling attempts to talk with an alien) A happens and then B happens and then C happens, but the events don't seem to be feeding each other or compounding much. And then we end with a cliffhanger, which book four will probably immediately follow with no catch-up.
But also, a two page flicker to the villains from book one (who were not mentioned at all in book two or the first 368 pages of book three), which I guess is supposed to bring all of the events of the books together, was kind of too little, too late, time for a gimmick instead.
The writing is dense but I like how smart the science always feels. It does get a little repetitive, but I can't imagine science changes all that much in the span of one space journey. I really think that the series' biggest weakness is the lack of depth to the characters - which could really bring everything into focus and make it so much more engaging. Like, the plot is cool, but why should I care whether these people make it out? Other than because they're human beings and I supposedly have empathy?
{Thank you Smith Publicity and Uphill Downhill Press for the advanced copy; all thoughts are my own}