Forbidden the Stars (the Interstellar Age Book 1) [Paperback]

It's easy for a writer to get bogged down when writing science fiction. Some writers focus too much on the science and not enough the story. Others do the reverse. Valmore Daniels manages to maintain a balance between the two. It's one of the things that made Forbidden the Stars a good read for me.

I enjoyed the author's writing style. There are places where Valmore Daniels uses excerpts from ship logs, personal journals and files to help further the story. For the most part, this worked to great effect.

The characters were interesting and believable. Each one had a fully developed personality and clear motivations. That said, some characters were stronger than others. There were also a few minor characters that I wanted to know more about.

The setting, especially how things are run on Earth, is unique. It's a different take on how things could be that I liked. It would have been nice to learn more about the events that led up to this but the story isn't hurt by the lack of details.

Finally, the plot and pacing of the story made the book an easy read. There was always something happening and events kept moving at an even pace. Towards the end of the book, things felt a little rushed as the author tied up the plot.

If you want to get a science fiction fix, you should give this book a try.

I received a review copy from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is an ambitious story weaving multiple storylines at once. There is Michael Sanderson, President of Canada Corp's Space Mining Division; Justine Turner, the first female astronaut who pilots Orcus 1 to Pluto; 10 year-old Alex Manez; the criminal base of operations on Luna and the legend of Kulkulkan, the Mayan god of the sun, the oceans, the earth and the sky. Maybe, a little too ambitious.

Alex Manez travels with his parents on a survey mission to the asteroid Macklin's Rock in the Sol System. This should have been a routine mission, but tragedy strikes and his parents are killed in an explosion. This is no ordinary explosion, but one that will change space exploration for mankind. The asteroid disappears only to reappear four hours later in a Plutonian orbit; the first instance of FTL aided by a mysterious element named Kinemet. Young Alex survives the FTL travel, but his exposure to kinetic element fundamentally changes him. Justine and her crew who were currently serving on a mission to Pluto rescue him. She must abandon her mission on Pluto to bring Alex back to Earth.

I wanted to bond with Alex and everything that he must be feeling, but the author keeps Alex at bay keeping him distant and aloof from every overture that Justine makes to befriend him. We do get to know Justine better, a woman who lost everything in her personal life, because of her unfailing dedication to her career. From the moment Justine rescues Alex, however, she develops an over protectiveness toward the young boy. This is where Mr. Daniels gets it right. I felt that I knew Justine and could understand the reasons why she made the decisions she did in her life.

Not being a scientist, I found myself skipping over many of scientific descriptions and explanations. These don't interest me, but this is in no way a reflection on Mr. Daniels who obviously did an enormous amount of research for this book. I prefer to know more about people in the story - their motivations, desires, and dreams.

Without giving away any spoilers, there are many events in this book that keep the action moving. All of the storylines came together and I finished the book within a week. It was an enjoyable read and I have no problem recommending this book to fans of science fiction.

Good SciFi has well developed characters. There is no depth to the characters. I never cared about any of them.

Good SciFi either lets technology exist without attempting to explain it (Steven L.Kent's "Clone" series), or actually uses good, established science as a basis for its extensions of out current knowledge (Larry Niven, John Ringo). The central concept in the book, 'element X', fits more in the fantasy genre than SciFi, and the treatment of nuclear physics and electron orbits are too bizarre to be amusing.

I managed to get 3/4 of the way through it and realized I wasn't even paying attention any more, and I did not care whether or not the little twit ever got rescued, and I don't want to find out anything more about 'Dis Pater'.