The Alien Sea: Champions, Volume Two [Mass Market Paperback]

Alien Sea by Lucien Soulban is the second book in a series of stand alone novels titled The Champions. Saving Solace by Douglas Clark being the first. The Champions novels follow minor characters from past Dragonlance books and give them adventures of their own. In this case fans of the Dragonlance Chronicles will remember several character, but most importantly these two; Apoletta (the sea elf who meets the companions in Istar) and Zebulah (Apoletta's human husband). I only mention those two because it took me half the book to remember who they were ad once I did it meant so much more to me.

The character development in this book is average. I did not feel that Apoletta's development was anywhere near where it should have been. Some of the supporting characters actually had more character development than the main character. There were some very interesting characters in this book such as Brine-Wisker and Echo-Fury both anima characters that add depth to the overall story. While the character development was average, that does not take away that Lucien Soulban made me care about these characters. Normally, I am not a fan of books tat take place completely underwater, but I found myself wondering what was going to happen with these characters and I quickly became invested in the outcome.

The plot is rather one dimensional in nature. There is a great evil in the west and no one believes this band of adventures so they must bring back proof that it is out there. Yes, we have all read this plot many, many times. I would like to say that this book repackages it in a different way to make it feel fresh and new... but that doesn't happen. Attentive readers will know what is going to happen and guess pretty closely when it will happen. Yet, with that said, even knowing what would happen, I found it very difficult to put this book down. While simplistic in nature and only having one very small sub-plot I found myself always turning the page. The twist at the end is one that can be expected, but it is done in a reasonable enough way to not make the reader groan and say "again! Not this ending again." While simple I thought it was a tight plot and did not wander at all. The author certainly has a unique voice that is easy to read and allows time to fly by..

One of my complaints with books that take place completely, or mostly, underwater is that the fight scenes usually get jumbled and the author's often lose sight ad focus. A fight scene in water has the added direction of down. Yet authors seldom have their characters fighting from all directions and when they do it is often confusing. This is not the case in this book. The fight scenes are crisp and compact and to the point and well designed. The same goes for the use of magic, not to much and done well.

Overall, I could easily see myself recommending this book to Dragonlance fans. I would hesitate to recommend it to beginning Dragonlance fans simply because the back story, meeting the Companions, adds so much depth to the characters that I would make sure readers have at least read those first. Yet, if insisted upon the Champions books are proving to be a good look into the Dragonlance realm too. This was a fun, enjoyable read. Nothing that will make the reader ponder for hours, but it passes the time. All in all a good book.

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review  4.0 out of 5 stars