Legacy of Pandora by Eric Michael Craig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Caveats: I’m a super picky reader, and am quick to abandon books. I don’t enjoy politics or a huge cast of characters. That’s just me.
Bearing in mind my caveats, this book had too many characters for my liking, and even the primary ones could have used a bit more depth, but I get it. It’s a plot-focussed book, moreso than a character driven one. There is a lot of politics involved, but it was handled well, and did not go overboard into unnecessary detail. It served to propel the plot forward, which I really appreciated. I did finish the book, and will likely read more of the series.
The plot was captivating, and the science intriguing. The book is very strong on plot, and weaves together a lot of storyline elements. However, some elements did not resolve by the end of the book. I’m not sure if this is simply because they will be picked up in the sequel. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt that this is the case. However, I have a bit of a problem with that. There are a couple of murder mysteries involved in this plot. In my opinion, those mysteries should have been resolved, or at the very least, there should have been a more explicit indication that the investigation would continue. As it is, it seems like the author simply switched plot focus and forgot to wrap up the mysteries. I highly doubt this is in fact the case, but that’s how it felt to me, which was a bit disappointing.
I really liked the way AI is handled. I enjoyed the fact that the AI are still explicitly hardware based and how, due to their complexity, they take a long time to reboot. This, and other physical limitations of radio communications etc make for enjoyable realistic problems that must be overcome.
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