Nicole Greene is brought onto Earth’s first interstellar ship – the last place she ever wanted to be.
Completely out of her element, and with more questions than answers, Nicole finds herself surrounded by the best and brightest scientists that ever lived... a crew that soon begins to exhibit increasingly bizarre, frightening behavior. Not knowing who she can trust, Nicole discovers a dark secret aboard the ship... a secret that will ultimately leave the fate of mankind in her hands.
But, unfortunately for her – the only way to save mankind is to save herself first.
Assessment:
Plot: The plot moves at a steady, if sometimes dragging, pace and features enough suspense to keep the reader engaged. The larger scenario and setting are interesting, and the central conflict becomes more and more compelling as it is further revealed.
Prose/Style: While there are occasional moments of strong descriptive writing, for much of the book the prose is serviceable but rarely memorable. Often it feels like the narration is limited too closely to the characters and not given enough space to elaborate. The dialogue feels a little too polished and lacks authenticity.
Originality: The scenario is inventive, and once fully revealed the primary conflict has interesting moral and philosophical implications. The characters and plot appear to be original and unique.
Character Development: Many of the supporting characters are role-players that lack dimensionality. The protagonist, Nicole, has a satisfying character arc that aligns nicely with the plot, though her interiority doesn’t always keep pace. The book would have benefitted from distancing the narration somewhat more from the protagonist.
Date Submitted: August 25, 2019
I’ll admit it. I’m kind of a Sci Fi fiction neophyte. I’ve not dug too deeply into it and that is to my detriment as a reader. My taste runs more toward near-future possibilities of what the world will be in a few short years, thanks to how badly we’ve treated it--most notably, the Oryx and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood. I mean I’ve read the Big Books--The Martian by Andy Weir, which was so incessantly scientific it sometimes felt like I was reading a physical textbook but in a good way; Wool by Hugh Howey, which fed my inner claustrophobic very nicely; Dune by Frank Herbert because, well, it’s “Dune;” Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer which is super confusing and has little to nothing to do with the movie other than its inherent confusion. A few others. Anyone who claims this genre is not formulaic is mistaken or hasn’t read enough of it. Survival is the goal, no matter what cost, regardless of what’s thrown in front of the characters to prevent it. How authors put a twist on that, is where good sci fi books exist. How the author makes you believe what’s happening is possible--that’s where great sci fi books thrive.
Burning Horizon by T.M. James has a lot to recommend it as great. The pacing is excellent (fast, which is what I prefer). The author gives vivid life to something that’s been endlessly described by others (the inside of a cavernous spaceship). The plot unfolds in a way that doesn’t give everything away up front. My only complaint about it really is that two seemingly key points in the past are not ever really fully explained. What’s even more satisfying to me as a reader is that the ending is what should happen--not necessarily what we want to happen. It has that “wow, I could see this happening, and pretty soon,” realism element that I find compelling.
It has a fair bit of gore and perhaps somewhat overdone descriptions of, well, gross stuff. But other than that, I found it entertaining and very nearly un-put-downable.
