Assessment:
In Warren’s underwater adventure, diver Jamie Edmondson is contacted by a wealthy friend to investigate strange sightings off the coast of California that lead to the discovery of new, hostile human-like species. The novel is poorly placed and all of the characters -- except for Jamie, who is well rendered -- thinly drawn. The erratic pacing, clunky dialogue, and stock characters do little service to the book's unique plot.
Date Submitted: June 10, 2016
Four Stars!
Reviewed By Katelyn Hensel for Readers’ Favorite
“Saffron is the first book of The Neptune Chronicles by Vic Warren. To call Jamie Edmondson an environmentalist is like calling a vegan a picky eater. He's got his views and he sticks to them religiously. Then everything, and I mean everything, changes when he starts out on a special expedition. The discovery of a kind of merpeople living in the ocean shocks the world, and brings out the kind of hateful crazies that only something or someone "new and different" can drag from the backwoods hole they inhabit. The Neptunes are telepaths, which could potentially threaten human dominance on the food chain, but unfortunately for Jamie, he's just fallen in love with one of the Neptunes.
This is the second book I've read from Vic Warren. I was expecting a lot and I was not disappointed. The Neptunes are a unique race and much more realistic than some of the other "merpeople" books that I've read. This was also my first male POV that I've read in terms of paranormal, cross species romance, so that was something new and fun for me. Vic Warren has great skill in writing his characters, making them original and interesting. Although the dialogue dragged in a few parts, I felt very invested in all of the characters and their interacting relationships. Saffron is a fun and intelligent romp in the world of pseudo-scientific, inter species politics. Wow...say that all at once! It was a fun and fascinating read and I can't wait to read more in the series.”
