By
Derick William Dalton
Publisher:
Synaptic Labs, SP
Published: Jan. 9, 2014
ASIN: B005AL38JO
About HOUSES OF
COMMON:
In the 22nd century, pilgrims leave Earth for the nearby planets that
terraformers have crafted to meet their needs. Ranyk is a smart-mouthed alien,
the best of the world-builders employed by the US government--and he always
completes his risky assignments solo, pushing to the deep recesses of space for
the good of colonists and to avoid his growing fame.
Until
he's handed an on-planet assignment in Ireland, of all places, as an undercover
international student of aquaponics. His real plan? To pull scientists and
their families
out of a country careening toward civil war--and off earth to a world of their own before marital-law lockdown ends their ground-breaking discoveries.
out of a country careening toward civil war--and off earth to a world of their own before marital-law lockdown ends their ground-breaking discoveries.
Risking
his life is no novelty for Ranyk. He's been battered by asteroids, nearly
incinerated in volcanoes, and has out-piloted pirates. But political espionage
on Earth is more dangerous that anything he's encountered before, and he's
completely ill-equipped for such delicate matters. Now he must figure out who
to trust and who to eliminate, or it will mean his freedom, the safety of forty
thousand desperate colonists, and the lives of his friends.
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My Thoughts:
I
found Houses of Common to be an
interesting novel. I liked the general plot, and I found the characters to be
interesting. I particularly enjoyed Ranyk and Sekiik who hailed originally from
Rildj. He is quite the smart aleck, especially when he is suddenly awakened
from hibernation.
I
do have to admit that I was confused by some of the single page chapters that
seemed to come out of nowhere, some of which contained conversations with no
reference to who or where the speakers were. It was obvious that they were
conspirators, but beyond that it made little sense and to me they added little
to the story.
There
was a lot happening in Houses of Common.
In some ways it almost felt like reading two or three books at the same time.
There was Ranyk’s situation with the Irish colonists, and there was Sekiik’s
political situation with the Ambassador, plus Sean and the attempt on his life.
Each
story was interesting in itself, and while they were all eventually related in
some way, it was too much for one book.
Mr.
Dalton wrote quite descriptively, including a lot of detail. Some of the detail
made the images very easy to visualize, and that was wonderful. I liked how the
author took what we can do in medical science today, and extended that a little
further to what we might plausibly be able to do with it in the future.
The
one thing that I just found a little too unbelievable was the ability of Sekiik
to go flying in and out of the spacecraft in only a vac suit without a tether
of any sort. At one point she was out there for an orbit around the moon after
the craft she was in was destroyed.
I
don’t mind books that are part of a series at all. However, I do prefer it when
there is some kind of conclusion at the end of the book. Houses of Common did what I consider to be a pet peeve of mine when
it comes to series books. It simply stopped. No conclusion to anything. No resolution
of any sort. It was kind of like turning the page and finding the rest of the
book missing.
I
gave Houses of Common 3 stars out of
5 for it’s creativity and imagination. If you are a science fiction fan you’ll
probably enjoy it, but you’ll have to be prepared to purchase book 2 if you
want to find out the solution to any of the situations presented in the first
book.
I
received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A
positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
Mr. Dalton is a professional
student who has taken an occasional hiatus for such frivolities as teaching
high school science, residential construction, and treating patients as a
physician assistant. When not speaking of himself in the third person, he hangs
out with his wife and kids and a smart-mouth turtle. He's also planning a
mountain biking trip on the moon.
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