Formulaic plots, flimsy characters with zero growth, and dozen books in the series are all great reasons to pass on this entirely. There are interesting parts of the series and perhaps under a different author I would have enjoyed this as a space opera worth a couple of re-reads. But, it’s not. And I won’t waste another word on it.
At this point in the series, the pattern to the plots become all too obvious. The travel between the worlds was interesting, as was the continual struggle for survival by the protagonist. But when the actions of the two main characters becomes completely predictable, it’s too much to bear. I didn’t finish the book, nor the series. It’s astounding to me that the series has twelve books in it—TWELVE! When three books in a row have zero character growth and nearly identical plot structures, it’s time to move on.
Though the second book was not as good as the first, it wasn’t horrible and so I decided to pick up the third. Though there was no character growth from book one to book three, this one was interesting. But the warning signs of a bad series were there: same plot outline, no character growth. Rebellion was OK, and after reading it I took a break from the series hoping a little distance between this one and the next would reinvigorate my interest in it.
Finding the first book in the series interesting, though not ground-breaking, I decided to continue on. The second book was neither bad nor good, and moved along fast enough to keep me interested. I love to read a new author’s take on aliens, space travel, and world building. Larson kept my attention enough to want to move on to the next book.
Swarm by B.V. Larson
After reading the novella, Army of One, I decided to pick up the first book in the series. It’s a wild ride. But I’ll save you the agony of having to decide if you want to start a 12-book series (12!!) — don’t bother I didn’t even finish the fourth book.