I'm a huge fan of the TV series Firefly created by Joss Whedon so when I heard AVALON was being compared to it, I had to see what it was all about. In fact, it does have some similarities and I can see why fans of the famous TV show would enjoy this science fiction book. I think fans of the genre in general will enjoy this one since it has everything a good science fiction book needs: a spaceship with strong memories, an eclectic crew with questionable morals, and space, lots of space.
I'm the first to admit that the cover isn't the most attractive one out there but I love the fact that it's not your typical teen cover with a pretty girl in a pretty dress, or something like that. With the main character being a guy, I guess they really couldn't go that route... Despite it's simplicity, it's fresh, designed for a maximum audience and it leaves a lot to the imagination.
As for the story, I really like the idea of teenage mercenaries. Who would suspect teens of being so great at theft, right? Despite their line of work, the crew of Avalon are actually a pretty good gang. The main character and captain, Jeth Seagrave would do anything (or almost anything) to buy back his late parents' ship, Avalon, which his uncle lost in a gambling debt. He has been working as a mercenary with that specific goal in mind and his latest mission might just make his dream come true. For Jeth, Avalon represent freedom, the ability for him to do what he wants, but most of all, it's the last link he has to his parents who were executed by the ITA, a governing agency who control more or less everything related to space travel. The rest of his crew is a pretty good bunch, including his sister Lizzie, who adds charm and sweetness to the group.
As the Avalon crew sets out on their latest mission, everyone is skeptical because of the destination. The Belgrave Quadrant is a region of space that everyone avoids because of the weird things rumored to have happened while flying in that region. Sort of like the Bermuda Triangle. Tech goes wonky, equipment malfunctions, and the most bizarre things happen. The crew of Avalon can attest to that last one as mysterious things start to happen on their ship as they try to finish their mission, towing a "missing" ship that is supposed to contain something worth a lot. What they find on the ship instead of a rumored weapon is three survivors who seem to have secrets and a mission of their own. Secrets, conspiracies and danger follows Avalon around and things get so weird at one point, all the crew wants is to get out of there alive!
While not exactly like the TV show, fans of Firefly will love the feel of this book. Whedonites rejoice! While it does have a mainly teenage cast and can be found in the Teen section, I strongly believe it will please anybody from any age group who loves the science-fiction genre. I really hope more books in this series will be published. For the time being, we will have to satisfy ourselves with the prequel, PROXY.
I'm reading it right now - I'm also a huge fan of Firefly. I'm not getting a huge Firefly vibe from it. I think its funny that this is the second book I've seen recently compared to Firefly.
ReplyDeleteI picked this one up because of the Firefly comparisons, and I actually found them to be pretty well deserved. I can't wait for the sequel!
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