Prime Vanguard

Prime Vanguard by Alexander O'Donnell. 3 out of 5 stars. Although it wasn't my cup of tea, it might be yours! This book had some definite pro's to it, some things I don't find in other books that I absolutely loved about this one.

I would recommend to anyone who loves Sci-Fi, things like Ender's Game and strong characters!

Summary:

Just prior to its mysterious destruction, the final transmission of a Trans-Stellar Union drone depicts a ringed planet flanked by superstructures of undetermined origin. The Union fears this may have been the work of an unknown alien race, so they send a ragtag crew of interstellar travelers to investigate the anomaly in secret.

Given the tension between the varied races and personalities of the crew, the journey through warped space seems to take much longer than its twenty-three days. The ringed planet turns out to be an incredibly rare find—a garden world teeming with life but apparently absent of an intelligent race. The lack of intelligent life baffles lead researcher Morthas and puts security specialist Shakrii on edge, given that there is more than enough evidence on this planet and in its orbit that an incredibly advanced race once called this planet home. The more the crew digs, the more apparent it becomes that this planet had to have been terraformed and seeded with life by an outside source.

Little do they know that, even as they observe the varied flora and fauna on this beautiful planet, they too are being observed. Soon, their ship is set upon and disabled by Xami, an autonomous representative of an unimaginably advanced collective of AI machines known as the Xarai. All the Xarai serve GHEXRAX, their originator and creator sent here by an advanced biological race of intergalactic imperialists that call themselves the Primacy. The conundrum facing the Xarai is that their directive to terraform this planet is complete, but the Primacy is more than 3,000 years late for their planned arrival.

When the outsiders receive data from back home that suggests the Primacy was destroyed by a rare supernova, the news triggers a civil war between GHEXRAX’s loyalists and a faction of deviant Xarai that wish to make their own destiny elsewhere in the galaxy.

The resultant war leads to the capture of two members of the crew. The rest of the crew bands together with the deviant faction to rescue their friends, defeat GHEXRAX, and free themselves from the overlord’s control. Despite being badly outgunned, their assault forces an impasse.

Finally, GHEXRAX realizes that further war will only weaken its position and make it incapable of defending the planet from future attack by the Union. It reluctantly allows the deviant faction to break free of its influence and create a world for itself in another star system. The rebel Xarai faction enters into an alliance with the Union, and all agree to quarantine the space surrounding GHEXRAX’s home world, leaving the singularly minded tyrant alone to rebuild its planet and await a parent race that may never come.

My Review:

Prime Vanguard reminded me a bit of Ender's Game due to the Sci-Fi genre. I was in love with the way Alexander O'Donnell described his characters and created his species. There was a lot of detail that was needed in order to correctly explain all of these species and he did a fantastic job of doing just that. He did an amazing job at describing the world around you, however there were times I thought it might be overly descriptive, but I know there are people out there who absolutely love when its highly descriptive! A few things I wasn't a fan of was that the story seemed rushed. I felt the story ended too quickly, with little explanation. There was also a slow start, which can depending on your opinions be a pro or a con. For me I like quick starts, it keeps me entertained and makes me want to continue reading. I also noticed a few grammar mistakes here and there, but that doesn't always add up to the Author's mistakes, this can be how they uploaded it or the editor. Even with these cons it was a good book, but wasn't my favorite.

My Pros:

Unique Characters and Character names.

Descriptive, sometimes a bit overly done but that can be a good thing in some situations.

Great Species creation and descriptors. Absolutely loved the fact these were original species with well-done descriptors. Made you fully understand how hard it was to be some of these species.

My Cons:

A few grammar mistakes that can take away from the story

Slow start, this can be a pro for some people.

Feels rushed in certain parts of the story, almost feels as if there were things missing which made it confusing at parts.

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Well done on these amazing unique characters and I absolutely adore the highly descriptive species! I would recommend to anyone who loves Sci-Fi or highly enjoyed Ender's Game.

Amazon Link To Buy (this link gives me a kickback if you use it. I do all of these book reviews for free and this is the only way I make money.) : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08VLMR23B/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B08VLMR23B&linkCode=as2&tag=queenbookrevi-20&linkId=b5437655a2d7ad9a21adca052d92810f

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MK. Queen

Aka: Queen Book Reviews