Sunday, January 15, 2023

Chasing Shadows, deLonge, Hartley

Chasing Shadows
(Sekret Machines #1)
by Tom deLonge, A J Hartley
thriller, science fiction

copyright 2016
read in January 2023

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

It's an enjoyable way to pass the time :-) But it fails of its promise.

There's a big build-up but the denouement is less exciting. Largely because it is so incomplete.
The characters are a mixed bag. Some interesting though minor variations on the standards. All the good people are likeable but they don't do enough to make me want to follow them. There is promise, unfulfilled.
The plot is the same: interesting, exciting, it leads nowhere.
This is book one. It reads like chapter one: The introduction to a full novel. Worth reading by itself, incomplete, I will look for book two, I will not be disappointed if I never see the next book.

And now there are two points which are trivial. Barely worth mentioning. They do not affect my opinion of the book. I just can't stop being annoyed by them:
The pilot pushes gently on the throttle and flies faster. Okay, it's very likely that a jet fighter is different to a light aircraft. But my understanding of a light aircraft is that you fly faster by *pulling* back on the throttle. Push the throttle in and the engine slows down.
Although... strictly speaking, to fly faster you lower the nose. Then adjust engine speed to stay level.
It's unimportant, it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the book, I just can't forget it.
And the other thing: The hero pilot is selected for his flying skill. Which he puts to good use. Until the final battle, where he thinks, "blow up that plane" and it just happens, no skill required. Perhaps they should have selected the Last Starfighter.



Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
===

"Yesterday I knew nothing. Today I know that." ... per Ginger Meggs

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

No comments: