Rating: 
Summary: Decent
Review: Not a bad book, not a great book. Just decent.The basic idea is a ship full of soldiers and scientists exploring a nearby region of space. The soldiers are predictably aggressive and paranoid, and the scientists are incredibly uninterested in the first contact with an alien culture. (Once they determine that an intelligent species isn't the one they were looking for, they all totally lose interest. Hello?) Unlike many reviewers, I didn't find the "blues" especially different from humans. The author tried very hard to make them different, but they're no more alien than the folks in an ethnically different part of town. The book tries to surprise you by setting things up one way and then having them turn out to be something very different. The set up is so clumsy that the end is revealed at the beginning. (Assertions made about a certain phenomenon come to mind.) The plot progressed well, and the main character was well developed. An interesting read, but not a very deep one.
Rating:
Summary: Decent
Review: Not a bad book, not a great book. Just decent. The basic idea is a ship full of soldiers and scientists exploring a nearby region of space. The soldiers are predictably aggressive and paranoid, and the scientists are incredibly uninterested in the first contact with an alien culture. (Once they determine that an intelligent species isn't the one they were looking for, they all totally lose interest. Hello?) Unlike many reviewers, I didn't find the "blues" especially different from humans. The author tried very hard to make them different, but they're no more alien than the folks in an ethnically different part of town. The book tries to surprise you by setting things up one way and then having them turn out to be something very different. The set up is so clumsy that the end is revealed at the beginning. (Assertions made about a certain phenomenon come to mind.) The plot progressed well, and the main character was well developed. An interesting read, but not a very deep one.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Some of the language and sexuality in the book was not totally necessary and did not add to the overall arc of the story nor did it serve to flesh-out the characters. Also, how many times did I have to read about her tragic experience in China? Also, the setup was too obvious and aside from the final twist at the end, nothing was a surprise. On the positive side, though, the issues of culture, reality, and perception are all EXTREMELY well developed and explored. Sometimes Mr. Farrell beats you over the head with the message when a simple phrase would do, but all in all, this book was a good, quick read. It took me a little less than a day to read, but it's been with me for several days now, which is always a good sign.
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful and dramatic story!
Review: This is a powerful novel examing perception and prejudice via a First Contact situation. The characters are finely drawn and realistic, the alien society is complex and interesting, and the the plots twists are exciting. Farrell has used an interesting structure, moving back and forth between the protagonist's present and past to deepen our understanding of her situation and her choices. All in all, a terrific book!
Rating:
Summary: Thunder Rift
Review: This is a very innovative, well written work by Matthew Farrell. His characters are believeable to me and the plot twists rather nicely at the end. The main thing that sold me on this book was the Blues, the aliens. Farrell definately knows how to write alien aliens. These were not creatures with the same agendas and motivations humans often expect to see in other races, mirroring their own. They were clearly un-human. The thickness with which the alien culture has been created is fascinating. It may be true there are some things that remind one forcibly of Arthur C. Clarke and others, but I don't see the flaw in that. SciFi is constantly speculative, but if plot lines converge for a moment or two it's not to be unexpected. This is a work that carries on the tradition of scifi while presenting fresh, new ideas for the reader's consideration. This is, in my opinion, a rare example of "literary" science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Thunder Rift
Review: This is a very innovative, well written work by Matthew Farrell. His characters are believeable to me and the plot twists rather nicely at the end. The main thing that sold me on this book was the Blues, the aliens. Farrell definately knows how to write alien aliens. These were not creatures with the same agendas and motivations humans often expect to see in other races, mirroring their own. They were clearly un-human. The thickness with which the alien culture has been created is fascinating. It may be true there are some things that remind one forcibly of Arthur C. Clarke and others, but I don't see the flaw in that. SciFi is constantly speculative, but if plot lines converge for a moment or two it's not to be unexpected. This is a work that carries on the tradition of scifi while presenting fresh, new ideas for the reader's consideration. This is, in my opinion, a rare example of "literary" science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Will probably mislead you...
Review: When I first picked this book up, I was looking forward to a wild, fun and (dare I say it) shallow sci-fi romp through space and alien encounter. What I got was that, yes, in very small quantities, and about two hundred pages too many on an alien society not interesting enough to write twenty pages on. There are a few moments that are awe-inspiring, but the fact is nothing in this book is incredibly original or fresh. Whenever an exciting idea comes along, it is weighed down by a lot of lovey-dovey irrelevance. So if you're like me and don't want your Arthur C. Clarke being distracted by V.C. Andrews, then skip this one.
| 
