Exigency

Nice title and interesting concept, with the potential for some great twists. And at $2, I wasn’t expecting much. Exigency much offers less than I expected. The writing is repetitive and fails to engage the reader. However, it’s the characterizations that ruin the book. The protagonists are among the least sympathetic characters that I’ve ever come across. They’re supposed to be the best, most resilient scientists that Earth can produce. Instead, they’re mal-adjusted children: petulent, petty, and utterly lacking the self-awareness that the author explicitly sets them up to have. Before the first chapter is out, they are contemplating suicide, and my only thought was “please, yes. End this misery.” The author shows creativity, and I hope for a better effort from him in the future, but don’t waste your money on this one.

Enjoyable read, it captured my attention and kept me hooked to the end. At first the writing style was a little confusing but I came to enjoy the parallel threads and conversations going simultaneously. I question the makeup of the science team, not sure how realistic that was portrayed, or why it was necessary to the story. There were some plot lines that were just dropped or faded out, like the author had put some time into creating that plot line but decided that it didn’t fit or wasn’t needed for the story line but rather than reworking the story without the dangling thread he just left it in. And there were a couple plot twists and turns that seemed a bit convenient. I liked the portrayal of the Threck although it seemed a bit inconsistent in places. The Hynka could have been a more interesting part of the story but they were never built up or explained. Sometimes they just seem like eating machines like a T-Rex or a Great White Shark, but sometimes they’re described as having organization and cities and language. An interesting story idea and an ok book, it could be much better with some editing and rewrites.

Really enjoyable character driven story. Great writing. The story flows smoothly and actively through the the characters into the action. No shirking complexity and yet that complexity never becomes tedious. Good world building. It's alien, strange, and disquieting. It's definitely one of the main characters in the story and has a demanding presence. I really enjoyed this book. Thanks.