Customer Reviews

Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda: The Broken Places

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This novel is essentially light reading -- a good novel to take to the beach. That said, I did feel the book was well plotted and well put together. It also had a number of very original creative flashes that keeps a reader going.

Two separate plot lines converge in the book. One involves a conference being held on the Andromeda Ascendant to determine the freedom or slavery of a planetary system. This involves some fun characters as diplomats, including a very bad Nietzschean admiral who -- as one might expect -- intends to enslave the captive planets and grind their populations into the mire. This meanie admiral engages in a delightful chess game of diplomacy with Dylan Hunt. I won't spoil anything for readers, but the battle of wits between the two holds one's interest well.

A second plot element that runs through the book involves a treasure hunt for artifacts of ancient technology -- think of "Indiana Jones" among the stars. This involves Beka, who emerges as perhaps the best-sketched character in the novel. Beka, her mom, and her ne'er-do-well brother all compete to find certain ancient artifacts. When -- after many chapters -- these artifacts are finally brought together, an ancient engine begins to shake the very foundations of space and time. How "Rommie" (avatar of Andromeda), Trance Gemini, and Dylan Hunt struggle to avert the consequences of Beka's foolishness makes for a good story.

Some great touches, with panache and originality, include an attack on a Nietzschean battle cruiser by a fleet of primitive "sail ships." These rag-tag, solar-powered fighters are the only craft the oppressed peoples of the planetary system are able to pull together. The battle is really David against Goliath. This was a wonderful development in the book and gives Seamus Harper his chance to take the spotlight.

Another very fun bit of writers' invention was the "warbot" (war robot) named Tweedledum, who plays a key part near the end of the novel. He doesn't make a very lengthy appearance, but he really stirs things up when he does!

The writers had to work with a "given" fictional world based on the TV series "Andromeda." This book could have been just "going through the motions" writing as some of these spin-off novels tend to be. But this one offers more. There are many very creative flashes, many little unexpected touches of imagination, that make the book very enjoyable. The main plot lines are well crafted, and the outcome knits together all the earlier developments. Someone on the writing team definitely knows how to outline!

I wish the writers knew a little about astrophysics. The black hole and quasar depicted in the book show an abysmal ignorance of the physics of such objects. And probability is stretched almost to the point of tossing the book down at a few points. But heck, this is strictly an entertainment novel. By that standard the book is very well done.

Recommended -- especially when you are looking for something light and fun.

Of the six novels based on the Andromeda series,this one is by far the best. I really liked the focus on Beka and the story of her family. Rafe,her brother,while being a conartist of the first order,does seem to have a caring attitude towards his sister. The story flows smoothly and thankfully,Dylan is there when she needs him most. While I wholeheartedly recommend all six books in the series,I really think you will enjoy this one the most.

Just faaaaantastic stuff!! I wasn't into Kevin Sorbo or anything, but Vare and Morris have made me an Andromeda fan for life. For life!! Great unique plot, especially for a science fiction book. I just hope that the next one will follow the Broken Places in this new direction.

The author does an excellent job of capturing the essence of the Andromeda cast. I liked how she worked in the backstory of Beka's mother and the Genite origins. I would give the book from 4 to 5 stars if it was not for the lack of editing. The typos for this book was the worst I have ever read. Character names changed from paragraph to paragraph, both the Andromeda and the Eureka Maru were often misspelled. The poor editing spoiled my reading experience. It became a labor to read the book.

This is one of the better books that I've read having to do with the Andromeda series. It was written by an actual writer for the first two seasons of the show, and it's very apparent as you start reading the book. I could actually see what was going on played out in my head, fantastic detail and a wonderful plot.

The only reason that I give this book four out of five stars is for a simple reason: I found the first few chapters to be a little slow. I'm not a big fan of Beka's brother Rafe, so I found the bits with them looking for their mother rather slow, but that's just personal opinion. I still found it wonderful to finally know what the Engine of Creation actually does, I had been curious about the item since they had picked it up on the show, but it was never used. Otherwise, the book has some great writing and some great scenes. Trance is used in an interesting way, Tyr and Harper have a friendly moment, Dylan does some negotiating, Rev Bem is used nicely as well--starting to notice the oddities that revolve around Trance.

Besides the storyline with her brother, I found this to be an amazing read, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new adventure of Andromeda!