Title: Shadow
of the Wraith
Author: Ross
Harrison
Publishers:
Self Published
Genre:
Science Fiction/Space Opera
Pages: 404+
pages (EPUB version)
Source:
Review Copy from Author
First things first
This is a fantastic story. I have enjoyed thoroughly. The story keeps
you hooked till the end and I am not exaggerating to say that, this is the best
book I've read it recently under the genre space fiction. Ross Harrison is a
brilliant author. He blended space science with every possible substance that
includes aliens, humanoids, humans and robots (androids). With a touch of
humor, Harrison has managed to write this book fluently.
Review
The entire
novel is set in the future, in which the normal human beings has mastered the
space travel and learnt possible ways of mending the space ships and making
themselves alliances between other space dwellers, bots and humanoids. I must
remind the readers here that, though you get reminded of the stories from STAR
WARS, STAR TREK and MATRIX on regular intervals, it is in no way a copy of
those things. It resembles few scenes here and there, but, that’s ok. It has a
great story to the readers and this is the first book in the series of NEXUS as
author says.
The protagonist
of the novel is Travis Archer, a freelance bounty hunter. He accepts an
official assignment of destroying an unmanned ship “The Star Wraith”. This Star
Wraith is a powerful ship that appears out of blue and destroys the other space
ships. The intentions of it were not known to him and he builds his team with
some unusual members to go on an epic journey to hunt and destroy this ship. His
team consists of his buddy Miller, Jay, Zak Kirroc, and another freelance bounty
hunter from the Kraathan’s Juni Lien. Juni Lien character is the most unusual
to say the least. She was actually appointed to kill Travis Archer for a
bounty, but, she ended up teaming along with Travis Archer in search of Star
Wraith. The detailed introduction of the characters and their origin can be
read from the book. It is highly interesting to read about various alliances,
groups and their crazy description.
The description
about the entire space atmosphere is a marvelous job. You have to be a science
fiction lover to slip into the alternate world that Harrison creates in this
novel. The detailed explanation of each and every machinery, space ships,
plasma guns, armor suits, VI console, etc… is very fascinating.
As the story
further progresses further, Travis and his team were able to finally locate and
get inside the Star Wraith. There is a slight twist in the tale here, as they were
prepared to destroy this ship initially, they were taken by surprise by witnessing
some of the relevant man intervention in this ship. So, Travis and his team decide
to take control of the ship and succeed in it. So they maneuver this ship to
find out the exact intention behind its creation. Travis and his team try to
get all possible details regarding its creation. They will discover that, the people
from who they got this bounty contract were somehow related to this ship’s
creation. Travis decides to get to the bottom of this. He and along with few
team members were able to connect the dots slowly and steadily. The more fascinating
of this story reveals the shadow of a villain called “Boarshraak” whose goals
and intentions remained shrouded in mystery.
Other notable
points—although the story starts on a small scale, it eventually escalates from
Travis’s dangerous assignment to a potentially devastating interstellar
conflict. Race relations between alien civilizations are touched upon—at one
point, an official notes that one of Travis’ alien crew members cannot be paid
like a human would. It is quite interesting to note that, they get paid in
Credits! Also, there is an android called Arkuun-Marl
(Became my favorite!!) with the obnoxious tendency to make lame jokes about
everything. Though he is a bot (android), he prefers people calling him “HE”
instead of “IT”! Arkuun-Marl has an important role in this novel. His character
seems like a life saver at most of the times and also a comic relief in a
serious space juggernaut.
There is also
one important character that must be mentioned without fail. This character is
called “Rialen” that appears as a
path shower from the second half of the novel. This particular character
reminds me the movie MATRIX, where NEO gets his advises every now and then.
There is also
a special mention about fireflies and dragons that has a very minimum part in
the novel and still plays as a part of the expedition. There is also a part
where the true identity of Travis Archer has been revealed that makes him immortal!!?
The entire
story runs like a movie. It has no boring aspects. The climax part of the novel
is where the astounding information has been kept. Who is “Boarshraak” after
all? Was he the main responsible for all these conflicts and wars? Were Travis
and his team able to come out with flying colors? The answer lies in the book
and I recommend the readers to read this book. This book definitely takes you
to an alternate world and leaves you there to savor the moment. The entire
story keeps ringing in your mind even after you finished reading it.
The book is organized
pretty well. The chapters are divided according to the places that the story
takes place. The violence scenes description has been taken care of really
well. The grammar is perfect and the reading experience is quite lucid and
engaging.
Note: I received this book from the author
as a review copy in exchange of an honest review.
My Rating:
5/5
