2.75/5
This book was sent to me by the author for review, which has not impacted the outcome of the reviews. The opinions stated are mine and mine alone.
Enceladus starts of with a very interesting prologue that grabs the reader's attention. It makes them wonder just how this is going to tie into the rest of the book and provides good background information. Jim Miller utilizes great descriptive writing skills, giving clear images of what is going on in the novel. He also provides science language that seems plausible for something set in the not so distant future. I did feel that this descriptive writing did not carry forward into the characters. I kept searching for some back ground information on them and even some basic descriptions on any of the characters, but there really wasn't any. By the end of the book, I felt like I really did not know the main character, nor any of the characters.
On a personal preference side, there were a lot of sections divided by 3 Asterix, but there was no real reason for it. The same scene, same person, same focus, so these really only served as a distraction. I was finding Enceladus difficult to get into, as there really was no hook moment. It simply read as slow and didn't catch my attention. Part of this might have something to do with the fact that the plot seemed surface level and did not seem very well thought out in terms of book structure. One key element that it lacked was a true climatic moment. The villains themselves were barely noticeable, and aside form being on opposing sides, it never really was obvious nor explained why they were supposed to be bad. This led right up until the end that was anti-climatic.
Overall, I see skill in this writer on the descriptive side, they just need to work on hooking a reader.
