Colonization: Aftershocks (Hardcover)

Aftershocks continues on the same vein as the previous books with short snippets telling the story of numerous characters and their role in the world following the arrival of "The Race" during World War 2.

The author does tend to concentrate too much on the ginger smuggling trade for my liking. However his style of jumping from one story to another within just a few pages does mean that you are never far from the parts of the story that do interest you.

If you have enjoyed the previous books in the series then you will enjoy this one. However despite this being, apparently, the last book in the Colonization series don't expect all the story lines to be resolved. Indeed on a global scale, with the exception of the lizards relationship to the US, very little seems to change from the beginning of this book to the end.

If you are expecting a conclusion to the story, as I was, then you may be disappointed with this book. However I have no doubt that fans of the series will enjoy it.

Hopefully we will not have to wait to long for the next book, though whether this will be another Colonization book or, more likely in view of the ending in Aftershocks, a new series set towards the end of the 20th Century, only time will tell

however all 3 books tend to always read as though they are setting the scene. you are constantly expecting something really good to happen but then it generally never does. When things do happen they tend to be covered in a fairly bland and unspectacular manner. there could have been so much more to these 3 stories but instead you end them wondering quite why you bothered to read them at all. they are quite compelling as you want to know whats going to happen next, but ultimatly pretty dissapointing as the answer is generally - not much. One problem is that the characters are often quite a dull bunch. Perhaps there is a little to much social realism and not enough adventure etc. a stronger hero or villain would have been welcome. Some of the characters stories are painfully boring but get large chunks of the novels while the most interesting characters suffer accordingly. Also while the author clearly is very historically knowledgable he has an obvious gaping hole in his knowledge of technology or science. Clearly thats a bad thing in a semi - sci-fi novel like this. For example the authors protrayal of the asteroid "belt" appears to be based on having watched the empire strikes back rather than reality. one character flits about inspecting asteroids that are packed together at apparently incredible density. whereas in fact, the reality is that most asteroids are small and spaced by millions of kilometres. He also carried over the irritating habit of substituting the phrase "explosive metal" for the word "atomic" or "nuclear" thru all these novels. it was fine for the first series where noone (human at least) knew what atomic power was. but why in the this one ? it really grated for me. that may seem like knitpicking to some i suppose.

lastly - the author commits a major crime - essentially, having read thru 7 (?) of these books i would have expected a proper ending. but it simply ends.. nothing significant happens at the end. its very unclear, it -really- doesnt end at all. no cliffhanger even. in fact i cant think of any other book ive ever read with such a non ending. it feels as if someone simply removed the last hundred pages of the book.

overall - dissapointing and a somewhat dull. could have been incredible though. somehow i know ill read the next one if there is one, but somehoe i know ill be frustrated and not get quite what i was hoping for..

oh - minor note - the cover art (in the UK) is appalling. embarrassing. it looks like a book aimed at the 9-14 yr old market. which it certainly isnt.. no child would have the patience to slog through this..

This is one for hardcore fans of the genre only i think.