My Rating: 3 Stars
Good Reads Rating: 3.67 Stars
Content Rating: 16+
Series: The Dolvia Saga III
Genre: Sci-Fi
Pages: 324
Publisher: iUniverse
Check it out: Good Reads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Good Reads Summary:
Brianna Miller returns to the savannah on Dolvia after a 12 year absence. Along the way, she collects a clutch of young trainees who will manage wormhole commerce after their initiation with the tribeswomen. When she disembarks, Brianna discovers the tribes are binding together as they resist the oppressive rule of Rabbenu Ely. Except the women who are the best teachers for her clutch embrace death-by-fire in the public square to call attention to the struggle for home rule.
Disclaimer: I did not read the first two books in the Dolvia Saga. I was told that it wasn’t necessary, and that each book in this series could be read as a stand-alone. However, now that I have read Strikestone, I believe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the others first.
I want to start by saying this book is EXTREMELY well written. The world building is quite impressive.
Fictionalized Earth to fully fictional Dolvia (which seemed to strongly resemble the Middle East) were both well described and believable settings. The sci-fi elements, such as the reptilian gualareps are also well planned and executed, and not just inserted to fit the genre.
There’s a lot of political/economic business going on here. If this were my cup of tea, I’m sure I would have enjoyed it. It seemed thorough and well plotted. There was a heck of a lot of interesting stuff running around in this arena, but for me, it wasn’t quite enough to keep me interested.
The most concise criticism I can give to this book is that it wasn’t for me. There was nothing wrong with the writing. The characters were interesting (although I know I would probably like them even more if I had started at the beginning of the series). The political and economic tension were intriguing, but just not an urgent enough conflict to keep me interested for the majority of the book. Atrium unloads heaps of information about, well, everything as you go along, showing how realized this world of hers really is, which is overall quite impressive.
But don’t get me wrong; I don’t give away books I think aren’t worth reading. If you love all that social/political intrigue business, I think you’d LOVE Strikestone. I appreciated the story and the messages Atrium was putting forward, and while I probably won’t pick up the other books in this series, I can definitely feel comfortable recommending this book to fans of the genre. It’s quite masterfully written, with interesting characters, foreign social customs, and lots of social tension.
