Review: Reconnaissance by Aubrie Dionne
Tired of the medal ceremony and out-of-her-mind jealous, Nova Williams goes outside and witnesses an alien spaceship. The colonists are once again in danger of an alien species. A reconnaissance team is quickly put together for first contact and to learn as much as possible. The team must save themselves and protect the colony.
Much like the first book in this series, this sequel was a warp-speed fast read. Slow reader that I am, I still atonishingly breezed through this in a day. The action and suspense propelled me forward. The world building, again, was amazing. Paranormal and science fiction fans will get a kick out of the details. The phrases like “holy mother of the universe” and “by the Guide” reminded me of Battlestar Galactica.
Telling the story from Nova’s point of view was quite the adjustment. The first book portrayed her severely and negatively. It is difficult to like a book when you do not like the main character. This is especially true if the story is told from first person. Thus, my very first impression was that it was difficult to get into simply because the point of view had changed. It did get better though within just a couple of pages and my apprehension was short-lived. So, hang in there, readers.
The adventure here was like a kids’ version of crossing Contact and Aliens with a mission straight out of Star Gate SG-1. There is an alien ship which has come to the planet and must be investigated to see whether they are friend or foe. There was some speculation over who should be on the team that goes. At the same time, in some sections, the characters in this book are stealthily crawling around ventilation ducts in a dangerous space ship, giving me flashbacks of Sigourney Weaver with the alien hot on her trail. I say “kids version” because, really, Silly String is not going to last 800 years and if there truly is an alien space ship on the horizon there is just no way in deep-space-hell that anyone in charge would let a kid decide who will be on the reconnaissance team, much less allow the team be made up of kids. The weapons are laser guns and are holy mother of a black hole cool. I wondered if they sounded like the ray guns in Star Wars. This arachnophobe loved everything about the alien encounter.
Once again, lover of romance novels over here, I was not a fan of the romance storyline here. The backstory for the romance aspects in this book is based upon a premise (front and center in the first book) which seems wholly unrealistic. The first book just ruined this whole angle for me. There is also some emotional disjointedness here. If you are new to the series, though, not having read the first book or without knowing the backstory might actually work in your favor. Just pretend Andromeda is a simple ex-girlfriend or ex-crush. Then, the romance works and you are good to go.
Overall, I would say this book is better than the first in this series. Everything comes full circle and wraps up nicely into a quite satisfying ending. There is a loose end or two on the periphery which leaves the door open for more. It is open enough that the author could continue the colonists’ story in many directions and yet closed enough that this book is able to stand on its own. This is how I want to see books in a series written. Given the fight scenes depicted here along with a kiss or two, this book is about as graphic as Star Wars and I would say it is fine for a younger audience. I have only read this series by this author and based upon these two books I would not hesitate to pick up another book by her.
Click here for more about this book, including an excerpt.
