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willrefuge's review against another edition
4.0
DARK SKY
by Mike Brooks
Keiko, Book 2
DARK SKY is the sophomore effort worked up by Brit and author Mike Brooks. I read his DARK RUN in January of 2017, and was able to pick up the sequel from my library… well, later. While I was kinda so-so on the initial Keiko book, the I had no trouble cruising right through the follow-up. But let’s set the scene, yeah?
DARK SKY picks up right where DARK RUN leaves off—more or less—with a dead power-player, a bunch of said-dead-guy’s money, and a potentially mutinous crew. When we last saw them, Captain Ichabod Drift had been outed as former privateer Gabriel Drake, a man who’d vented his ship, leaving it and his former crew behind to die. One of the main issues I have with DARK SKY begins right here. The plot begins in a luxurious casino on a world inhabited by the rich and elite, the crew are enjoying a little down-time spent gambling with a dead man’s coin. The mood among the crew is tense and strained. Except… it really doesn’t ever seem like it. I mean, we are reminded a few times over the first quarter or so of the text that the crew might mutiny, but, well, they really never seem like they’re going to. The text keeps reminding us of the ‘pirate’ thing, and suggesting that the crew thinks differently about Drift—they just don’t ever seem to. It just, it’s not convincing.
Anyway, soon enough the crew is forced into a difficult situation and Drift decides to take on a smuggling contract to a nearby mining world. They must locate and retrieve some intel on the future mining product and leave before a regular storm strikes the planet, essentially eliminating any outside contact for a few days. Think… Chronicles of Riddick. Storm. Inaccessible planet. Stuff. And, of course, with such a small margin for error, everything goes wrong. A rebellion strikes the planet, with Drift and his crew separated in two, each group stuck on opposing sides in the conflict.
The plot takes the presumable path from here, with the crew using each side in the conflict in order to reunite and escape the planet. The story is not without its conflicts, with a few entertaining twists thrown in. The overarching story combines with those individual adventures of each crew member, and their interactions and relationships. It make for an interesting dynamic, and one that I enjoyed. There wasn’t a whole lot of mystery involved, which—combined with the fact that the looming mutiny never really loomed—made the conclusion feel slightly straightforward. If it were a game, I’d call it “linear”. However, just because something is simple, doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable. And, all in all, I kinda liked it.
It’s not exactly space-opera or anything, but there are spaceships and augmentations and stuff. It’s a fun, exciting story set in a generally interesting, if not overly detailed universe. It leaves a lot of the technical details out, trusting on the reader to use their imagination—which I had no problem doing. My only other problem with DARK SKY occurs at the end. Or, doesn’t occur. Or… whatever. Not everything is cleared up. I left feeling unfulfilled, like something was missing. I doubt it’ll be coming up in the next one, though I could be wrong. I just grabbed it from my local library this week, so we’ll see.
Anyhow, Despite my two reservations—one at the fore, one at the out—and the fact that I didn’t really praise the rest of it, I read DARK SKY in three days. True, I had a bit of a deadline. True, DARK SKY was only a little over 300 pages. But it was a pretty good read. I went from questioning whether I’d continue with the series to wanting to.
DARK DEEDS is next. I hope it lives up the the standard that DARK SKY set.
RATING: 4 / 5 stars. Definitely recommendable, and I would, in fact, recommend it. A little hiccup at first levels off to what turns out to be a thoroughly enjoyable adventure. The Keiko crew works well together and everything comes together quite nicely. A cursory, low-tech description which outlines the world and leaves the rest for the reader to fill in. While not all the threads are resolved, but nothing too gigantic is left out. A good one, and well worth the time.
by Mike Brooks
Keiko, Book 2
DARK SKY is the sophomore effort worked up by Brit and author Mike Brooks. I read his DARK RUN in January of 2017, and was able to pick up the sequel from my library… well, later. While I was kinda so-so on the initial Keiko book, the I had no trouble cruising right through the follow-up. But let’s set the scene, yeah?
DARK SKY picks up right where DARK RUN leaves off—more or less—with a dead power-player, a bunch of said-dead-guy’s money, and a potentially mutinous crew. When we last saw them, Captain Ichabod Drift had been outed as former privateer Gabriel Drake, a man who’d vented his ship, leaving it and his former crew behind to die. One of the main issues I have with DARK SKY begins right here. The plot begins in a luxurious casino on a world inhabited by the rich and elite, the crew are enjoying a little down-time spent gambling with a dead man’s coin. The mood among the crew is tense and strained. Except… it really doesn’t ever seem like it. I mean, we are reminded a few times over the first quarter or so of the text that the crew might mutiny, but, well, they really never seem like they’re going to. The text keeps reminding us of the ‘pirate’ thing, and suggesting that the crew thinks differently about Drift—they just don’t ever seem to. It just, it’s not convincing.
Anyway, soon enough the crew is forced into a difficult situation and Drift decides to take on a smuggling contract to a nearby mining world. They must locate and retrieve some intel on the future mining product and leave before a regular storm strikes the planet, essentially eliminating any outside contact for a few days. Think… Chronicles of Riddick. Storm. Inaccessible planet. Stuff. And, of course, with such a small margin for error, everything goes wrong. A rebellion strikes the planet, with Drift and his crew separated in two, each group stuck on opposing sides in the conflict.
The plot takes the presumable path from here, with the crew using each side in the conflict in order to reunite and escape the planet. The story is not without its conflicts, with a few entertaining twists thrown in. The overarching story combines with those individual adventures of each crew member, and their interactions and relationships. It make for an interesting dynamic, and one that I enjoyed. There wasn’t a whole lot of mystery involved, which—combined with the fact that the looming mutiny never really loomed—made the conclusion feel slightly straightforward. If it were a game, I’d call it “linear”. However, just because something is simple, doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable. And, all in all, I kinda liked it.
It’s not exactly space-opera or anything, but there are spaceships and augmentations and stuff. It’s a fun, exciting story set in a generally interesting, if not overly detailed universe. It leaves a lot of the technical details out, trusting on the reader to use their imagination—which I had no problem doing. My only other problem with DARK SKY occurs at the end. Or, doesn’t occur. Or… whatever. Not everything is cleared up. I left feeling unfulfilled, like something was missing. I doubt it’ll be coming up in the next one, though I could be wrong. I just grabbed it from my local library this week, so we’ll see.
Anyhow, Despite my two reservations—one at the fore, one at the out—and the fact that I didn’t really praise the rest of it, I read DARK SKY in three days. True, I had a bit of a deadline. True, DARK SKY was only a little over 300 pages. But it was a pretty good read. I went from questioning whether I’d continue with the series to wanting to.
DARK DEEDS is next. I hope it lives up the the standard that DARK SKY set.
RATING: 4 / 5 stars. Definitely recommendable, and I would, in fact, recommend it. A little hiccup at first levels off to what turns out to be a thoroughly enjoyable adventure. The Keiko crew works well together and everything comes together quite nicely. A cursory, low-tech description which outlines the world and leaves the rest for the reader to fill in. While not all the threads are resolved, but nothing too gigantic is left out. A good one, and well worth the time.
quentin_eddington's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
dodgson's review
4.0
Unfolds cleverly, with each new twist of the knife reeling you in without feeling too forced. Brooks splits up hits characters, but manages to make that more kinetic, rather than dragging things down or getting confusing—a rare feat. The ending is abrupt, and a bit of a mishmash, but it’s the middle of a trilogy, so he may have wanted to launch into the third book with a lot of threads still active.
treskjegg's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sarag1701's review
4.0
Certainly better than Dark Run. I'm actually going to remember the plot line of this one instead of the last one. I'm relatively glad I decided to stick with this series, despite the first book being mildly disappointing. But I'm excited for Dark Deeds. Bring on the next adventure!
lib_britannia's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
erikbail's review against another edition
4.0
Decent follow up. Nothing like a little asteroid far from home to stir up some drama
srlemons42's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was another great entry in this series. All of the characters are relatively fleshed out by now and they feel like real people with real worries. This book fractures the crew into two groups and so it jumps back and forth between them every few chapters. I thought it was handled well and I got the hang of visualizing where everyone was pretty quickly.
I recommend this one and am looking forward to reading the next one!
I recommend this one and am looking forward to reading the next one!
seillean's review against another edition
4.0
Let's keep this short and sweet: Dark Sky is the most enjoyable book I've read in 2016. Believable and engaging characters, great story, tight writing. Brooks writes the way I hope SFF is going.
diane's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good follow up to the first book. The gang thinks they’re going to make some easy money, end up in the middle of a mining colony revolution.
Likes: fast paced action, we see a lot of the colony, really good feel for the setup.
Cons: splitting up the team and concentrating on smaller groups really exposes that some members of the team (Jia and Kuai) are severely underdeveloped compared to everyone else.
But still: the Keiko continues to be an enjoyable series!
Likes: fast paced action, we see a lot of the colony, really good feel for the setup.
Cons: splitting up the team and concentrating on smaller groups really exposes that some members of the team (Jia and Kuai) are severely underdeveloped compared to everyone else.
But still: the Keiko continues to be an enjoyable series!