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A review by righteousridel
Singularity by Ian Douglas
1.0
Most of the time you expect a series to only get better as you keep reading. You fall in love with characters and are impressed by their growth.
This is not that series.
There is something missing in the writing quality that I can’t define, but I never once cared for Koenig or Grey. As main characters, their plot shields are impressive given the general body count of the series, but they don’t grow and their personality is one-dimensional. Koenig is nothing more than a patriotic, “right in his heart” leader who is constrained by corrupt politics. Grey continues to hate the very thing he joined, despite two previous books of success. Everyone else is barely a name, and you won’t bat an eye when they inevitably die.
The author also spends all their time Telling, instead of Showing. There are chapters of info-dumps because Ian Douglas wrote himself into a corner such that you can’t learn about the Sh’daar.
All in all - it’s fine, but I don’t wish to continue the series.
The war’s ending was also extremely deus-ex machina. If the Sh’daar worried about time paradoxes, they should not have retreated into the past through TRGA. Or they would have sent absolutely everything they had (constantly) at OCGA. Instead, like a video game, the Sh’daar kept letting the Confed fleet get deeper and deeper. They didn’t even pull in reinforcements until the humans had started the last battle. It is… stupid, followed by an even stupider resolution where they decided to surrender.
I didn’t hate it as much until I just summarized the above. Wow that was a really terrible ending.
1 star.
Series Overall Spoiler-Free Thoughts
★★★☆☆ Earth Strike (Star Carrier, #1)
★★★☆☆ Center of Gravity (Star Carrier, #2)
★☆☆☆☆ Singularity (Star Carrier, #3)
Star Carrier is an easy read, but never excelled enough for me to care about the cast. Characters never grew beyond their archetype and intriguing worldbuilding was explained through info-dumps. Given the flawed nature of the ending, and my decision to avoid novels 4-6, my overall opinion is obvious:
★☆☆☆☆ - Not recommended.
This is not that series.
There is something missing in the writing quality that I can’t define, but I never once cared for Koenig or Grey. As main characters, their plot shields are impressive given the general body count of the series, but they don’t grow and their personality is one-dimensional. Koenig is nothing more than a patriotic, “right in his heart” leader who is constrained by corrupt politics. Grey continues to hate the very thing he joined, despite two previous books of success. Everyone else is barely a name, and you won’t bat an eye when they inevitably die.
The author also spends all their time Telling, instead of Showing. There are chapters of info-dumps because Ian Douglas wrote himself into a corner such that you can’t learn about the Sh’daar.
All in all - it’s fine, but I don’t wish to continue the series.
Spoiler
The monogamy subplot is also extremely cringe, as Grey ends up accepting the Confederacy effectively out of nowhere, and suddenly he’s sleeping with two women who are also sleeping with each other. I think that part of the ending really solidified that I won’t continue reading Star Carrier.The war’s ending was also extremely deus-ex machina. If the Sh’daar worried about time paradoxes, they should not have retreated into the past through TRGA. Or they would have sent absolutely everything they had (constantly) at OCGA. Instead, like a video game, the Sh’daar kept letting the Confed fleet get deeper and deeper. They didn’t even pull in reinforcements until the humans had started the last battle. It is… stupid, followed by an even stupider resolution where they decided to surrender.
I didn’t hate it as much until I just summarized the above. Wow that was a really terrible ending.
1 star.
Series Overall Spoiler-Free Thoughts
★★★☆☆ Earth Strike (Star Carrier, #1)
★★★☆☆ Center of Gravity (Star Carrier, #2)
★☆☆☆☆ Singularity (Star Carrier, #3)
Star Carrier is an easy read, but never excelled enough for me to care about the cast. Characters never grew beyond their archetype and intriguing worldbuilding was explained through info-dumps. Given the flawed nature of the ending, and my decision to avoid novels 4-6, my overall opinion is obvious:
★☆☆☆☆ - Not recommended.