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A review by pjonsson
Progeny of Vale by Rhett C. Bruno
4.0
Progeny of Vale is the second instalment in The Circuit book series. It follows directly from the first book in the series, Executor Rising. It should be noted that the version of the book that I am reviewing is a eARC copy provided by the author so I am going to be very vague about the actual story to avoid spoilers. I do have to say though, that this was probably the most well-written and complete eARC that I have read. I have read many, supposedly finished, books that have been much less impressive than this eARC. Actually it did not give the impression of being an eARC at all but rather a finished product.
The main characters, Vale, Sage, Rayne, the bad guys and, of course, the android ADIM is back in this continuing saga that plays itself out in the dystopian future generally named The Circuit. Vale continues his quest to bring down the Tribune aided by his fanatically faithful android and while doing so he is about to cause a war between the remaining factions of humanity.
As with the previous book this is not a book primarily about action in terms of space battles and such like but focuses more on plots, intrigues, political machinations and, of course, the characters. Having said that the book is not devoid of combat action and as the war looms closer the action parts increase.
Much of the appeal of this book is in the interesting dystopian future that that author has created as well as in the characters and their destinies. Even though this book is a little bit outside of my normal military space opera kind of reading it was a very enjoyable read thanks to the setting and the characters which do develop quite a bit as the story develops.
I wrote in my review of the first book that I felt the reader was thrown straight into this universe without much in terms of explanation as to how humanity ended up in this state. In this book the author sprinkles around a few more explanations to this as well as parts of the past for Vale and Sage which allows you to connect the dots a bit better. Having said that what actually happened, especially to the “Ancients”, are still somewhat shrouded in mystery.
At the end of the book the scene is set for a quite interesting next book. I am indeed looking forward to read it.
I was graciously given this eARC by the author in exchange for an honest opinion and suggestions for improvements. As far as the story goes I cannot say that I find much that needs improvement. The writing is good, the story is interesting and so are the characters. It was a year and a half since I read the first book and, since the story is not exactly the usual simple run of the mill kind of story it was a bit difficult to remember all the details as to what happened in the previous book so one suggestion would be to have one or two pages of recap at the start of the book.
Bottom line is that it was a quite enjoyable read and if you liked the first book you will like this one and if you have not read the first book I personally think it is worthwhile reading. It is not the longest books around but what is there is well done.
The main characters, Vale, Sage, Rayne, the bad guys and, of course, the android ADIM is back in this continuing saga that plays itself out in the dystopian future generally named The Circuit. Vale continues his quest to bring down the Tribune aided by his fanatically faithful android and while doing so he is about to cause a war between the remaining factions of humanity.
As with the previous book this is not a book primarily about action in terms of space battles and such like but focuses more on plots, intrigues, political machinations and, of course, the characters. Having said that the book is not devoid of combat action and as the war looms closer the action parts increase.
Much of the appeal of this book is in the interesting dystopian future that that author has created as well as in the characters and their destinies. Even though this book is a little bit outside of my normal military space opera kind of reading it was a very enjoyable read thanks to the setting and the characters which do develop quite a bit as the story develops.
I wrote in my review of the first book that I felt the reader was thrown straight into this universe without much in terms of explanation as to how humanity ended up in this state. In this book the author sprinkles around a few more explanations to this as well as parts of the past for Vale and Sage which allows you to connect the dots a bit better. Having said that what actually happened, especially to the “Ancients”, are still somewhat shrouded in mystery.
At the end of the book the scene is set for a quite interesting next book. I am indeed looking forward to read it.
I was graciously given this eARC by the author in exchange for an honest opinion and suggestions for improvements. As far as the story goes I cannot say that I find much that needs improvement. The writing is good, the story is interesting and so are the characters. It was a year and a half since I read the first book and, since the story is not exactly the usual simple run of the mill kind of story it was a bit difficult to remember all the details as to what happened in the previous book so one suggestion would be to have one or two pages of recap at the start of the book.
Bottom line is that it was a quite enjoyable read and if you liked the first book you will like this one and if you have not read the first book I personally think it is worthwhile reading. It is not the longest books around but what is there is well done.