Having read Arnett's intriguing The Nightmare Affair, I was eager to read her debut young adult science fiction novel as well. I will say that Avalon surprised me in a good way. It's a story about Jethro Seagrave and his band of misfits who work for the notorious criminal mastermind Hammer DaFoe.
Along with Jethro, there is his 13-year old sister Lizzie who has mad computer skills, Celeste who is as good of a pilot as Jeth, Will Shady, Flynn Emerson, as well as the Seagrave's Uncle Milton whose bad judgment forced Jeth to work hard in order to buy back the ship once owned by his parents; Avalon.
Under normal circumstances, debut novels give me the heebie jeebies and leave me weary. I know that there will be a bunch of world building, and hopefully some character development over the course of the story that often times leaves me unimpressed. Avalon is a fun story with twists, turns, danger, and suspense that is set centuries into the future.
"Jeth" is definitely a well written and lovable character who goes through the wringer in order to try to buy back Avalon from Dafoe. I loved the fact that he's the leader of a gang of trained misfits who target unsecured metatech to be taken and they are often times escape without any problems. There are, of course, other secondary characters who play pivotal roles like Sierra Hightwoer, Vince Mallory, and Cora who is a really interesting and terrifying character who Jeth should be glad that she's on his side.
I am definitely eager to read the next novel in this series so that we can hopefully look further into the machinations of the Interstellar Transport Authority (ITA). I am eager to see where Jeth's journey's take him, including the possibility of a bit of romance along the way.
Author - Mindee Arnett
Title - Avalon (Avalon # 1)
Published by Balzer & Bray
Releases January 21, 2014
Genre: Science Fiction
Received via Edelweiss/Publisher
I am so taking this one off my list. Seriously, this book is not getting higher than 3 and a half stars. I keep hearing about the underwhelming lack of caring for the world building and the characters.
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