Explorer X - Alpha

For most kids, a trip to space camp is a trip of a lifetime, for Aadi it was life altering. After receiving a camp immunization needed for travel to Mars, Aadi finds that the immunization is the catalyst of an insidious experiment. Lucky for him, he was engineered to survive, thrive, and dominate. Without realizing he is being trained to conquer worlds, and manipulated under the guise of a camp, he unfolds the plot too late for a change of fate. Aadi’s world is shaken upon the revelation that life before camp was not what it appeared. This solidifies his plan to save them all from the company that seeks to control him, only for his rescue to end abruptly due to a freak accident on a field trip to Mars. The full experiment is set in motion when he and his co-pilot, Eirena, crash in a distant galaxy called Shrenas, where they change and realize the full extent of their power. Holding onto his humanity, in the midst of turning into a god is Aadi's biggest battle yet. This turn of events causes him to put his childish thoughts away, forcing him to accept his change, and to decide to save a world, or to do what he was trained to do, dominate it. In the midst his struggles with his changes, his power is coveted by the warring leaders of Shrenas, and he is forced to choose sides to save a life, or to save himself. A decision that may prove just how much humanity he has left.

from bookmasters.com

Beth says 1.5 Stars...
I hate writing this review. I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't. The issue that ran throughout the book was the writing. It was in want of a good editor. The way it was written distracted from everything else in the book. It had almost no flow from sentence to sentence. There wasn't a consistency in the tense and formality of the language. At one point it would be informal and full of contractions, yet a short while later it would be very proper. This was done without a major change in context. I have no problem with formal or stilted language, but it has to serve a purpose. In this case it did not, and the constant change made it very hard to follow. Additionally, the sentence structure was often strange. There were things that made very little sense the way they were said. I was often left to puzzle out what was happening and what the implications were for a particular moment.

The issue with the writing makes me really sad, because the plot of the book really had potential. The idea isn't amazingly original, but it was worked in an interesting way. Again, my involvement in the plot was severely hampered by the writing. The same happened with the characters. I couldn't connect with them because I was to busy examining the writing. It took me a very long time to feel anything for them, and by that time it was just too little too late.

I wouldn't really recommend this book. Perhaps you know an avid sci-fi fan who just wants something new, and this might be fun for them. If you have a lot to read and have to be really picky with your books, don't pick this one up.