Title: Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company
Series: Helium-3 (Book #3)
Year: 2014
Author: Homer Hickman
Summary: A kidnapped lunar heiress. A deranged-science syndicate. An imminent asteroid impact. Crater Trueblood has more to rescue than just his ex-girlfriend . . . namely the entire human race.
Maria Medaris is the 21-year-old matriarch of the most powerful family on the moon. She is gorgeous, she is powerful, and she is high maintenance. But when Maria is kidnapped by purple-faced, gene-splicing scientists in league with her father, her only hope is the very man she once spurned: Crater Trueblood.
Much more than Maria is at stake: the planet Earth, majestically rising over the lunar horizon, is in the crosshairs of an asteroid engineered by Maria's abductors. If Crater can't stop it, then Earth faces a dinosaur-style collision. And humanity faces an extinction-level event.
Along with Crescent, his fiercely loyal, bioengineered she-warrior, Crater and the Lunar Rescue Company must come to Maria's rescue--before she joins forces with the brainiac lunatics who have taken her hostage . . . and who want to make her queen.
Can Maria finally look beyond her own selfish love of power? Can Crescent overcome her jealous attachment to Crater? Can Crater rescue his former fiancee and divert the apocalyptic asteroid in a single day?The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance . . . and the clock is ticking. (from Goodreads)
Maria Medaris is the 21-year-old matriarch of the most powerful family on the moon. She is gorgeous, she is powerful, and she is high maintenance. But when Maria is kidnapped by purple-faced, gene-splicing scientists in league with her father, her only hope is the very man she once spurned: Crater Trueblood.
Much more than Maria is at stake: the planet Earth, majestically rising over the lunar horizon, is in the crosshairs of an asteroid engineered by Maria's abductors. If Crater can't stop it, then Earth faces a dinosaur-style collision. And humanity faces an extinction-level event.
Along with Crescent, his fiercely loyal, bioengineered she-warrior, Crater and the Lunar Rescue Company must come to Maria's rescue--before she joins forces with the brainiac lunatics who have taken her hostage . . . and who want to make her queen.
Can Maria finally look beyond her own selfish love of power? Can Crescent overcome her jealous attachment to Crater? Can Crater rescue his former fiancee and divert the apocalyptic asteroid in a single day?The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance . . . and the clock is ticking. (from Goodreads)
Main Characters:
~ Crater Trueblood
~ Maria Medaris
~ Crescent
~ Crater Trueblood
~ Maria Medaris
~ Crescent
Review: Having just picked up an interest in any sci-fi, space-opera stories, I've been on the lookout for good ones I can add to my shelf. And Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company, as far as sci-fi and space-opera go, did not disappoint. It had all the action, flying, science, danger, and adventure a reader could want. Easy to read, intriguing plot... it definitely kept my interest. A few things confused me briefly, but considering this is the third book in a trilogy and the only one I've read, I s'pose everything would have clicked together for me if I read the first two books, so I really shouldn't complain there. *sheepish grin*
Personally, I found some of the characters a little more difficult to like than the plot. Since Crater and Maria broke up (in book 2, I'm assuming), most of what they did in the course of book three was mope about. They keep talking about how they love each other to everyone except each other, and if that doesn't drive you batty after two dozen chapters, nothing will. The different "races" (i.e. humans, Umlaps, crowhoppers, Trainers) were all set apart wonderfully, but I had some trouble trying to differentiate which came from which planet -- Earth or the moon. A bit more information on that would have been nice. It wasn't until the end of the book that I realized Crater himself was a citizen of the moon. *scratches head and shrugs* The best characters, hands down, were the gillies. Small, slime thingys with an unnatural ability to hack any technology, they are illegal, and they know it. Even though they "talked," I found myself likening them to Morph in Disney's Treasure Planet. Fun all around. And they're sarcastic, which is a plus.
There were a few inconsistencies that I noted that annoyed me, and I can't leave this review without pointing them out. Near the middle of the book, Crater and his brother tell a lie to purchase the fuser they badly need for their mission, and Crater says he doesn't like to tell lies. Yet, he easily makes no less than three lies throughout the rest of the book. Also... the character of the Colonel, Maria's grandfather, was confusing. The author made him out to be a hardened business man, semi-dedicated to family, but ruthless in his actions. He'd kill and fire people wherever it pleased him. [Highlight for spoilers] After Maria is rescued, a dangerous asteroid is fired at Earth to destroy the planet, and the Colonel pretty much turns kamikazee and places himself into the asteroid's path to blow it up before it strikes Earth. That action seemed a bit out of character for him, but they did kinda describe him as crazy, so...
Oh, yeah... and the name bothered me. The first two books in the series are called Crater and Crescent. That's it. And then for book #3, you've got Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company. Mouthful, eh? I may not be an avid critic, but in series, please attempt to keep your titles somewhat similar. *shakes head*
Personally, I found some of the characters a little more difficult to like than the plot. Since Crater and Maria broke up (in book 2, I'm assuming), most of what they did in the course of book three was mope about. They keep talking about how they love each other to everyone except each other, and if that doesn't drive you batty after two dozen chapters, nothing will. The different "races" (i.e. humans, Umlaps, crowhoppers, Trainers) were all set apart wonderfully, but I had some trouble trying to differentiate which came from which planet -- Earth or the moon. A bit more information on that would have been nice. It wasn't until the end of the book that I realized Crater himself was a citizen of the moon. *scratches head and shrugs* The best characters, hands down, were the gillies. Small, slime thingys with an unnatural ability to hack any technology, they are illegal, and they know it. Even though they "talked," I found myself likening them to Morph in Disney's Treasure Planet. Fun all around. And they're sarcastic, which is a plus.
There were a few inconsistencies that I noted that annoyed me, and I can't leave this review without pointing them out. Near the middle of the book, Crater and his brother tell a lie to purchase the fuser they badly need for their mission, and Crater says he doesn't like to tell lies. Yet, he easily makes no less than three lies throughout the rest of the book. Also... the character of the Colonel, Maria's grandfather, was confusing. The author made him out to be a hardened business man, semi-dedicated to family, but ruthless in his actions. He'd kill and fire people wherever it pleased him. [Highlight for spoilers] After Maria is rescued, a dangerous asteroid is fired at Earth to destroy the planet, and the Colonel pretty much turns kamikazee and places himself into the asteroid's path to blow it up before it strikes Earth. That action seemed a bit out of character for him, but they did kinda describe him as crazy, so...
Oh, yeah... and the name bothered me. The first two books in the series are called Crater and Crescent. That's it. And then for book #3, you've got Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company. Mouthful, eh? I may not be an avid critic, but in series, please attempt to keep your titles somewhat similar. *shakes head*
Advisory: Oh, boy. This thing has a longer advisory than most novels I review. For one, there's a single, derogatory word that many characters use, and although I don't recognize it as a swear word, it's used in such a context that borders on that line. There are also a few "adult comments" (i.e. men and women coupling, mating, etc.). I wasn't impressed. No, sir.
Definitely violence. Things get blown up, people die, so don't expect a tame novel. One character has her foot/fingers brutally broken in a torture section, and although it's described lightly, that's just something to take a note of. Personally, I didn't mind the violence, nor did I think it overdone in any fashion.
Another thing that really bothered me was the character, Crescent. She's a crowhopper, destined to self-destruct when she turns 21, but she doesn't want to die. [Highlight for spoilers] Instead, she convinces a doctor to take cells from a human male and then scientifically impregnates herself. Nothing is talked about other than the fact that she's going to have a baby, but I found the whole situation highly uncomfortable. It was for this reason that I struggled with rating this book. The space action boosted my opinion almost to a three or four star review, yet this pushed it down to a 2 star.
Definitely violence. Things get blown up, people die, so don't expect a tame novel. One character has her foot/fingers brutally broken in a torture section, and although it's described lightly, that's just something to take a note of. Personally, I didn't mind the violence, nor did I think it overdone in any fashion.
Another thing that really bothered me was the character, Crescent. She's a crowhopper, destined to self-destruct when she turns 21, but she doesn't want to die. [Highlight for spoilers] Instead, she convinces a doctor to take cells from a human male and then scientifically impregnates herself. Nothing is talked about other than the fact that she's going to have a baby, but I found the whole situation highly uncomfortable. It was for this reason that I struggled with rating this book. The space action boosted my opinion almost to a three or four star review, yet this pushed it down to a 2 star.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
*Please note: I received a free copy of this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.*
Sci-fi? *Shakes head* What will we come up with next? This is an interesting review, yet I can't decide from it whether I would want to read the book or not. So frustrating. Part of me says "Yes, kidnapping and war!" and the other part of me says, "But it's Sci-fi!"
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