Home > Categories > Books > Sci-Fi > ROiVAN review

Sick of adverts? Click here to join up for free and be rid of them.
Book One of the A'nzarian Chronicle
Her instructions were clear: travel to human space. Once in human space, stay there. Do not return. Speak only your name. Do not take the Test. Protect your mind. Do not speak of your world, your life or your species until you meet someone who tells you first.
Qirl had said that she must stay no more than fifteen days on any ship. If she stayed longer she would be caught. But the crew know Roivan is aboard, and she has nowhere else to go.
Rovian is the winner of the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent 2004 in Science Fiction.
Product reviews...
I have always been a fan of 'the alien underdog' stories, especially when assisted by 'helpful humans' against 'the bad aliens' - yeah, I know it sounds corny, but these are often the best stories for kids because it teaches them to empathise with other people regardless of how they differ from us.
This story IS a kids book, let's get that clear up front. The story is written in a 'loose' fashion which doesn't bog the reader down with super-science, but does use advanced science to explain faster-that-light travel etc. An ingenious twist was to use an energy-based lifeform as a catalyst, instead of some hyper-advanced warp drive machine. It added some really interesting plot elements.
Overall, despite the story being a little too light on the Sci in Sci-Fi for my tastes, I really enjoyed it. I would be really interested to see where the plot goes from here, as this could easily have been a stand-alone story. The lack of cliff-hanger ending left me with a sense of 'all loose ends tied up' but the story did lend itself to continuation. We shall just have to see.
Guest comments...
There are currently no comments on file. Will you click here and be the first?
Random listing from 'Books'...
It is 4034 ad. Humanity has made it to the stars. Fassin Taak, a Slow Seer at the court of the Nasqueron Dwellers, will be fortunate if he makes it to the end of the year.
The Nasqueron Dwellers inhabit a gas giant on the outskirts of the galaxy, in a system awaiting it's wormhole connection to the rest of civilisation. In the meantime, they are dismissed as decadents living in a state of highly developed barbarism, hoarding data ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of KIWIreviews.co.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, under the assumption that they are the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"A man who is 'of sound mind' is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key."
Paul Valery (1871 - 1945)