Avalon by Mindee Arnett

Description: Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they’re damn good at it. Jeth doesn’t care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents’ ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he’ll go to get the freedom he’s wanted for so long.

Review: I really wanted this book to be amazing. I read this one right after I finished Cruel Beauty so I guess my standards were set pretty high. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy this book, it was a perfectly decent book. I just had a few bones to pick with this book that made it less than spectacular.

My biggest issue with this book is with the main character, Jeth. When your main character is part of the problem, it’s very hard to be forgiving. Jeth drives me crazy at times. He says that his little sister is far too trusting but I think that’s more Jeth’s problem. He get’s duped over and over to the point you just want to smack him. Seriously Jeth, are you gonna just let people keep screwing you. Fool Jeth once: shame on them, fool Jeth twice: shame on him, fool Jeth three times: Jeth’s just being an idiot now.

There is so much going on in this book, plans change so quickly, and sometimes it is easy to get frustrated as you’re trying to follow along. There is far too much back and forth and far too much time when Jeth find himself not in control. Our hero spends a lot of time just trying to keep his head above water while the big fish hold all of the cards. In many books this is a good plot device but here it makes Jeth just helpless. It made me wish that he would just take control and not rely on help time after time.

All of that said, I did love the world and many of the other characters. The book was an enjoyable read despite the flaws that it has and I would recommend it for fans of TV shows such as Firefly. It’s certainly not a bad book and I’m looking forward to other books in this world.

What did you think of Avalon? I’d love to hear your opinions!

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