Burning Eagle by Naveen Weeraratne

[Danny McG]

Review of Burning Eagle by Navin Weeraratne.

This fantastic sci fi story can be found on Smashwords with the first 80% free.
I downloaded the free section, was only a few pages in and knew I was going to buy the full ebook. The author had set it up as “pay what you want” so I Pay-Palled him a fiver. (Is that terminology for a Pay-Pal transaction or have I just invented a new word?)

Anyways, let’s start with the ‘blurb from this book...
#A hundred years ago, Super Sapient AIs made first ever contact with intelligent life from outside our solar system. Millions died. A century later, an expeditionary force arrives to liberate the first human world to fall. Among them is an outcast officer, a rebel smuggler, and a soldier in a secret pact. They are unprepared for what they find#

This gives the back story but what a story it is!
We’ve got Kraken sized ‘Old Ones’ running an massive alien fleet with millions of 4th generation human captives scattered amongst it.
There are Stockholm Syndrome planetary populations fighting their liberators.
Human consciousness’s beamed across light years and downloaded into enhanced fighting bodies.
Near god like AI’s on Earth’s side, long since post Singularity.
People in VR landscapes who are totally unaware they are dead. All overlaid with a high tech Indian culture.

What does take a bit of getting used to is the chapters jump about to different points in the main timeline, so you have to determine ‘when’ you are on the first page of each chapter.

A few minor spelling and grammar issues, however I don’t think English is the author’s first language. That doesn’t matter, get this book, read it and sigh with envy at the world building and sheer sense of adventure.

 

[Danny McG]

It says this in the copyright section...

#Thank you for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form#

Therefore, if anyone wants to read it free, just PM me with an email address and I'll attach a copy to you - it's in epub format

Danny

 

[Danny McG]

It's now gone free on Smashwords

Burning Eagle, an Ebook by Navin Weeraratne

 

[Vertigo]

Well at that price I'll give it a whirl.

 

[Danny McG]

Well at that price I'll give it a whirl.

Did ya get it?
Any good?

 

[Vertigo]

I did get it but I'm afraid it's currently behind about 23 other books in my reading queue, so at my reading pace that will be another 15 odd weeks before I get to it. Sorry, I have to be disciplined otherwise my TBR pile will topple, potentially endangering anyone near it at the time!

 

[Vertigo]

I am now reading this but I'll be honest I'm struggling. The bad English, worse grammar, missing words and what appears to have just been a spell check for proof reading (loads of correctly spelt but incorrect words like "out" for "ought") just keep pulling me out. Also, so far I don't like any of the characters who seem very two dimensional and one, Jack Diamond, who seems to be constantly described as "seven feet of black market genetics" who still has his new body regrown by the authorities as "seven feet of black market genetics." I like some of the basic world building but the story is just feeling too clichéd with non conformist rebel types being given a free hand outside of the main army operations etc. etc.

Not sure I'll manage to finish it. I'll give it a little longer though.

I do appreciate that English might not be Weeraratne's first language but, I'm sorry, he should have got an English first language speaker to proof it. Also, whilst I know I got it for free, I still feel that authors, aspiring or not, shouldn't be lazy with finishing their books. If I buy a new car that is wonderful mechanically and handles superbly but all the interior trim is tatty and damaged I'd not be impressed. That tatty trim might not affect the car's handling but it still represents lazy finishing.

 

[Vertigo]

Okay so I'm afraid I had to abandon it:

I couldn’t finish this. I can usually manage books that hop around in time between different chapters but not this one. I actually think it was because I was losing interest so fast that I couldn’t be bothered to figure out where in time we were as each chapter started. Possibly partly due to that but also due to insufficient explanation of the book's universe it just felt like a big chaotic mess. And that mess certainly wasn’t improved by some of the worst (non-existent?) editing it’s been my displeasure to read in a long while. My impression was that the only editing that had been done was a spell check. I found no misspelt words but loads of missing words and incorrect words, frequently several on a single page, and as my interested waned so I couldn’t be bothered to continue trying to work out what word had been missed or replaced (things like out for ought).

I do appreciate that English is probably not Navin Weeraratne’s first language but he really should have found someone whose first language is English to proof read the book. I know some might say that it doesn’t change the story but if I you go out and buy a new car that is mechanically reliable and with excellent handling and then find the interior trim is tatty and scratched you are probably going to be a little upset even though it doesn’t affect the cars mechanical performance. Well I’m afraid I don’t see anything different about a badly edited book; good editing might not improve the story but it does make the whole experience of reading it more pleasant and avoids continuously pulling the reader out of that story as happened with me here.

Add to all that two dimensional, clichéd characters and masses of implausible events and I managed about half the book before I really couldn’t take any more. Sorry!


1/5 stars.