Spinward Fringe Broadcast 10: Freeground
R**P
great imagination, no improvement in writing skills
Lalonde appeared to have assembled this particular book by tossing all the chapters into the air and then scooping them together and calling it good. His imagination is boundless but his writing style is all over the map, ranging from awkwardly amateurish to very smooth and flowing. Sentence structure continues to frustrate. If I hadn’t purchased the entire series I think I would give up on this writer. But I did and I do want to see how it ends. I won’t be starting another series with him though - too frustrating. Fan of the story, not a fan of the writer.
J**T
Not bad. Not as good as the previous books.
The book is pretty good. The previous books were better but writing is much like running, you have to trip at some point. If you're reading this and haven't touched the series, go get broadcast zero. It is free last I checked and this book makes no sense on its own. We'll, it makes sense obviously but you'll miss the majority of it.As for the story, it's pretty good, but it tends to push the suspension of disbelief not because of the technology (Randolph does an excellent job making ridiculous but believable tech) but because of the function of an economy and national government (Haven shore supposedly thrives on government and economic policies that have yet to ever function successfully in any large population in any part of our history barring their use of a Republic) and a fair misunderstanding of psychology (a part involving what would essentially be a nude leak) it almost seems that the author is trying to push a narrative. And that's something I really don't like especially when the narrative is unintelligent. I mean come on, this is scifi, this is the stuff intelligent people tend to like.I'd bet money that if Randolph ditches the apparent narrative and addresses the missteps in the book that he will have an amazing series for many more years to come.
S**C
3.5
Clunky and disjointed. Not enough time was spent on any one story and the plot barely moved.SPOILERSFreeground-A didn't even make it home. Two books now and they are still traveling.Jacob not being in charge makes no sense. He is a tactical genius who was chosen for the sunspire because he was the best of the best and his team we all savants. Now he is in charfe of one ship and has to run all his decisions past Oz, who while capable is no Jacob. Oz is straight laced and by the book. Too vanilla to make a good admiral.Jake will now be behind many in the chain of Haven Fleet as they integrate assets and personnel into the fleet. He started all of this and he has promoted everyone past him. Its a terrible turn for the story to take. Humanity's savior has passed the buck to less qualified subordinates.The tactical genius would be best served doing business from a flag bridge while Oz acts as his flagship captain. Freeing him to actually use tactics and strategy that he is so widely known for.I really dont like where this is headed. Its bogged down and muddled and the multiple POVs are beginning to feel like Game Of Thrones... too much time showcasing all the characters that nothing happens.I eagerly await not reading the next book, because this one left such a bad taste in my mouth.The score reflects the Author's ability to string coherent sentences together. Nothing more.
A**R
Compelling Story but Disjointed Ending
Just finished Broadcast 10. Randolph Lalonde has in Spinward Fringe created a compelling universe and evolves the many characters almost flawlessly. We waited quite a while for this one and for the most part it did not disappoint until the end where it just ended abruptly. It was a real shock and I would've been pissed except for the fact I enjoyed everything up to that point immensely. It felt very disjointed and a bit amateurish. We understand the book has to end at some point but as well as he writes, surely Mr. Lalonde could have eased us out better than this. In any event I look forward to Broadcast 11 with keen interest! Mr. Lalonde, please take your time and better care with it. Know that many of us are still with you.
E**Y
Don't mind waiting but...
First the good. Mr. Lalonde doesn't dissapoint. I have read all his books so far. Love the the way he blends in the different story lines and makes the characters relatable and likeable. I don't have anything negative to say about his storytelling. Now for the bad. I was waiting for this book to come out for most of the year. I would constantly check his Web page for updates. The few updates he did post they said this book is taking longer because it was going to be bigger than the previous one. I was dissapointed that this book was not bigger by any means than the previous one and now the next book is out the first half of 2017. I'm thinking this booked got cut in half in order to put it out this year. Just my thinking. Other than that, I can't wait for the next book.
J**F
As great as ever!!
February 25, 2011 is the date the I first read Broadcast 0. Ever since then I've been a loyal and hooked in fan of the Series. Thank you Mr. Lalonde for continuing to chronicle the adventures of Jonas/Jacob Valent and all of the others that are part of the saga in such a fantastic way. For fans new to the author you should start at the beginning. This episode of the Space Opera is replete with battles galore, fantastical other world technology, aliens, humor and tragedy. It is a great story in the telling and I hope it continues for a long time to come. And thanks Mr Lalonde for giving us a small character summary in the beginning to refresh the memory. I only wish they were longer and more frequent but I am realistic! Looking forward to the next.
D**Y
Love and darn it..
I have loved these characters and this story since the first book. I often think of myself as an old soul but I want to be reborn as a member of this team. I feel I know them and relate.These books embrace the best of humanity. They show the doubt and resilience sure but they bring hope and just cause and a belief in humanity that seems to be failing us a culture today.This is corny but reading these books gives me hope that for all the differences in human culture we should be able to find common cause. Read these books. Please!
T**.
Buy the book, but the next one is going to be a long wait.
Ok, so after waiting for over a year for Lalonde to release this new book, I have to say that I'm surprised but disappointed; as per usual everything was top-notch writing and I was hooked before I'd finished the 1st page. However there was not enough meat on the bone, I was expecting a book twice that long taking into account the amount of time that he had to work on it. I thought that Alice would of finished her training and be installed into the fleet proper, that we would of gotten to know Woone better, perhaps pair her up with Iruuk. An excellent move was getting rid of the freeground political leaders but did you have to kill Maggie as well, we were just starting to like her. Dron is an interesting character, almost like a Hampon 3.0. Oh and now that the beast is under control I'd love him to get broken out and take a large section of the OOE forces and become allies with Haven. Wait isn't Lt Commander Erron the order of Eden suspect list, that might be a betrayal they don't see coming most of all please get Spin and the others to the Haven system and see if the framework tech can save her. Overall still great and I would recommend this to any person with a sci-fi interest but more this time and much sooner the delays this time were frustrating and you might of lost a few readers in that wait.
G**B
And so the story continues, sort of...
And so the story continues, I have been enjoying it up to this episode but not a lot has been accomplished in this book, it is more like a romance novel, not quite a bodice ripper but getting there, maybe in number 11. It is very gushy about how wonderful, beautiful, clever someone is and how well they have done, and so on and so on. It never seems to end. Nothing wrong with romance novels but that is for a different market. I wasn't expecting this, if I'd known, I wouldn't have bought it. I'll read a preview of number 11 before I commit to buying it.
K**H
Excellent series
Really great series = excellent story lines with a wealth of ideas - recommend to anyone
D**S
Easy read sci-fi but a little too short
If the book had been longer I would have given this 5 stars.If you are considering this book then I would guess that you have probably followed the story through the previous Broadcasts and this progresses things along a little further and revisits the place things all began.While it's clear that there is an attempt allow this to stand as its own story if chanced upon by a new reader there is a massive depth of character missing for new readers which only comes from reading from the start.
P**N
Hits the spot again
I've been with the Spaniard Fringe novels from the very beginning, and it just keeps getting better. The story keeps evolving and remains gripping.Keep up the good work.
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