Vesta Central reviewed by Simming League

Reading Vesta Central is like watching Shakespeare while on a roller-coaster. A densely packed story filled with characters and ideas, it pummels the reader at every turn with names, places and facts. This, combined with a non-linear storyline, makes it a little overwhelming and confusing in places.

Eventually, though, the story finds its focus and stride in its protagonist, Nelson Straw, a disgraced astronaut about to be given a second chance with command of an experimental starship.

Unfortunately, just as the reader becomes drawn into Straw's life, the roller-coaster ride comes to an abrupt end. And, like the disappointed rider, the reader is left unsatisfied. The climax of the story isn't carried through, and a number of elements and incidents in the story are left dangling, instead of being woven together in a cohesive story. The overall feeling of the story is rushed and incomplete, and to be told properly requires a slower pace, stronger focus and twice the length.

Vestra Central has a lot going for it, and is brimming with promise, but its potential is lost in the speed of the presentation and the incompleteness of the plot and subplots.

General comments:

Is this an excerpt from a larger book? As a story, this is incomplete. what I read was missing a climax and a denouement tying together of all the different strands.

For example, we know that Titov and Straw served together - what does this mean for the battle at Vespa - both during and afterwards?

How does the battle of Vespa end?

How does the final chapter relate to the heading "The Silent Service Reborn"?

On a military establishment, how is King allowed to apparently attack Fleeties at will? What's behind this animosity?

In the chapter "Second Chances", we're told that a number of ships have gone off the grid, but we don't find out why. How does this tie into the story?

What impact did the massacre at Bigelow have on things, other than having Straw seeking solitude that would make him available for the Trident?

What role does the prologue play in the rest of the story? It introduces Titov and Ramirez, but doesn't seem to have any resonance in the rest of the plot or the characters.

Vesta Central is now available via e-Quill Publishing for download.

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