Bookworm Speaks!- Home World by Bonnie Milani

Bookworm Speaks!

Home World

by Bonnie Milani

Acquired: Provided for free through Word Slinger Publicity in exchange for an honest review

Series: None

Paperback: 496 pages

Publisher: New Leaf Distributing Co Inc

Language: English

****

The Story: On a shattered Waikiki two princes risk humanity's future for Keiko Yakamoto's love. Who will she choose - or kill?

Centuries of ruinous war have left Earth little more than a dusty tourist world within the star-flung Commonwealth she founded. Now, amid the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Hawaii, Jezekiah Van Buren has found a way to restore Earth - Home World to the other worlds of the Commonwealth - to her lost glory. 

The most ingenious prince even the genetically-enhanced, Great Family Van Buren has ever produced, Jezekiah has achieved the impossible: a treaty with the human polymorphs called Lupans, that will convert these ancient enemies to Earth's most powerful allies. The treaty will not only make Earth rich again, but it will enable Jezekiah to escape the Ring that marks him as Earth's next ruler. Then he'll be free: free to create his own future, and free to marry Keiko Yakamoto, the warrior-trained woman he loves.

Assuming he can convince his xenophobic sister to accept the Lupan's alpha warlord in marriage before the assassin she's put on his tail succeeds in killing him.

Assuming he can thwart another deadly uprising by the interstellar criminal organization called Ho Tong. And before his ruling relatives on competing worlds manage to execute him for treason.

Jezekiah manages to stay one step ahead of his foes, until his Lupan warlord-partner reaches Earth. And these two most powerful men suddenly find themselves in love with the same woman. A woman who just may be the most deadly assassin of them all.

The Review: Lets start off with the factor that initially drew Bookworm to this book: the setting. A post apocalyptic Hawaii is extremely fascinating and a wonderfully original setting. It seems like every other story takes place in New York City or Generic Midwest City USA. Hawaii is a great location. Since its such a tourist trap, people tend to forget that Hawaii is home to a rich culture and compelling history. 

The history behind the Hawaii in this story is compelling as well. No need to retread the summary but it is a world filled with stories about the distant future of Humanity. No word if alien life exists in this universe yet. 

Unfortunately, a cool backstory does not always translate into a good story. Cool ideas are a dime a dozen in this line of work. 

If what was wrong with this story was to be summed up in one word, it would be: confusing. 

There is a ton of head hopping in this book, with every character of any significance gets their own thoughts put onto the page. This would be okay if every character got a clear definition between passages but those are lacking here. The characters we see are also lacking. They aren’t bad characters but they feel very two dimensional at times.  

There are times when their stories become compelling especially near the ending but more on that later, but for most of the book they almost feel interchangeable. If the reader has to constantly remind his or herself which character is which, there is a problem with the text. 

It’s like the whole book needs an index in order to keep all of the names and organizations straight…and it needs to be checked constantly. If that is the case, perhaps a less merciful editor was needed.

In fact, Yes. One more rewrite and editing session would have probably made this story great but Bookworm feels like the author had a few too many ideas and tried to put them all into the story. 

Honestly, the story about powerful familial dynasties, competing heirs, marriages of political acumen, all with a science fiction bent is good, but it has been done a lot across a wide variety of media. It feels like it is doing the same thing all over again. The author tries to through in a twist behind the motivation near the end but by then Bookworm was so confused that it was lost among all the other plot threads. Not to mention, that it in of itself was not that original. This story has been done and unlike other stories, it is hard to put a new bent on squabbling family members and rival corporations. 

The book’s saving grace is ultimately the last third of the text, where all of the plot threads start to come to a head and several new twists are introduced. Bookworm did find himself eagerly turning the pages to see the end of the whole scenario. No spoilers, but it was a very memorable ending that does leave an impression. 

Unfortunately, this is a scenario where one part is done so well that it makes the problems with the other parts more apparent. The reason, the final third works so well is that the chaff from the rest of the book has fallen away. The story has boiled down to three or four characters and the politicking has finally borne fruit as the crisis deepens. All of the negatives from the previous chapters have been toned down and a much better plot line emerges. 

Final Verdict: Home World is a imaginative and compelling story that ultimately falls short in its execution. 

Three out of Five Stars

thecultureworm.blogspot.com