ORBS by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Chilling
The dynamics between Sophie (eminent scientist) and the pilot assigned to transport her to a biosphere facility hooked me into this story. Sadly, the pilot moved on and new characters moved in, and I was unimpressed by Sophie’s “boss” as his introduction of the Biosphere facility left much to be desired, but there were reasons for this that were divulged later.
What kept me hooked (and compels me to give five stars) is that ORBS proved scary. This story plays on the fragility of Earth’s ecosystem and mankind’s resilience to alien invasion. The alien monsters are described with bloodcurdling realism.
There was interesting character development, even for the AI on the biosphere team. I went from liking Sophie to being unsure about her before warming to her again. I enjoyed the military characters. Overton’s perception of kids as ankle biters fitted him well. Timothy? I wanted to understand him, but the value he should have offered the team eluded me. Each character responded differently to the stresses they were under and by the end a new team dynamic was emerging.
The inclusion of material from Solar Storms (the prequel) could have been a little smoother, but overall the story developed at a fast pace to reach a satisfying end with plenty of nail-biting moments that left me ready to devour the next story. This promises to develop into an exciting series.
Ceri London's Blog, Science Fiction Author 