Book Review: Rapier by R.A. Correa

*I received a complimentary copy of this book, and I’m leaving a voluntary review*

Whoa! – This book surprised me a lot. It’s difficult to know where to begin, so let’s start with some plot:

There’s two protagonists; Kathy Masters and Cindy. Kathy is a woman on her way out in the world, working as a photographer, employed by the Galactic Geographic Society. Cindy is just a child, and by coincidence, they’re both on the S. S. America when it gets boarded by pirates. Thus begins the story of their 9 years aboard the Rapier.

This is a fantastic sci-fi adventure. There’s spaceships, space battles, fascinating planets, and of course aliens. And it’s all mixed together with a kind of 1600’s piracy-vibe, and it’s amazing. I was hesitant at first, thinking it was a bit slow to start, but this book is exactly the reason why I never put a book down before I’ve gotten well into it, because it got so good.

It’s the story and the characters that does it. The story is told to us by Kathy and Cindy, as they’re being interviewed by a journalist after their adventures on the Rapier, and their story is incredible. The character arcs are exciting and gripping, following Cindy’s upbringing. We actually use her birthdays as a way to track time in this book, which I thought was very well done. They learn to live aboard the Rapier, learning to fight with laser guns and sword, to battle other spaceships, and to navigate their way around space. It’s fascinating. And the sci-fi is very well done. By that I mean the focus on space and the spaceship. I feel like a lot of research has gone into this, and I like to gauge how well it’s been done by how little I understand. The way they talk about the Rapier makes me feel like I know the ship.

To begin with, I had an issue with the way the book is written, but that’s on me, not the author or the book. It’s in third-person present tense, and I don’t know why but my mind struggles to wrap itself around it. I felt like it should have been first-person present tense, or third-person past, but as I got used to it, that notion faded away. Again, my issue, not the book’s. Other than that, the pacing is a bit fast sometimes, listing up a series of events before quickly pulling us over to the next scene. I always enjoy a fast-paced book, but sometimes it feels like it’s a bit more showing than telling. Also, there was a weird obsession about very accurate measurements, particularly when it came to describing people. Exact heights and weight in centimeters and kilograms, which though it describes the body type very well, dragged me out of the story for a second.

But again, I want to highlight how great this story was. I went from not being too interested in the beginning, to being very captivated by the end. As I said, it’s the story and the characters that do it, their just both that good. Kathy and Cindy truly came to life in this book, and their adventures are amazing.

As so many other authors, Correa has lined this up to be a series, and I already know it’s going to be a good one. You should go check it out!