Kim Miller
Overall a good story with a high stakes sub-plot, but the writing style is up not to it.
A fast paced story about racing mini space ships on a specialised track. Pilots win by shooting down their opponents so there are a lot of dead pilots. The story is rapid fire major events with no time for the characters to really process these events. Final result, actions with consequences but no emotion - he tries to write the emotion elements but hasn't got the chops for it.
Man is a pilot as the money gets him out of a life of poverty. He kills too many others, especially a women he cares about, and calls it off. Years later his son picks up the Dad's racing life. Son is then forced into the Empire's military to fight the Alliance. He gets into a fight and kills two men in the back streets. Abandons his unit and becomes a racer again. Finds himself in the Alliance on a Death Star clone that is about to destroy Earth. Gets attacked by the Empire. Everything goes haywire. Father turns up again to save the day. The Emperor is revealed to have been manipulating both sides. Emperor gets killed. Father gets killed. Son becomes next Emperor.
The sub-plot gets hints in the early stages but by the time it's put into effect at the end it sounds tropey and almost cut and paste from Arkady Martine's A Desolation Called Peace. Also, a giant moon-like space station with a weapon that can destroy a planet. Where have we heard that before?
Overall a good story with a high stakes sub-plot, but the writing style is up not to it.
A fast paced story about racing mini space ships on a specialised track. Pilots win by shooting down their opponents so there are a lot of dead pilots. The story is rapid fire major events with no time for the characters to really process these events. Final result, actions with consequences but no emotion - he tries to write the emotion elements but hasn't got the chops for it.
Man is a pilot as the money gets him out of a life of poverty. He kills too many others, especially a women he cares about, and calls it off. Years later his son picks up the Dad's racing life. Son is then forced into the Empire's military to fight the Alliance. He gets into a fight and kills two men in the back streets. Abandons his unit and becomes a racer again. Finds himself in the Alliance on a Death Star clone that is about to destroy Earth. Gets attacked by the Empire. Everything goes haywire. Father turns up again to save the day. The Emperor is revealed to have been manipulating both sides. Emperor gets killed. Father gets killed. Son becomes next Emperor.
The sub-plot gets hints in the early stages but by the time it's put into effect at the end it sounds tropey and almost cut and paste from Arkady Martine's A Desolation Called Peace. Also, a giant moon-like space station with a weapon that can destroy a planet. Where have we heard that before?