Book Review: Wreck of the Nebula Dream

My original Wreck of the Nebula Dream audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Special Forces Captain Nick Jameson is aboard the Nebula Dream, a colossal spaceship on its first trip. This spaceship is one of a kind, with luxurious entertainment and full with rich passengers in their way to Sector Hub. Suddenly one night Nick is shaken awake, and after several deceptions from the captain of the ship, things go south and then it is clear that the Nebula Dream does not have all the safety measures in order. And some want to take advantage of this.

The first part of the book would be a parallel story to the Titanic’s and it is the one I found more entertaining. Despite the feeling that I was listening to a tale about the Titanic, due to the similar descriptions, I think it was an interesting idea. Here we also get the characters’ introductions, and we learn that Nick is a Special Forces Captain, always alert and very efficient at his job. This was not done very subtlety though, since it seems Nick is always in the middle of every issue happening on the ship, and he is always the one saving the day. At the beginning of the book we also meet Mara, a businesswoman with more than one ability, that will be later on beside Nick trying to save what is left from the wreck.

The second part of the book is about what happens after the incident, and despite being interesting and being well written too, this is the part I least enjoyed. The characters had zero evolution and the romance seemed somehow forced. I do not really need a romantic story when I am reading science fiction (or any other genre for that matter), but I do not dislike it if it is done in a proper way. I need to see some character depth, some evolution, otherwise I just do not care about the characters and whether they get involved in a romantic relationship or not. There is just some hugging and kissing, no erotic scenes, since they were busy enough fighting for their lives. But I wonder, how did they have the time for romance under these circumstances?

Mara spent too much time trying to show how capable she was, and Nick had an arrogant attitude towards civilians in general and women in particular. This and the shallow romance made me roll my eyes several times, and I was surprised that although this book is written by a female writer, there were too many damsel in distress moments. Mara was very capable but her character was so plain that I did not connect to it.

Michael Riffle’s narration was very clear but his reading rhythm was something I had to get used to. He made so many pauses, that there seemed to be more punctuation signs than the ones meant by the author, making the reading a bit artificial and distracting at first. It was correct enough and the voices were distinct, but it seems Riffle’s heart was not in it. The rhythm improved a bit along the way but it still felt unnatural. There were some subtle noises at the beginning of the book, which reminded me of turning pages or fingers rubbing against paper. They disappeared after a while.

I was really captivated by the world created by Veronica Scott, but I just missed some character’s depth and evolution. With this it could have been a five start book.