Review of Lleydrin
Lleydrin by J.B. Moran is a fun sci-fi fantasy novel. On a dinosaur-infested planet, a city keeps the forest dangers at bay with a shield. Danger looms as the intergalactic company Devcorp begins a blockade to force Lleydrin’s ruling family to sell the planet. A ranger core banished to the jungle long ago now finds mercenaries hunting them. Luckily, the city has been quietly building its own space program, and now needs teen recruits to learn piloting from a space pirate marooned on Lleydrin. The rangers send a martial-arts-expert teen girl to infiltrate the program, and find out who controls the mercenaries.
Pretty much all the most popular tropes in 21st century science fiction, but Lleydrin is well put together. Moran keeps a fast, entertaining pace throughout. It made me laugh. Lots of action, and multiple characters working at cross purposes. Every chapter is strewn with action and adventure. Tactical research was used for space battles, so there are some nice dogfights.
The characters are fairly standard action heroes and villains, cliched but consistent. Good stock character archetypes, and they interact well. They are not deep, but they are fun. Most of them are kind. Moran tends to dwell on the good in people, and a few characters are able to make positive changes in their lives. Lleydrin is a nice light engaging read. I didn’t want to put it down.
Clean language, minimal fantasy violence, focuses on friendships instead of romances. There is a set-up for a second book, but the Moran ends this one nicely and it feels complete. (I am looking forward to reading the next one, of course!)
Four stars!
*Disclosure: I was given a review copy of the e-book by the author.
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