Pros
- Thrilling action battle scenes with ground and space units
- A bit more mystery revealed about the events regarding Gaia on the Odysseus
Cons
- Plot progression is a little slow since the story was focused on one large encounter
Odysseus Awakening Review
Odysseus Awakening by Evan Currie is an exciting continuation of the conflict between Earth and her ally, the Priminae, against an empire whose strength and motivations remain entirely unknown.
In terms of plot, the story does not really progress much further than the encounter with the Empire. Commodore Weston finds himself involved in yet another skirmish with the Empire in a fringe Priminae colony world. But better that the battle be fought in this fringe world than around Earth.
While the focus of the story is primarily on this single encounter, the odd fluctuations in the Odysseus in the previous books, as well as the odd encounter with Gaia and the Odysseus core, are both expanded upon with the introduction of a new story element that raises more questions about the nature of the singularity drives or perhaps even the nature of the universe as humans understand it.
Gaia, Central, and this new element add a bit of almost fantasy or spiritualism to this science fiction series. The mystery surrounding Gaia is interesting enough, but this new element suggests that the element for procreation is similar—who, or what, Gaia is and what role she plays in the story is still unclear. But if she’s a reflection of humanity much like Central is a reflection of the Priminae, then perhaps these entities are born of the collective consciousness of the species.
Regardless, Gaia remains a minor character to the story even if the mystery’s slow unraveling can be frustrating.
The space battle scenes in this story are just as exciting, if not more so, than previous books in Odyssey One. That should come as no surprise to readers, but Weston faces off against a competent commander on the battlefield. The strategies that Weston and his smaller fleet must employ become more critical against a larger enemy, and this imbalance creates a sense of suspense in the story.
In addition to the space battles, the story features a marine boarding action, combining the exciting space and ground battles that readers have seen separately in previous books. The result of both the space and shipboard action show that one military command structure may be better than another, more authoritarian structure favored by the empire.
Both space battles and the ship battles for the marines are exciting and well executed, keeping the pacing of the story moving along quickly. The conclusion of the story shouldn’t be a surprise for readers considering the conclusions of Weston’s previous encounters with the Drasin and the Empire. But the reveal at the end of the story is more than enough to pique interest and perhaps move a subplot—Gaia—along that was otherwise fairly stagnant.
While the focus of Odysseus Awakening by Evan Currie is largely on a single large encounter between Earth and the Priminae against the Empire’s scouting fleet, the author manages to reveal a bit more about a mysterious event that occurred with Gaia and the Odysseus in a previous book. And this revelation leads to more intrigue that adds some intriguing elements to the next book in the series.
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