Also by this author: Tales of TinfoilThe Oberon is the only place one can still find the American Dream alive and well. Thousands of settlers from America have come to live in this mysterious land accessed only by an energy portal in the South Pacific. The settlers are there to mine orichalcum- a mineral that can give even the casual user magical powers - and to reap the strange high tech salvage that litters the dead cities of an extinct human civilization.
Sarah Orange, a young and troubled girl from Southern California, is one of those settlers. Facing a futureless existence in modern day America and betrayed by her long time boyfriend, Sarah takes off to The Oberon and falls in with a group of illegal salvagers that operate in the dead cities only at night. Facing death, betrayal, and the heavy hand of her corporate overseers as well as the murderous hatred of the alien Oberon natives that live a medieval existence, Sarah searches for love and money in a world so close to- and yet so different from- our very own.
I received this book for free from Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Nighthawk’s at the mission is a science fiction novel that speaks to an alternate time line where inhabitants of Earth are able to take part in an off planet group that serves a multitude of different functions, from archeology, to salvaging, to science, and history.
It is written from a 2nd person POV, and it is honestly a little tough to get into. The author uses the term You when he speaks on the main character, which is in fact not You but a woman named Sarah whose boyfriend is a douche, mom has some serious mental issues, sister went missing in Off-Planet, boyfriend’s twin brother is doing some illegal images on line.
When I read books about other planets I expect a couple of things, 1) a very descriptive view of what the other world/planet/species, etc 2) I expect a very viable reason why people leave, what they are doing there, how the science came to allow for off planet travel, etc. This book does not give me a good description of the new planet, I know what California looks like, but I don’t know what this new off-world is. For me it wasn’t flushed out enough and I wanted more. I also wanted more about how they came about going off-planet. Don’t get me wrong I will allow a lot to go by without questioning it. I love vampires, werewolves, zombies without really looking into the reasons behind, but I want more. I want to know why, who, where, what, and how.
The plot is a good one and I think that this is still a good book, it really pushes what people perceive as science fiction. I also really like the title. Go to Off-world, make a killing means so much more than you think it does.
About Forbes West
Forbes West was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and graduated with a Master's Degree in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach. He currently lives and works mostly in San Francisco, CA and owns a home in Ojima, Japan- a village five hours south of Tokyo by car that is in the foothills of Mt. Fuji.
