My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The concept of adjacent universes is novel and intriguing, particularly when you find the characters are able to pass across the borders. They can interact with each other and the restrictions involved are discussed from time to time, being highly complex as expected. The main problem I had was when the author digressed to tell the reader much more about the restrictions and it took something away from the pace of the detective story. For in the end this is a small town detective thriller set in a ‘universe far away’ with many interesting space-type and sci-fi-ish ideas, where electricity does not work and metals rapidly degrade. Perhaps some of the details that were info-dumped before the reader should have been revealed through the characters actions and conversations. There was also the occasional mixing up of past and present tense within the same sentence which can be confusing.
The characters of Sheriff Artur Kovel Perax and Reven are well drawn and engaging. Their conversations were usually quite entertaining and generally believable. However, she is not the only female central character with Ambassador Lintsa Kroft and Acting Chief of Police Dorot Asmist, the Atlathian from the ‘other side’, also taking central stage at different points in the plot. There were some nice sub-plot touches there providing vague inner conflicts to challenge our hero, Artur, and the reader’s awareness of his pregnant wife, Holly. Regarding the Sheriff’s crime investigation we even have one or two senior officers getting in the way of his dedicated task. Something that frequently occurs, or so it seems, in detective and crime stories. It is particularly pertinent to this tale and I will not spoil the plot by going into more detail.
I can recommend the Perax Frontier to both, science fiction and crime fans. The characters are interesting, they have personalities that intrigue and they populate a fascinating world in this very different book, making it an enjoyable read.
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