Ghost Planet

More Sci Fi Than Romance

I love both science fiction and romance, but never seem to find a science fiction romance hybrid that really works. This one is better than most, but still falls short of the mark.

In the beginning, I was riveted. Although I'm not fond of first person point of view, in this case it worked quite well. There was good romantic conflict, and the idea was fairly original, though the ghosts reminded me of the daemons in Philip Pullman's "Golden Compass" series. The similarity was underscored by a female scientist determined to separate the ghosts from the human colonists.

The writer's lacked any 'feel' for cultural dialogue. Supposedly, the male character was Irish, but his speech didn't really reflect his nationality. The author seemed to think that having him address the heroine as 'love' was enough, but it really wasn't, so on the rare occasions when someone in the book mentioned his supposedly Irish background, it tended to be something of a mental jolt that distracted from the story.

By the middle of the book, the romantic conflict had evaporated. The plot still maintained my interest, but without the romantic conflict, the story lost a lot of its spark. The emphasis fell on the science fiction elements, which is why I consider this more of a science fiction story with romantic elements than a futuristic romance, which is how the back cover synopsis portrayed the story.

The ending was a disappointment. The villain of the piece came from nowhere, which made the whole book feel like a cheat. (There had been a very brief mention of this character early in the book, but since he never appeared again until the end--and never in person--it felt more like part of the world building than the introduction of an important character.) Apparently the author believed the unexpected introduction of a new character gave the book a surprise twist at the end, but her ruse didn't work. Having the bad guy suddenly show up out of nowhere is more of a reverse 'deus ex machina', with the villain coming out of the clouds rather than a rescuer. It left the climax flat and the reader cold.

The other problem with the ending stemmed from the fact that many plot threads were left unresolved. There were simply too many questions left unanswered--especially the questions of how the planet became so Earth-like in such a short space of time, and where the ghosts themselves came from. If the author is planning a sequel to tie up the loose ends, this might be forgivable, but I checked her website and found no indication that this is intended to be the first in a series. If this book is a one-off, then the ending is a miserable failure. Even if the author does intend to continue the tale in future books, the ending doesn't give the intelligent reader satisfaction.

For a first book, "Ghost Planet" wasn't too bad, but I probably won't be waiting on the edge of my seat for the author's next book. The writing itself was good, especially in the beginning, but this author needs to spend more time learning her craft. I'd recommend this book to young girl geeks who aren't too choosey about the details and who don't really care about the finer plot points. If you're the type who doesn't ask questions or notice holes in the plot, then you'll probably enjoy this book a great deal.

If not for the ending, I would have answered the review question "Would you recommend this item to a friend?" with a 'yes.' However, this poorly planned ending ruined the entire book for me, and I can't really recommend it.