Hellhole Awakening (Hellhole Trilogy #2) by Brian Herbet and Kevin J. Anderson
Publisher: Tor
Publication Date: March 26, 2013 (first published February 13, 2013)
Edition: Hardcover, 528 pages
Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera
Rating: 2.5/5
More aliens, political scheming, plot twists, and even a bit of space battles this time… but it still felt the same as book 1.
Backcover:
In this exhiliarting sequel to Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s Hellhole, the stakes on planet Hallholme have been raised to new heights. After declaring his independence from the corrupt Constellation, rebel General Adolphus knows the crackdown is coming. Now he needs to pull together the struggling Hellhole colony, the ever-expanding shadow-Xayan settlement, and his connections with the other Deep Zone worlds. Even then, he doubts his desperate measures will be enough.Diadem Michella Duchenet has collected a huge space fleet led by Commodore Escobar Hallholme, son of the hero who originally defeated Adolphus. They expect resistance from the General’s rebels, but who could possibly stand up to such a mighty fleet?Adolphus knows he’s running out of time, but he still has some hope—the shadow-Xayans have banded together to defend their sacred planet with “telemancy,” but can they discover new powers to protect all the stored alien lives on the already devastated world? And when all hope seems lost, the awakened Xayans reveal information hidden even from their own followers—the existence of a bigger threat that makes even the Constellation fleet seem insignificant.Disaster has come for General Adolphus and Hellhole…and this time there is no escape.
This was a good sci-fi space opera. Nothing great, but not bad at all. Just a good, entertaining, slight above average story. It didn’t have any difficulty keeping my attention, but I wasn’t dying to get back once I put the book down.
If that opening paragraph looks familiar, its because I also used it to start my review of Hellhole.
Why would I do such a thing? Because it basically the same as the first book in the series. This was an improvement, but not by much. Don’t go into this one expecting anything new.
It is going to start off very slow again, there is still a serious lack of world-building and character development, but once again there is going to a great cliff-hanger ending.
Personally, I really like the plot the story; the political conflicts and schemes, the mystery of the alien and altar, and just all that stuff. Finding out what was going to happen, was what helped me get through this.
If you weren’t a fan of the first book – mainly if it was too slow- and aren’t interested in what may happen, I’d have to say stop after book 1. It sadly, won’t be worth your effort. This has too many flaws for the effort.
2.5/5 Rating
-DJ
MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape 