Yannick DcCullen is a blue and green Trionyx – seven-foot-two, spikes down his back and razor-sharp claws on paws and feet. Buddash Kyo is a Cranitian – skin cheddar-hued and large saucer-shaped eyes on either side of his oblong face. He has his own personal body armor – a scaled protective layer from the back of his head to below his ankles. Then there is Legate Prime Buzz, Diabolox, Dr. Rabun, and Sobek Bokhan, just to name a few. The names and species just kept coming. I only had a vague sense of the storyline, because I was overwhelmed by so many players. Also, there were several goals, individually, involving many characters.
What it comes down to is that these are bugs. Big bugs. Humans barely have a place in this plot and it turns out bugs are just as greed-driven as humans, and just as murderous. If they are not plotting to rob one another, they are plotting the demise of some equally nasty bug. Almost each chapter is a bombardment of some bug fighting other bugs, discussion of their ability to fight, and the body type needed for surviving fights. I was fascinated by the fact that you never want to kill a bug outright, because it immediately births a whole slew of more bugs. Incapacitation works much better, so the best way to handle bugs is to whack off appendages.
This story obviously involved a lot of brain-power from the author and, unfortunately, an awful lot from the readers. I was half-way through the book before I started recognizing who was up to what and why. Sadly, part-way through, the editing broke down and there are several confusing sentences sprinkled about. I decided by the time I neared the end of the book that I was liking the story. However, it took too long for me to appreciate it and the editing did muddy the writing. Is this a good story? I think it can be and some readers may enjoy this buggy tale. If you want to dive deeply into this, bring a roadmap and take notes. However, if you are just plain interested in what bugs may be thinking, this is the book for you.
Oh, don’t ask what the Eye of Hermes is. I barely know myself.
The rating:
- Genre and general reading age – I’m going to call this sci-fi and the reading age is anybody who likes bugs.
- Level of sexuality – There were some pleasure bugs, but overall I don’t think they’re too interested in that kind of stuff.
- Is there graphic language? Some, but it was all spoken in Bug-ese and easily ignored.
- Did I cry? Are you kidding? These are bugs!
- Did I laugh? After I finished the book. After all, it’s about bugs!
- Is this part of a series? No.
- Level of character development – What can I say? Bugs.
I give this ⭐️⭐️…Bugs!
Bona Fide Book Reviews 