Eclipse Review
Author: Herman Steuernagel
Rating: 7.5 GOOD
What’s it about?: ECLIPSE is an epic space adventure that’s part space opera, part dystopia. A dual POV, fast-paced read that’s filled with unlikely heroes, space pirates, and non-stop heart-pounding action!
Reading the book, Eclipse By: Herman Steuernagel was a long time coming for me. It’s been on my TBR for a few years. Better late than never. I’m so glad I was able to finally read it as it really clicked for me. But not in the way I was thinking it would.
I went into Eclipse anticipating being thrown into a massive universe with alien races and warring factions that span the galaxy. I don’t know why I thought this and I’m glad Eclipse wasn’t that. Instead, I was met with a deeply personal story about love, loss, and found family. These themes hit pretty hard due to the characters being so fully realized and relatable. The author clearly has a talent for writing as he had me caring for the characters pretty early on in the story. Everyone feels real and responds to the universe in a way that makes sense. Additionally, the world itself feels alive and lived in. The author was successful in conveying that these characters all have a history that exists with or without the reader.
“If even a faint waft had clung to him, he must have been the most offensive thing on the entire upper torus. A smile touched his lips. It was his odor.” (These details don’t seem like a big deal but they are to me. It adds personality to even the odors permeating this story)
The world building is truly believable with a hierarchy system that had me asking questions about our own society. Additionally, the author was successful in building suspense for larger questions throughout the entire book. With each passing chapter I felt compelled to continue to find out what happens next.
Unfortunately, not all is perfect. I felt there were some pacing issues. Particularly in the first half of the story. At one point, I was halfway through the book and felt like not much was happening. I had a lot of unanswered questions with only around 100 pages left. However, It’s a good sign that those unanswered questions I had, I really wanted answered. This is a testament to the skill the author has of pulling you into this world and writing characters you’ll care about. That being said, there are a few side characters that I wish the author had developed more. Several events didn’t hit as hard as they could’ve if they had been a bit more fleshed out.
Continuing with the pacing issue, after finishing the book, it feels like a long setup to some grand adventure. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The setup is almost perfectly done but I would understand how some readers could find it too slow paced. The Amazon short description of this book says that it’s “Non stop heart-pounding action.” In my opinion, this is not the case at all. But the trade off is some fantastic storytelling, world building, and character arc’s that will leave you flipping pages faster than any action scene.
Ultimately, I would definitely recommend reading Eclipse By: Herman Steuernagel. Although not the sweeping epic I thought it was, the authors writing talent really shines through to provide a really good story. I will be saving up my credits for the sequel.
***Side note: I see that Herman Steuernagel has several cozy fantasy novels out now. I will certainly be checking those out soon.