BOOK REVIEW: Storm of Arranon by R. E. Sheahan

Storm of Arranon

R.E. Sheahan

Rule of Three Press

2013

9781466234970

A forbidden birth. A remarkable young woman. A marauding alien society. The battle begins.

Cadet Erynn Yager guards a secret that if revealed would change her life, and not for the good. Erynn senses the emotions of others, can manipulate the electro-magnetic field around her, bend time for brief moments, and see the future. It’s not Erynn’s abilities that jeopardize her. It’s why she has these talents. Erynn’s very birth as a child of two worlds is forbidden.

When a brutal alien society begins an invasion, sending a specialized team to assassinate a military representative, Erynn bends time, saving the dignitary’s life. The alien assassin takes Erynn hostage, using her as a shield to evade capture. Pursued and attacked, they crash land on Arranon, the sister planet of Erynn’s home world, Korin.

Erynn escapes the enemy, fleeing into the unfamiliar dangers of an untamed, frigid, and beautiful planet.

I have reviewed this title for Online Book Club.

When a book is classified as young adult, I often have a concern that it will be pitched at a fairly low level. However that was not the case with Storm of Arranon. While not exactly an adult book with adult action, it is definitely one that adults will enjoy reading as well as young adults. There is plenty of action and a developing plot, positioning the reader ready for the later instalments of the trilogy.

I did have some gripes.

At times the dialogue felt a little stilted and might have benefited from further feedback from beta readers. There were also little niggles here and there in the text. For example when a senior military officer is dismissing someone, they do not usually salute first. As a point of long-established protocol, it is the more junior rank who initiates the salute. At one point, Erynn is very cold. She lets her hair down and immediately feels warmer. Having experienced life both with and without cranial covering, I can attest that having the hair down makes a definite difference to head warmth. But when the whole body is cold, I cannot see dropping the hair down shall make an immediate difference to overall warmth. There were a few other little niggles like those. Little things like these emphasise the benefit of a good editor who can help pick up such things. However, they were not enough to throw me out of the story.

Storm of Arranon is a well-paced space opera piece that has appeal for both young adult and adult sci fi audiences. It gets both three stars from me here and three out of four for Online Book Club.