Friday, June 26, 2015

Class-M Exile by Raven Oak

Title:  Class-M Exile
Author:  Raven Oak
Publication Date:  June 22/15 by Grey Sun Press
Length:  102pgs
Genre:  SciFi
Shelf:  Review
Rating: ★★★

Back Cover Blurb:

Bay-zar.
Class-M planet in the middle of no-where. Dust, dust, and more dust. Unless ya circled ‘round to the more habitable region, you’d be stuck without a ship to anywhere. ‘Round the corner though, you could find everything from ship parts and dried food packs, to roast dog and the rare bi-cycle. Hell, you could even buy yerself a gen-u-ine religion if you were so inclined.
The ultimate tourist trap. And here I’d taken the bait.

When Eerl stepped off The Marzipan, he was one of a billion tourists on Bay-zar. He expected to shop for rare artifacts from war-ravaged Earth and maybe study at the grand library, but not even his background in Human Studies from the University of Tersia could prepare him for what came next:
A military beefcake with a grudge, a wartime conspiracy, a stolen ship, a galaxy full of prejudice, and at the center of it all, a young human named Mel in search of the truth. 

Her search for her past and his quest for knowledge take them across the stars as they uncover the darkness and fear in us all.

My Review:

This well written novella has definitely captured my attention. Oak has created a picture of the universe that carries her story forward. There’s also a sense of foreboding throughout that kept me coming back for more. I enjoyed how she painted the scenery for her audience, allowing them to focus on the plot at hand.


Oak uses a great deal of slang and twang to differentiate between the different races and species that we encounter. It also serves to allow readers an inside look at who the main character is and how he thinks. I found that it took me a while to get used to, but once I did, it was quite intriguing. It was also very consistent throughout.

I quite enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story. They were so different from anything that I’ve met before. There is a definite humanoid aspect to all major players in the story but they’re also quite one of a kind. Everyone was well developed to suit their role, yet it didn’t stop there. I felt as if I actually knew them.

As a whole, this was an enjoyable novella once I got used to the narrator’s twang. It’s an intriguing start to Oak’s new series and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where it goes next.

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