Pretty good conclusion of the series. As usual, a quick enjoyable read, but a few too many unbelievable things. This time mostly about how easy it is to escape from captivity. A minimal amount of precautions would have prevented most of these attempts and rendered the story much more real if things were more difficult for the heroes. ( )

I was disappointed in Book 2 of this series because the first half of the book was just fluff and didn't advance the plot at all. Book 3 is totally opposite. It jumps right into the story line, picking up where Book 2 left off. And, it is a reasonably good read, although I get a little tired of the constant and excessive love descriptions between Callie and Elena. Those are not at all necessary and appear to be political correctness rather than good writing. Also, the superwoman aspects of Callie get pretty boring. Still, Pratt's speculations about technologies of the future and structure of the universe are interesting enough for me to give the book 4 stars. ( )

"Why do I have to destroy every abomination I see?" ( )

We're not under any illusions about the Axiom anymore, are we? They're the xenocidal monsters of which nightmares were first brewed, they're cruel and thoughtless and smugly superior...no, scratch that, they're oblivious to lesser life's reality and so find nothing or no one convincingly sentient except themselves. They're even working, while in hibernation, on changing the fundamental constants of the Universe! And all so they can prolong their own nasty existences (and those of some slaves to do the scut work, one supposes) in complete disregard of the fact that this fundamental alteration would destroy whatever life there already is in it. In spite of all that, here's Captain Callie Machedo and Ashok the engineer, the White Raven's Scotty, met in the middle of blowing the (apparently awakening, shudder) Axiom's shit up some more!

Some people don't want to live.

Or rather, some people are willing to risk death so that the Universe and its untold trillions of life-forms can, and will, live. An altogether more noble formulation of the same set of behaviors, no?

The rest of the review will go live on my blog, Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud, on the 29th...the first day of my annual #Booksgiving review-fest! ( )

last book in this old-style space opera trilogy. i have the definite feeling he plays fast and loose with the science, but it's a great collection of characters, and sometimes you just need something that brings the fun. ( )