Tavern on the Edge of Time by Peter Darrach is the third book of the Second Skin Sequence, which I must admit was a nice sci-fi novel. Considering that I have not reviewed (or read) the previous two books, I decided to review this particular book as a stand-alone, rather than discussing the previous books. That being said, it’s not too difficult to get lost in the imaginative world that Darrach has created, but I would be lying if I said it was easy to pick up where I suppose the first and second books left off. However, all those things aside, the reader is met with the author’s blatant ability to keep them intrigued throughout the novel as well as his prominent writing skills that are often much to be desired for when it comes to independent publishing. In other words, Peter Darrach may very well be one of the best indie sci-fi authors I’ve come across. Sure, there were some editing problems that I picked up on as I read, but not to such an extent as to hinder the reading of Tavern on the Edge of Time. That in itself is quite an achievement. Nevertheless, as far as the plot is concerned, we have a very intricate world that’s been created with all kinds of interesting sub-plots and even a few twists and turns. Basically, it’s one helluva read and the reader will definitely relate to some of the characters on some level…

I did find some faults, but not enough to truly deem this book unreadable. Frankly, I found Tavern on the Edge of Time fun and different to what I usually have to read and I’d be more than happy to read the other two books as well. On the other hand though, I do have a bit of a problem with the cover. Now, yes I am well aware of the saying: “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but I do feel that the cover does not represent the book particularly well and to be perfectly blunt about it, I don’t think it’ll do much for sales either. This could be an unforgivable overlooking from the author’s part in the future. However, I’m not here to judge the cover, I’m here to critique the contents.

Tavern on the Edge of Time is a book for the seasoned sci-fi enthusiast and although I do think that it will also appeal to some entry-level sci-fi readers, it might not be for everyone. Sometimes imagination is limited in some folks and that could be problematic to them – merely because it takes a lot of work to imagine certain things – but Tavern on the Edge of Time will give your brain quite a work-out in that regard, which is why I enjoyed it. It’s not perfect, but like beauty – perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

(For the full review, please visit http://www.tentaclebooks.com/?p=343 ) ( )

I enjoyed the first two of this series, but this time around the writing just didn't work for me. The aliens are the main focus in Tavern, which was fun to see, but there were a few too many typos and awkward sentences in my opinion.