I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe Series: The Protectorate #1
Published by Orbit on June 11 2019
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 544
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Ambitious in scope, with thrilling action and plenty of surprises along the way, Velocity Weapon was a blast from start to finish.
Well that was fun! I started Velocity Weapon not knowing much about it, but it didn’t take long to realize that Megan E. O’Keefe has some serious writing chops. The story does take some time to wind up and get going, but this careful laying of the groundwork is necessary for a story with so many of moving parts. This is an exciting, fast-paced and surprising space opera that kept getting better and better.
The story alternates among three main characters who are dealing with the aftermath of an explosive attack called the Battle of Dralee. In the year 3541, Biran is a newly minted Keeper on the planet of Ada Prime, one of the select few who have been tasked with the dangerous secret of a technology that allows space travel between distant planets. The Casimir Gate, which allows this instantaneous travel, is owned by Ada, but a rival group from the planet Icarion is dying to get their hands on the technology and build their own gate. The story begins as Biran gets news of the battle, a devastating attack on the Ada fleet with hundreds of military personnel presumed dead, including Biran’s beloved sister Sanda.
In another part of the galaxy, Sanda wakes up on an unfamiliar ship with no memory of how she got there. Even worse, she discovers that she’s lost part of one leg and appears to be the only person on board. The ship’s AI soon catches her up to speed, explaining that he found Sanda’s escape pod in a field of battle debris and rescued her. The ship, The Light of Berossus (or “Bero” as he likes to be called), has more bad news for Sanda: she’s stuck on an enemy ship, the Battle of Dralee was over two hundred and thirty years ago, and Ada and the Casimir Gate were destroyed in the battle. Not only are her friends and family dead, but she’s drifting somewhere in space with no way to get home.
A third perspective takes place on the distant planet of Atrux, where a young thief named Jules and her crew are about to break into a warehouse and make a startling discovery that will cause a ripple effect throughout the galaxy.
As the chapters flit back and forth among these three perspecitves, their connections become more and more clear. Each character has a driving purpose: Biran wants nothing more than to get his sister back home safely, even if it means the death of his burgeoning Keeper career. Sanda wants to survive, lost somewhere in space with dwindling supplies and stuck on a ship whose AI seems to have his own agenda. And Jules is now running for her life after the events of the warehouse theft.
What a ride this story was! I’m a big fan of alternating perspectives, and I thought the author did a great job juggling so many characters and events. O’Keefe has created a big world, and that scope might seem intimidating at first. But I loved the way she focuses on just a few main characters and what’s happening to them, but still manages to give us the big picture of her world, with all its political maneuvering and ultimately dangerous technology. There is a lot going on in this story, which is both a positive and a negative. On one hand, I loved all the parts of Velocity Weapon, especially the idea of Keepers, an elite group of people who have information chips implanted in the back of their necks, chips that hold the secret to the construction of the gates. Keepers know going in that their lives are precarious at best. If they go against the principles of the order or divulge any of its secrets, they run the risk of having their chip removed, which is more or less a death sentence. This is also a conundrum for the Icarions, who desperately want to learn those secrets for themselves. Getting their hands on a Keeper chip isn’t that easy to do, surprisingly. O’Keefe tackles this problem in very surprising ways, and therein lies the main thrust of the story.
However, these many parts and pieces don’t always mesh together at first, and I found myself confused a bit in the beginning. Readers will need to be patient in order to see the final puzzle come together, and even then, several things are left unresolved by the end of the story. There are also quite a few time jumps. Luckily, most of the chapter headings include the year that chapter is taking place, but be prepared for a bit of confusion in that respect. The author does some interesting things with the timeline, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
O’Keefe also touches on some big themes, like what it means to be human. Bero was one of my favorite characters, a sentient ship whose creators gave him a personality and the ability to develop it. Bero wants nothing more than to be in charge of his future and have the freedom to do what he wants. This is sticky because he’s owned by the Icarions, and they do not want to lose control of one of their biggest assets. I loved the growing relationship between Bero and Sanda, even though it appears that Sanda is in over her head and Bero is keeping big secrets from her. O’Keefe puts all her characters through the wringer and it’s a testament to her writing skills that the characters work through their issues and come out on the other side with their relationships still intact.
I loved so many of the characters in Velocity Weapon! Sanda is tough and determined and she does not let her disability slow her down at all. I loved reading about her attempts to make a prosthetic leg for herself, using whatever scant materials she can find on the ship. She’s also devoted to her family, including her brother Biran and their two dads, Graham and Ilan, and there are some wonderful family moments in the story. We also meet a repair bot on the ship who turns out to be an R2D2-like character, who Sanda nicknames “Grippy.” Honestly, there wasn’t enough of Grippy in this story, and I do hope he returns in the next book! Later in the story, Bero and Sanda rescue an Icarion communications expert named Tomas, who they find floating in an escape pod. Tomas introduces another layer of intrigue to the story, and I loved that he and Sanda do not trust each other at all in the beginning. And of course, there is Bero, one of my favorite characters. I’ve read some good sentient ship stories in the past and I have to say Bero’s story might be one of my favorites. He quickly develops a bond with Sanda, but you just know that he’s hiding all sorts of important information from her.
I didn’t warm up to Biran as much, for some reason. He’s caught up in the political machinations of the Keepers, but his loyalties are split because of his devotion to his family. But by the end of the story I could sympathize with him, although he’s not nearly as dynamic a character as Sanda, Tomas and Bero.
The last part of the story was full of shocking revelations and surprises, some big twists and a lot of action. O’Keefe ends things in a big way, but leaves us with a cliffhanger of sorts, which means it’s going to be an agonizing wait for the next book! Velocity Weapon was a wonderful surprise, chock full of all the things I love in my stories: action, emotion, humor, romance, politics and of course, vibrant and unforgettable characters. This is one space opera you don’t want to miss.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed this. When I first saw the cover and title I was immediately interested in reading it, but you can only tell so much (very little, in fact) from either cover or title. Definitely keeping on my TBR. Great review.
Thanks Todd, a good one to keep on the list, hope you get the chance to read it:-)
Loved this one too! I’m excited for the possibility of sequels.
Me too! I think it’s definitely the first in a series, so I guess it’s just a matter of waiting…
Great review! I’m going to have to add this to my tbr!
Hope you get the chance to read it:-)
This sounds like it has it all, Tammy, and I really want to read a space opera! Wonderful review. Thanks for putting this on my radar!
I seem to be reading a lot of space operas lately, and I definitely recommend this one:-)
I only looked at the start of your review! I am so glad that you give this one a positive review. I can’t want to read this one and have been hearing such good things about it.
I hope you enjoy it!
I’m glad to hear this was fun – that’s what I’m counting on! I’m definitely planning on reading this one soon. Just a couple more books to knock off my TBR first!
I know that feeling…trying to finish up certain books first;-)
Another excellent review, Tammy! 🙂 It’s c;ear from your review that despite so many things going on in the book, the author has deftly handled them all and has not let the plot veer off its course.
Debjani recently posted…Crush: A Tale of Two Vineyards by Joye Emmens – Review
Yes, exactly! She really was able to corral all the elements and make them work together.
I’m hearing so many good things about Velocity Weapon. Firmly on my SciFiMonth reading list now I think 🙂
SciFiMonth would be a great time to read it, and you know how quickly it’s going to be here:-)
It’s been a while since I’ve read a space opera and this sounds great. Loved your review and will be adding this to my wish list!
Laura Thomas recently posted…Rose by Rami Ungar ~ Spotlight and Giveaway
Thanks Laura, it’s a lot of fun:-)
I’m so happy to see you enjoyed this novel just as much as I did: this book is so full of momentous surprises and unexpected twists that it makes you forget there is an outside world… 🙂
Great review!!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Short Story Review: LIFE SENTENCE, by Matthew Baker
Yes, so many surprises, that’s one of the things I loved most:-)
This one has been on my radar. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but this looks like it might be a great place to start. I love that you loved the characters, that bodes well. Adding it to my list!
This was my first book of hers too, and I thought it was a great place to start:-)
I really enjoyed this! Agree that Biran was the weaker part of the story, it just never felt like he ever stepped up the plate or had things in hand, he was very much out of his depth. Which I suppose could be the point, but I never got the sense that he was on his way to growing past it.
Caitlin G. recently posted…June Book Haul
Yeah, I wanted more from Biran, not sure what exactly, but he felt a little wishy washy to me.
I love the idea of the sentient spaceship for sure… but there are other things about this that make me unsure if it would be for me right now… lol. The number of perspectives, time jumps, etc. I just flashed back to Queens of Innis Lear. I’ll probably read it at some point because the reviews all seem to be positive.. but I might need to wait a bit. Excellent review!
Sarah recently posted…Book Review: The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
I haven’t read Queens of Innis Lear, but if there are a lot of different POVs then yes, this sounds similar. It’s even harder when you only like one of those POVs, which makes the book take forever to read. Luckily I didn’t have that problem with this book.
I’m always up for a good space opera so I’ll have to keep my eye on this one. It sounds ambitious but like the author really manages to pull it off.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Review: LOCK EVERY DOOR by Riley Sager
Very ambitious! But I thought she did a great job considering everything that was going on.
It seems tough to write a story with so many moving parts and such a big scope, so it’s great when an author can pull it all together, even if it takes a bit for the reader to get a grasp on everything. Sounds like there were some thought-provoking elements too! The AI sounds interesting.
I thought it was really well done. The AI was one of my favorite parts:-)
Wonderful review! I am currently reading it but haven’t gotten super far (the beginning is a bit slow). I am so excited to see where the story goes though!
Hannah recently posted…Best Books of 2019 (at the halfway point)
It is a bit slow and confusing in the beginning, especially with all the time shifts. But just wait, you have some cool surprises coming:-)
This sounds like a really good book! How the author successfully juggles multiple points of views while having an underlying theme is really cool. The premise definitely has me hooked and I’m a bit sad that I haven’t read beforehand myself! Awesome review as always, Tammy!
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…Polar: Came from the Cold by Víctor Santos
I just loved her writing, and the story has a lot of potential, which is why I’m excited to keep reading the series:-)
I am so glad you enjoyed this one! I was on the fence based on the synopsis, but I think the book has earned a spot on my TBR now; great review!
Kal @ Reader Voracious recently posted…Paid WordPress versus Self Hosted: What I wish the guides told me
I had so much fun, and I’m glad it’s going to be a series:-)
I love the sound of this and really wanted to request a copy but I’ve been so bad with books recently – my July (which is almost half way in!) was terrible. I’m playing catch up unfortunately so trying to be good. Dagnabit. I hate being good.
Lynn 😀
Ahhh I can’t wait to read this, the characters sound so much fun! And I’m just loving the trend of sentient ships featuring in space opera books. 😀
This sounds like a complicated storyline that would be worth sticking with, and I’d appreciate the admixture of humor!
For some reason I don’t read much “space fantasy, “ but your review is pretty convincing.
This one sounds exciting. Thanks.