Review: Avalon by Mindee Arnett

Avalon
Mindee Arnett
Series: Avalon, #1
Released: January 21st, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rating: 3.5 stars
Word Rating: Slooooow build
Reviewed by: Blythe

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Avalon is the perfect fit for teens new to sci-fi as well as seasoned sci-fi readers looking for more books in the YA space-and a great match for fans of Joss Whedon's cult hit show Firefly.

I have two confessions: one, I am generally not a fan of space operas and novels of the like, so I wasn't sure whether or not I would like Avalon, and two, I have never seen an episode of Firefly. Not one. So I pretty much went into Avalon blind as to exactly what kind of book it would be, since I could probably count the amount of space operas I've read on one hand. All I knew for sure about Avalon was that it was met with mixed to positive reviews from friends of mine, and its pacing was slow for some of them.

I am glad that I knew the latter was true for Avalon, because if I didn't, I would have most likely abandoned it about 150 pages through. You guys, this book is slow. The first half was just so boring for me. Many big things happen, and Mindee Arnett has to lay out the groundwork for her world and her characters; I understand this, obviously. World-building is necessary, especially for a novel set as far into the future as Avalon. But really, with Jeth's narrative throughout the entire half being almost dull and lifeless, I couldn't connect with the plot or the characters (the latter of which remained flat even in the second half, although by then the plot was good enough for me to have something else to focus on).

But, all of that changed pretty much within the span of five pages or so, right towards the middle of the novel. If I had abandoned Avalon during its first half, I would have missed out on all the fun to be had throughout practically all of the second half: the tons of betrayal, the fun and intriguing plot twists, and the well written and engaging action. The entire book, honestly, is not very character-focused. It's much more action-focused, which is definitely okay since Avalon isn't really trying to be anything other than a fun, action-oriented read. The book of course would have had more of an impact on me should I have had an emotional connection with the characters, but I'm taking Avalon for what it is, and that's a book with not a lot of character development.

That isn't to say, however, that all the characters don't grow. At least one of them does, off the top of my head--the main character, Jeth. For the first half of Avalon, I didn't really like Jeth. But in the second half, as more plot twists are revealed that impact him, I got a better feel of his character since he became more vulnerable. I still don't know if I find him particularly likable, but I definitely wouldn't consider him unlikable in the end. The same goes for the other characters in the novel, too, really. There's not enough of a connection there for me to feel anything about them in regards to their likability. The same also goes for the romance that stems a bit later in the novel, which I found to be a bit flatter than the cast of characters, and as a whole rather uninspired and confusing. (The good thing about the romance, though, is that it is in very little quantity, and is absolutely nowhere near the focus of the novel.)

Still, despite the issues I have with the pacing, character development, and romance, Avalon is a really fun and action-packed read once it hits its stride. The problem is that it takes quite a while for it to do so, but the first half is definitely worth persevering through in order to get to the second. And the first half may not even be a problem for you, if you're the type of reader who likes science fiction and space operas. Basically, if the thought of Star Wars with teens excites you greatly, I don't see why Avalon wouldn't be for you. Mindee Arnett has a lot of interesting and awesome concepts and twists up her sleeve here, and I'm really curious to see where she would go with them should there be a sequel to Avalon (which I'm hoping for).