#Bookreview of EARTHBOUND: Chronicles of the Maca – Book 1
by Mari Collier
BLURB:
Marooned in the 19th century Old West, an alien must survive on the violent planet and return to his homeworld to destroy his mortal enemies and avenge his people.
During a raid to a Comanche camp he rescues Anna, a tall warrior woman. The two become friends and comrades, their fates forever intertwined. They find themselves together in the prairies of 19th century Texas, the bordellos of Civil War-era New Orleans, to Prohibition in the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the vastness of space.
But will they survive hardships through history, the enmity of their southern neighbors and the Civil War, and be able to return to his home planet to exact his revenge?
MY REVIEW:
I’ve been wanting to read this series for awhile. I love westerns and sci-fi, so this was a combination I just couldn’t pass up.
We start off with an alien named Liewellyn, who’s been trapped on Earth during the frontier days. The first two chapters are more like backstory, which I found somewhat confusing, as we’re crammed full of info that wasn’t easy to process.
For me, the real story didn’t start until Chapter 3, when he changed his name to Zebediah L McDonald, and met Herman Rolfe. I really liked Herman’s character. He was tough, salty, and didn’t give a dang about anything. He took McDonald under his wing, and they became fast friends, earning a wage as trappers, freighters and eventually moving to Texas to buy land to raise cattle. These two had many adventures together, good and bad.
There are various sub-plots woven through the story, one of them revolves around Anna Louis Lawrence and her children. Kidnapped by Comanche’s, she’s rescued by McDonald. They eventually form a relationship, but I felt no fire or passion between them. We’re told how much Zeb felt for her, but, as a reader, I never felt it.
Anna is another character I liked, She’s tough, hard, and knows how to take care of herself. Her one fault, she can be a little narrow-sighted. As a Maca, Zeb will outlive Anna, so I’m curious to see how that will work out.
The other subplot revolves around Anna’s children, who disappeared at the same time she was kidnapped. Who is Jeremiah O’Neal, and what is his ulterior motive? Interesting questions indeed, but they don’t get answered in the first book.
Some reviewers complained about Collier writing with dialect during dialogue. She also uses it during some of the narration, but not consistently. Myself, I didn’t find it off-putting at all. Once my mind got used to the words, it added more dimension to the characters. I believe this is what she was trying to achieve.
My main complaint about this book was the disconnection from the characters, probably due to the lack of internal dialogue. We never really know how any of them feel, as they weren’t allowed to talk out their feeing’s. There were several traumatic events that I should’ve wept over, but I felt nothing, but words on the page. The book also needs some polishing in the editing department.
All-in-all, I like the story, and I want to find out what happens next. If you love Westerns, and sci-fi, I recommend this book. You will enjoy it. I give it 4 feathers.
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Thanks, Sahara, although I have had others say they did cry over the part you didn’t. The German phrases that I used were ones that I heard while growing up. It confuses some people as it is no longer the German of today.