Caspian's Fortune

Ugh. The sci-fi elements are minimal - energy guns and spaceships, so the heavy lifting has to be accomplished by great characters and a clever plot. Caspian's Fortune has neither of those things. The characters lack a great deal of common sense, and author fiat is necessary to force characters to do stupid things in order for the plot to move forward the way Eric Warren planned. Which might be fine, if the plot weren't so slow and boring. To explain why requires spoilers, so instead I'll focus on other aspects...

Per the cover blurb, Caspian takes a job that could clear his name -- except the reason why he has the job requires the author keep a secret from the reader, but Caspian knows throughout the narration. I hate this kind of cheap writing: the novel is from Caspian's viewpoint but we are purposely kept in the dark despite the secret being critical to Caspian's decision making. This removes tension from the plot. I have no idea why I should care, and Caspian seems to be making decisions contrary to his survival and yet I am not told why for the majority of the book.

Combine this with very thin world-building and this novel is simply not for me. Characters exist to do what the plot demands, rather than have actual jobs and roles within the universe. Our female lead is allegedly an XO who doesn't seem to have any responsibilities on a ship at all. The military organization barely resembles a navy... hell it barely resembles any sort of organization. Characters have an ill-defined background and role. They exist to move the plot forward, and have no life the moment they disappear out of narration.

Ah I almost forgot... there are a number of plot twists based on technical capabilities that are not foreshadowed at all. It's as if you're reading a present day novel and suddenly someone has a teleporter. Cheap, terrible writing.

I regret the time I spent reading this novel, and highly recommend against.