A baby dreadnought is terrorizing two star systems.
A new wormhole has been opened, a new planetary system revealed, populated by a strange and impossible race.
A mad god is on the loose.
The il’Drach have destroyed an entire planet.
They are on their way to Wistful.
Rohan just wants a peaceful day of work and a decent cup of coffee.
But if he doesn’t handle the dangers facing his friends, his system, and his sector of the galaxy, who will?
-Goodreads
Book Information
- Title: Eye of Empire
- Series: Hybrid Helix #5
- Author: J.C.M. Berne
- Page Count: 472
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Rating: 5.0/5.0
- Date Read: September 5th, 2024
Opening Thoughts
I’ve honestly been hooked hard on the Hybrid Helix series by J.C.M. Berne since reading book one two years ago. Fast forward almost exactly two years later and I had the opportunity to read book 5 Eyes of Empire and the timing was perfect for me. I was coming off a very emotionally epic read and I needed the type of break that Rohan can often provide me. Even though this one had it’s own emotional rollercoasters, it was just what I needed at just the right time.
Pacing
Though by this point I am very comfortable with the pacing of this series and the books within, it may still feel a bit on the faster side for anyone just coming into it. I never get the feeling that anything is being rushed though. The author does a nice job in keeping the story and action moving along. You can almost always rest assured up to this point that there will be some epic fight scenes in the Hybrid Helix reads. I continue to have no trouble with keeping up with what is going on nor any issues with names of places or characters.
World Building
The world building continues to be great! I can’t get enough of all the different species that Joe comes up with when building these stories. Not only do we have my favorite space bears from many books ago, we now have space cats to go along with them. Each species or race has their own unique cultures and view points as well. Seeing them come together in the stories (often on Wistful) and seeing their reactions is both hilarious and anxiety inducing at times when things don’t exactly go smoothly. We continue to see more of Rohan and this world’s history unfold before our eyes and in some cases come back to bite a character or two.
Character Development
The character development probably stands out to me as making the biggest strides in the series so far. We’ve seen these stories continue to get deeper with each turn of the Helix. Eyes of Empire I feel made a sizable jump though. We have several characters that go through a lot of growth personally as well as individually. Even with some great new characters introduced in this story, I can’t help but walk away feeling my favorite interaction and outcome in this one was with the ship Repentant. Things don’t always go smoothly but once in awhile the universe finds a way for things to potentially work out.
Roundup & Recommendation
If you like science fiction in general and haven’t check out any of the Hybrid Helix stories do yourself a favor and get it into your TBR list as soon as possible. I think some readers of this genre are hesitant due to the super hero vibe this series eludes to, especially from the covers. There are “supers”, those with some type of power or another but it doesn’t really give me those type of super hero vibes other than perhaps one book early on. It’s far more than that one aspect.
I personally am in this for the long haul. As long as Joe keeps providing these, I will continue to read them. The only thing I need to do now is get caught up with adding the last two books in the series to my favorites shelves at the house!
Scoring
World Building 5/5
Pacing 5/5
Character Development 5/5
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