by Jessica Greenlee
Staff Writer
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The trouble with reviewing the Unity books is that after a while, one runs out of superlatives. Kindt and Braithwaite are telling a complicated, unpredictable, layered tale, and they’re being fair with both reader and story. They’re also being ruthless with character and plot, and that is to everyone’s benefit.
At the end of Unity #2, Livewire had gained control of Aric’s armor just in time for the ship to start sinking with everyone on board. Now, the two opposing groups have to figure out how to leave the ship or drown, and that ought to mean cooperating, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to leave their individual goals behind. Livewire is still learning to control the armor; Aric has his people to protect; Harada is determined to prevent an international war; the Viking descendents want a place to live; the Russians don’t want anyone challenging their national sovereignty. Everyone has believable motivations, and they clash in complex and interesting ways, and the threat of drowning doesn’t make anything any easier to sort out.
Unity is visually beautiful as well; it pays to spend time looking at the individual characters, studying their body language as well as their expressions. There’s a lot of character development going on there. The layout and colors are impressive as well.
Once again, Kindt and Braithwaite end on a cliffhanger, and, once again, it is an earned cliffhanger, a twist that makes sense in light of previous events, but is by no means predictable. I, for one, am well and truly hooked!
If you haven’t started reading already, it’s not too late to start reading here. Kindt and Braithwaite provide concise, clear summaries at the beginning of each book. You’ll want to read Unity #1 and #2 after reading #3, but don’t let the fact that the story has already started keep you from jumping in.
