NASTRAGULL: Pirates (volume 1)
Review by Kim Anisi
for Readers’ Favorite – 4 Stars
I almost did
not pick up Erik Martin Willén's novel Nastragull (Book 1) - Pirates because
the cover was rather unattractive. However, the title sounded interesting
enough to make up for it. And I'm glad I did pick the book up as it turned out
to a good read with just a few flaws.
So what is Nastragull about? It is hard to put the plot into just a few lines as it is a wild mix of science fiction, a little bit of fantasy and adventure mixed with a fair bit of action and horror. If I had to put it into just one category, I would say it is a space opera, and this is only book 1 of the series. Alec, who you could call the "good" guy, and Marquessa De La Hoff, who is a rather dubious character, are the only people in the universe who can hear/understand Nastra, the voice of the universe. However, only one person is supposed to do so. Alec's fate is intertwined with Alexa, a space pirate - and how they meet is not exactly the best way to start a friendship (or, in their case, a bit more).
There is a rather complex story-line in Nastragull, yet it always is easy to follow and you don't lose the plot. However, I found that there is far too much violence (which includes rape scenes) that kind of makes a point but takes up too much space. Some people also might find that the descriptions are too vivid (if you can't stand horror books, then this is not for you). The vivid descriptions in general are something the author does very well. It is easy to get drawn into the story as everything can be imagined quite well. The characters are well developed, even though sometimes they did things I did not expect of them (but a surprise in a plot is a really good thing). In general, it is a book I would recommend to people who like well written science fiction with a bit of horror, erotic scenes and quite a bit of violence thrown into the mix.
So what is Nastragull about? It is hard to put the plot into just a few lines as it is a wild mix of science fiction, a little bit of fantasy and adventure mixed with a fair bit of action and horror. If I had to put it into just one category, I would say it is a space opera, and this is only book 1 of the series. Alec, who you could call the "good" guy, and Marquessa De La Hoff, who is a rather dubious character, are the only people in the universe who can hear/understand Nastra, the voice of the universe. However, only one person is supposed to do so. Alec's fate is intertwined with Alexa, a space pirate - and how they meet is not exactly the best way to start a friendship (or, in their case, a bit more).
There is a rather complex story-line in Nastragull, yet it always is easy to follow and you don't lose the plot. However, I found that there is far too much violence (which includes rape scenes) that kind of makes a point but takes up too much space. Some people also might find that the descriptions are too vivid (if you can't stand horror books, then this is not for you). The vivid descriptions in general are something the author does very well. It is easy to get drawn into the story as everything can be imagined quite well. The characters are well developed, even though sometimes they did things I did not expect of them (but a surprise in a plot is a really good thing). In general, it is a book I would recommend to people who like well written science fiction with a bit of horror, erotic scenes and quite a bit of violence thrown into the mix.
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