TITANBORN – Rhett C. Bruno | Looking For a Good Book

I’m not quite sure what to make of this book. On the one hand, I was drawn in by the characters and the initial action of the story. On the other hand, it become rather obvious – almost a cliché of the adventure/sci-fi genre.

We’re a few centuries in the future and a meteor strike on Earth has wiped out a good section of the planet and humans have moved out into space and colonized nearby celestial bodies such as Mars and the moon Titan. Titan is a pretty hostile place and those born there have developmental issues and so the term “Titanborn” comes as negative slang.

Enter Malcolm Graves, a ‘collector’ (ie: bounty hunter). There’s a rebellion going on, of ‘Titanborn’ – a group who are descendant from the first settlers. Graves is being paid to squash this rebellion. But he has to take along his new partner, Zhaff – an emotionally unresponsive character who brings humor to the story by his being not so funny.

The characters were quite fun. The contrast between Graves and Zhaff made for playful creativity and it’s quite recognizable as the classic ‘unwanted partner’ type trope (think the original Lethal Weapon movie). Still, with the lovable rogue Graves (think Han Solo or Malcolm Reynolds) and the annoyingly by-the-book professional Zhaff, we had some nice contrasts and each was able to get the other out of jam simply because of their style.

The plot was serviceable. It got us from point A to point B but really this is about Malcolm Graves and how he reacts and interacts with those he comes in contact with.

I had a lot of fun here, even if the story isn’t particularly memorable – this is not the sort of book that will stick with the reader for a long time afterward. And sometimes that’s all you want from a book – to be entertained for the time that you’re reading it. But in this sort of book, you want a complete story. Beginning, middle, and end. Unfortunately, we don’t really get the end here because the desire is to make the reader want to get the next book. Know that, if you should decide to read this.

Looking for a good book? Titanborn by Rhett C. Bruno is a fun, lively book, playing on a lot of obvious tropes, that could be good for a quick sci-fi fix, but the ending is left open to force the reader into the next volume.