Solomon's Arrow

May 25, 2015
Jennings’s uneven debut, a space opera set in 2060, introduces silliness into a dramatic situation early on, making it hard for many readers to suspend disbelief. Richard Allison is the sole survivor of a plane that was bombed while in flight over the ocean. When the injured Allison is targeted by sharks, he is saved by “world-famous author and psychic detective” Bram Waters, who telepathically recruits a conveniently nearby school of dolphins to rescue Allison. Allison lives to pilot an expedition into outer space, taking advantage of new technology to transport more than 6,000 people on a 10-year journey to another planet that will serve as a new starting point for human civilization. Once the passengers and crew of the space ship arrive at their destination, they find themselves in a situation that will be familiar to Star Trek fans. Jennings’s poorly executed stock sci-fi plot won’t sustain interest, even for those willing to overlook an almost literal jumping of the shark.

May 15, 2015
A sci-fi action-adventure story about humanity's attempt to colonize a distant planet. Dr. Solomon Chavez has a plan to save the human race. Nobody had ever even heard of him until his father, the world's first trillionaire-a man to whom he bears an eerily close resemblance-died. But he and his spacecraft, Solomon's Arrow, are soon the focus of the whole world's attention. Not all of that attention is positive-terrorists known as the Christian Republican Army consider the mission a threat to God's plan and will stop at nothing to disrupt the launch. Meanwhile, the world's best and brightest gather to prepare for the 10-year journey to what they expect will become their new home. Soon, astronaut Richard Allison, famous author and psychic detective Bram Waters, and the Arrow's driven designer and engineer, Dr. Mona Levin, will all be drawn into Chavez's orbit. Debut novelist Jennings packs in plenty of action, but the main thrust of the plot takes much too long to become clear amid this jumble of activity. The latter half of the book develops an agreeably over-the-top atmosphere reminiscent of a classic Star Trek episode, but underdeveloped characters and awkward, exposition-heavy dialogue make the first half of the book a bit of a slog. The material for an enjoyable old-school sci-fi adventure is here, including big questions about humanity's ultimate purpose in the universe, but most readers won't be able to get past the book's flaws long enough to consider those questions.

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