I am about 2/3rds of the way through this sci-fi 4-pack series, and couldn’t care less if I finish or not. The specialness of the series that was experienced in the 1 through 16.5 series is gone. No more great descriptions that kept reminding me of what the characters looked like or saw, smelled, tasted, felt, or heard. No more unique insightful moments of noticing something about life, or on a planet, or in some interaction. No more twisty plot that holds delightful surprises. No more sophistication and depth.
The story uses the world structure built in the previous books. Some of the characters or species too. But it is just basic paint-by-numbers writing and the series has slid back toward a Young Adult level.
The narrator slides around mixing up the characters’ voices at times, not bothering to give distinctive voices to the characters so I am constantly guessing, wondering, and waiting for the X-said or Y-said written in the story to let me know who said what.
I will trudge through the rest of the story, but it’s not a wonderful hike through someplace different. It’s just another science fiction story. The unique and delightful difference that made me compare the writing to the specialness of Firefly is not here.