Some judicious editing to remove needlessly, pointlessly, repetitively redundant content would have made this more enjoyable. It is a pity to need to lead with that comment, but readers should know that if they press on they'll be rewarded with an intriguing alien and some cool speculative science. The writing definitely improves as the story unfolds. ( )

Telisa Relachik is a xenoarchaeologist but since only the UNSF, the military wing of an oppressive Terran government, has access to alien artefacts, she joins a group of relic smugglers who find themselves way over their heads when they find an alien military station and a single alien who has taken shelter there.

The first encounter scenario, seen as much from the alien's perspective as the humans', was very well done and I will keep reading in the series to see if there is more about the alien. However, the main human characters were mere cyphers so unless there is some development there, I doubt I'll read much further without alien races playing an even bigger role. ( )

The Trilisk Ruins(Parker Interstellar Travels #1) by Michael McCloskey

Trilisk Ruins is a nice entertaining Science Fiction.

At first I thought I was headed into yet another so so spy action thriller disguised as a Science Fiction novel. It really seems that way through the first half. Even to the point where they were trapped in the cheesy alien building with the shifting walls I was still thinking this was only mildly interesting. What saves it all for me was when Kirizzo's part kicked in. The alien, though only one of three major characters in the story steals the whole thing.

Kirizzo is at war, stranded and under attack of the Bel Klaven he has vital tech from the ruins of the Trilisk. He must evade the Bel Klaven and get this tech to his people. In a last ditch effort he enters a strange circular portal of the Trilisk that is still operational.

The story then slips over to Telisa Relachik daughter of an infamous UNSF Captain, is applying for a job with Parker interstellar Travels in her capacity of a xeno-archaeologist in a universe where only the UNSF has legal need for those services. In other words these are smugglers and Jack and Thomas decide that Telisa will be a perfect addition to their team.

Along with Magnus, a trained fighter formerly of the UNSF, they all take off aboard the Iridar to a recent new find of Trilisk artifacts. This venture is illegal, but they have a good team and have covered all the bases. What they don't plan on is the danger of the artifacts themselves.

After finding a portal similar to the one Kirizzo disappeared into the story becomes interesting.

The smugglers, an agent of the UNSF, and the alien Kirizzo are all trapped in some strange alien trap set by Trilisk technology. They must work together to get out and that means that Telisa needs to find a way to communicate with Kirizzo. No one plans on the Seeker arriving with Telisa's estranged father aboard.

The plot definitely thickens as you go along in this story. There are familiar themes of abuse of power and the fragility of tentative alliances. Magnus at first has some distrust of Telisa because of who her father is. As it is there will be plenty of reasons to justify that. It would seem that although she has been afforded a lot of freedom, the daughter of an UNSF captain is actually on a shorter leash than she knows.

This has it all, a little romance, lots of adventure, smugglers versus the authorities and lots of alien artifacts. It may prove out though that the alien at war might shift the balance here and prove that everything else is just petty squabbling.

Great Science Fiction story telling for those who like a bit of adventure and romance. Of the three main characters Telisa, Magnus and Kirizzo none out shine the other, they make a nice balanced ensemble.

This tale reads somewhat formulaic but it makes a great stepping stone into a new series.

J.L. Dobias ( )

The book had a good storyline. Unfortunately, the writing detracted from the story. It just did not 'flow'. I had two impressions while reading as to what the problem was...
1. It was written by a high school student.
2. It was edited in detail and the 'flow' was lost in the editing. ( )