And it’s fantastic! Arnett also does a stellar job creating the world. She can take on serious events and make you feel for the characters, but she injects it all with some humor & sarcasm to lighten the mood. To me, that just makes for more compelling character development.Īrnett seems to have gone to the Joss Whedon school for writing. It might not be put down on the pages of Avalon, but I get the feeling Mindee Arnett knows everything about her characters. Each character seems to have a well developed back story. They may pick on each other, but it’s clear they make a great team. I’m a big fan of the sibling relationship between Jeth & Lizzie. Yes, there are similarities to the Firefly characters, but each one is unique in their own right. There were twists I didn’t see coming, and I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen. The plot was like an episode of Firefly, but Avalon had its own story. For some people that might not be a good thing, but it was great for me. And I’m so glad I read it!įirst off, there is a ton of Firefly influence. When I came across Avalon, I thought ‘that’s a pretty cool cover.’ Then I read the description and thought ‘huh, that sounds kind of like Firefly.’ So I checked out the description & rating on Goodreads, and when I saw that it’s “a great match for fans of Joss Whedon’s cult hit show Firefly” I knew it was going on the top of my to-be-read stack (and that’s a pretty tall stack). So you can see why I might hesitate to pick up any sci-fi book. But for some unknown reason I have a hard time visualizing the worlds in science fiction novels. It’s not that I don’t like it! I fracking love all things Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek. My Thoughts: I don’t read too much science fiction. Now in possession of information everyone wants, information that they’d kill for, Jeth has to decide what he’s willing to do for his freedom and how he’ll keep his sister, Lizzie, and the rest of his crew safe. So when he’s tasked with finding a lost ship, Jeth gets more than he bargained for. He’ll take just about any job, doesn’t much care what it is. The faster he can buy his ship, the faster he can get away from crime bosses and the corrupt Confederation. If that means running a crew of teenage mercenaries, then so be it.

My Summary: Jeth Seagrave will do whatever it takes to buy back his parents’ ship, the Avalon, from the crime boss, Hammer. Lizzie grinned and said into the comm, “This is the Montrose. “Oh sure,” Jeth said, not nearly as amused by the situation as she was. “Just thought you should know,” she said, winking. Jeth looked over his shoulder to see she’d slipped on a communicator headset. “They’re telling us to stop,” Lizzie announced.

Avalon by Mindee Arnett