Latest Drom Book

[niko]

So, I went into the latest Andromeda book (Waystation, by Steven McDonald) with a little trepidation. The first Drom book was an easy win because it visited pre-drom backstory (always a good thing) and was written by an author I'd heard good things about. The second one was an easy win because, hey!, written by a series writer. This was the first book that a) I wasn't familiar with the author, and b) was firmly set in the post-RHW Drom-verse. Oh, and c) while I was waiting to buy the book, I turned to a random page and ended up at a scene where Dylan hauls off and slaps Beka over something. Given (a) and (b), this briefly read moment didn't give me stellar confidence that the author knew these characters. :) (Happily, there was a reason for the scene in context, and Dylan wasn't just being written as an ass for no reason. Yay! :) )

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Waystation offers a solid "coulda-been-an-episode" plot with some quite successful character- and universe-building elements. The focus of the book is primarily on Trance (gold, although purple-girl puts in an appearance or two) and visits some of my favorite territory for Dylan: finding out about the shadowy corners that existed in the original Commonwealth. Gold Trance is handled well, and it's refreshing to get inside her head and not have all the mystical mumbo-jumbo coming out of it...I feel like I know the character better now, although I'm still not sure that she could ever work as well as the real Trance.  Dylan is not drawn in demigod mode, although he tossed around "It's never easy" too much for my taste. (That phrase just rubs salt in the wound for me every single time.) The rest of our main cast all act and sound right in their supporting roles and get plenty of "screen time", avoiding the "Trance-and-Dylan" show that the tv series has become.  I also quite liked a couple original characters who joined Andromeda's crew for this episode.  Much of the action of the book takes place on board Andromeda, so adding new folks into the mix kept the witty banter from getting too stale.