'Casindra Lost' by Marti Ward

★★★★

Brilliantly Mind Blowing!

Captain Jerome Sideris is sent on a solo mission to another galaxy to explore and establish the viability of certain requirements, with a Level 3 AI and the ship's cargo. A more detailed synopsis of this book couldn't ever come close to touching how brilliantly written and well done this book was without giving too much away. 

This is a tale of exploration which at some points can provide a slower paced read but the level of science detailed in this book and the plot will never leave you bored. I absolutely loved when I read about an engine upgrade and its capabilities as well as discussions about a particular aspect of exploration I have personally never read or seen considered before, which brought it to another level for me. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the different perspectives written and the clear difference and changes over the span of the book, a perspective I would never have expected in this kind of book, as well as the dialogue of the characters in the book.

The ONLY reason I gave it 4 stars, which I argued with myself over, is because of typos. Nothing major: missing quotation mark, not capitalizing an individual’s last name, an extra word here or a missing word there.  All clearly accidental and simply overlooked, considering the detail and complexity the rest of this book is written with, but a little more than I would have liked. I know you aren’t going to get absolutely everything, but if the author took the time to fix most of those typos, I would EASILY give this book 5-stars!

Speaking of complexity, a book of only 305 pages, I typically can get finished in a day, 2 or 3 days at the most if I have other things to accomplish. But, if I truly wanted to understand what the author was creating for me and bring me into this world, I had to DELIBERATELY slow my reading speed down and I didn’t regret a second of that extra time spent on this novel.

The closest comparison I can provide visually for any readers tempted to pick up this book would be Star Trek. Now, I’m a Trekkie, BUT THIS BOOK IS EVEN MORE than what Star Trek provides in its realism. This is definitely going on my short list of favorites and I would recommend to anyone. I cannot wait to read more of this author’s books!