Book Review: AETNA ADRIFT by Erik Wecks

When you sell your book on Amazon, there is a feature on your book page called “Customers Who Viewed this Item Also Viewed.” I like to browse this list to see what other authors are up to. A few weeks ago, one title caught my eye, Aetna Adrift (A Pax Imperium Novel) by Erik Wecks.

So, using my magic Kindle, I bought it. If you enjoy space opera/adventure, you’ll like Aetna Adrift. As advertised, it’s a “high octane thriller” for sure, but it’s more than that.

Meet Jack Randall, smuggler, playboy, master of the low profile, king of just gettin’ by. Jack is the station master on Unity Standard Orbiter 1358, the guy in charge of all the shipments in and out of Aetna, a backwater moon used as a refueling station for freighters transiting the system. He does his job, runs a little black market action on the side, and trolls the local bar for women in his ample spare time.

Jack has just turned down a promotion (again) so he can stay in place running the Audit division (and the black market) on the orbiter. His trouble starts—as trouble usually does—with a woman. When he takes Anna home more than once, Jack starts to have strange emotions…<gasp> feelings! Meanwhile, as Jack is going through his sexual/emotional awakening with Anna, new management moves into town. I’ve heard of hostile takeovers, but Unity Administrator Timothy Randall takes “hostile” to a whole new level.

And, just like that, Jack is suddenly the one being played. He could run, but there are those pesky feelings about Anna to deal with…

Wecks does a couple of things really well in Aetna. For starters, he has done some fabulous world, er, universe-building, laying the groundwork for a lifetime of novels on both sides of the conflict. Especially appreciated were the neato, sci-fi details, like fishing with submarines on a planet covered with ice, life aboard a Unity orbiter and futuristic medical technology.

The world of Pax Imperium is a world of dystopian gray, literally and morally. Every character is a little bit dirty, and most of them are downright twisted, even our hero, Jack. When the bad guys capture the lovely Anna, you wonder—really wonder—if Jack will man up and go after her. And lest you think Jack and Anna will live happily ever after, think again, that’s not how life works in the Pax.

Well-plotted, great characters, fast action and some spectacular sci-fi details. I’ll be back for more of the Pax!

Take a moment to visit Erik Wecks' wonderful website HERE or you can get your very own copy of AETNA ADRIFT on Amazon.

David Bruns is a speculative fiction writer from Minnesota.  His latest novel, IRRADIANCE, the first book in The Dream Guild Chronicles, is available on Amazon.

Get a free short story on his website.