Book Review: Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of The Protectorate
Publisher: Orbit (June 11, 2019)
Length: 544 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe was a book I picked up on a recommendation from several reviewers whose descriptions of the book sounded like something I would really love—and I’m glad I decided to check it out! As space operas go, it was highly entertaining with some fantastic character development and world-building, and I couldn’t have asked for more.
As the story opens, our protagonist Gunnery Sergeant Sanda Greeves finds herself waking up naked and alone on an unfamiliar ship. Exploring her surroundings in shock and confusion, she manages to access the ship’s sentient AI, discovering that she has been asleep for more than two centuries. The war she had been fighting in is over, with both sides having destroyed themselves. The ship Sanda is on now is The Light of Berossus, an enemy ship. Bero, as it calls itself, informs her that the two of them are now alone in a dead star system, her home world of Ada Prime and their rivals from the planet Icarion having wiped each other out.
In a separate thread, we also get the story from the perspective of Biran, Sanda’s brother. When the news arrives that his beloved sister’s gunship had just been blown up in the Battle of Dralee, Biran barely has time to grieve before he is swiftly whisked off by the Keepers of Ada Prime to discuss their next step. And in another star system, a young smuggler inadvertently stumbles upon something she shouldn’t have while on what was supposed to be a routine job—a deadly secret that will have serious repercussions for the galaxy if it is discovered.
While it’s going to be difficult to review Velocity Weapon without revealing any spoilers, I’m going to try my best because some things are simply best experienced firsthand, including all the twists and shocking surprises in this book. As we alternate between the different character perspectives, more details of the plot are gradually laid bare, allowing the reader to piece together the clues and find out just what is going on. I won’t lie, the beginning will be confusing at first, and the big picture will be hazy and vague—but stick around if you can, for it will be worth it.
Each character’s point-of-view will present a conundrum, a conflict to be solved. Sanda is in the biggest bind of all, lost in space with a ship that seems to have its own personality and agenda, and it’s anyone’s guess what it has in mind for them both as they try to find their way back to civilization. Biran is in the process of being groomed to be the next Keeper of Ada Prime, though the only thing on his mind is his sister and how he will be able to get her back. What anyone could possibly do to help her is anyone’s guess, separated as the characters are by space and time, but eventually all will be answered. Kudos to O’Keefe for being able to juggle all these moving parts while keeping her cards close to the vest so by the time the revelations come, you will be floored.
Still, I have to say, one key aspect of the book I did not really care for was Jules’ part of the story. Although she ended up playing an important role in the overall plot, I thought her early sections detracted from the overall mystery and the tensions surrounding the siblings’ predicament. I think the author knew this might happen, because Jules’ chapters were packed full of intrigue and fast-paced action in order to tide us over while the character’s own arc was being developed. It’s not that I didn’t like Jules or enjoyed her chapters, but while Sanda and Biran’s threads were unfolding, all I really wanted was to get back to their part of the story to find out what happened next! The Greeves were hands down the most interesting characters, and I always felt a thrill especially whenever I returned to Sanda’s POV. One of the reasons for that is Bero. Now don’t get me wrong because I loved reading about Sanda—she’s strong, spirited, and tenacious. But as you know, I am also a sucker for ship AI characters, and Bero was a real trip. And that’s all I’m going to say on that subject!
In sum, I had a lot of fun with Velocity Weapon, and I was pretty excited to learn that there’s likely more to come as this looks to be the first book in a new series. Not much else really to say about this novel, except that it was entertaining and satisfying. I also think it opens up doors for many other possibilities, and I will be waiting with great anticipation for what Megan E. O’Keefe has in store for us next.
The BiblioSanctum 
Great review. Still have this one in the wings!
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Hope you get to check it out soon 🙂
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Lovely review, Mogsy. 🙂 Several reviewers have given this book a thumbs-up. Glad to know you are on the same page with them.
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Yup, and thanks to those reviewers, their praise led me to give this one a try myself! So glad I did! 😀
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I’ve only seen one lukewarm review for this review, so it’s firmly on my SciFiMonth reading list 🙂
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This one will be great for sci-fi month!
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Such a lot of love for this book so I’m kind of kicking myself for not requesting – but, I’m trying to be reasonable and manage my requests so I’ll add this to my wishlist instead. Could be one for the next sci fi challenge.
Lynn 😀
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I know what you mean! I almost passed on this one myself, but a surprise copy came to me, and then I saw all these positive review, so I thought why not 🙂
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I’ve been getting back into SciFi recently and this one sounds like a good mystery. I usually only like a couple of the POVs in this sort of book, so I’ll prepare myself for Julie haha.
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Haha, to be fair, Jules wasn’t bad, it’s just that her storyline took a long time to figure into the big scheme of things. And the siblings were just so much more interesting at the beginning 😀
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I agree, this was a blast! And I also agree that with so many perspectives, you run the risk of losing your readers with some of those POVs. I didn’t like Biran’s chapters in the beginning nearly as much as Sanda’s, although that changed as the story progressed. Can’t wait for the next one!
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Agreed, there were so many opportunities to become distracted with this one, given all the POVs and the scenario with time/space. Yeah, not all the characters clicked with me at first, but I’m glad their chapters all got progressively better!
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Oh it’s nice that you found a great new series!
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Yep, always a good thing!
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Sounds like a good book, and one I may very well have to check out myself.
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I hope you get a chance to! Happy to have put it on your radar 🙂
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this! 🙂
Indeed, Jules’ chapters felt more like a distraction than anything else to me, but in the end we could start to see what her role might be – it’s all a matter of patience…
As for Bero, I could not avoid comparing it with AIDAN from the Illuminae Files, and decide that I love them both!
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Yup, Jules definitely felt like a distraction at first, but of course at the back of my mind I knew her chapters had to have a reason for being there and that there must be more to her role – getting a feel for the author’s style also kept me motivated to read on, because I just knew something bigger was coming…and sure enough! Haha!
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So glad you liked it! Jules storyline really did feel like it’s own thing, and while I definitely enjoyed it, I was constantly like “Right, you are a plot line!” It did eventually dovetail, and I suspect Jules is going to be critical as storylines progress. Can’t wait for the sequel!
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Yeah, I really enjoyed how the author pulled a whole bunch of seemingly separate storylines together, especially with the way it was set up in the beginning before everything was revealed 😀
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Hmmm, this sounds like good fun!
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I had a blast!
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I could read this 🙂 Hmm I wonder if I have seen it somewhere recently, bookstore, library buy page, hmm
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Probably, it was a pretty recent release 🙂
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It sounds like you had a good time with this one. Great review as always!
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Thank you! And yes, this was very entertaining! 😀
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Glad you had fun with this one. This book has been on my radar for a while now, I hope I get a chance to get to it eventually because it sounds good. 🙂
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Hope you get to check it out! Maybe grab the audiobook from the library or something. BTW, speaking of which, have you been able to access Brooklyn Overdrive lately?
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Thanks, I may do that. I always seem to have more time for audiobooks. I have not yet signed up for it. Has your access cut off? I can ask one of my friends, he has a card with them for overdrive.
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Oh my bad, I thought that was one of the memberships you had, I must be remembering wrong. I do have an account with them, but for the last week I’ve been getting an error whenever I try to access the website.
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I was talking about possibly signing up for it at one point, I think you had suggested it to me along with a couple of others. I still might! I asked my friend if he’s had any issues but still waiting to hear back. You could also ask Lisa @ TenaciousReader – I’m pretty sure she has a Brooklyn Library Card too.
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Thanks! And yeah she does, I’ll send her a DM tonight if I’m still having problems with the website 🙂
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