Chaos breeds Chaos

Total Book Rating (as of 2/14/2018): 4.5 Stars (out of 5)

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Reviewer: Jason Nugent (PMC Book Reviewer)
Source: Amazon
Date of Review: 2/14/2018
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Jaxxa Rakala is the second book of Bryan Caron’s that I’ve read and once again he doesn’t disappoint.

Jaxxa Rakala is a scifi tale following Ken Brody, a man who lost his wife Stacey to an alien abduction and is left to raise his two daughters alone. Ken is consumed with finding her and works diligently on a secret project to do just that.

His daughters Jacquline and Tracey grow increasingly distant from their absent father creating a tension felt throughout much of the book. Jacquline is a typical moody teenager angry with her father while Tracey is much younger and realizes she’s more than a normal girl.

Ken himself is a man you both love and hate, a trait Bryan Caron does well in this and “Year of the Songbird,” the other book if his I’ve read. He has a knack for making the hero human, including all their flaws. He doesn’t make his protagonists vanilla “good-guys,” but makes sure we understand they have warts. It’s because of those warts we can relate to the characters so much better.

Ken and his assistant Lark blast off in their secret ship, built to withstand the speed of light, on a maiden voyage testing the limits of their construction. As they race toward an unknown destination, the ship begins to falter and Ken and Lark struggle to maintain its integrity. Little do they know, stowaways were onboard and soon Ken’s anger grows at the unwelcome visitors.

The story escalates from there, and the legend of Jaxxa Rakala is explained. The legend states Jaxxa Rakala was the strongest being in the universe, and to prevent her from taking over, a gem was created out of her blood to neutralize her power. The gem is useless to anyone but those with her blood running in them.

It’s an excellent backstory for the rest of the quest and one that frames the action moving forward.

Themes of family and emotion and what exactly it means to be human dominate the narrative of Jaxxa Rakala. Families aren’t perfect and humans are flawed, something we’d all do well to remember.

Bryan Caron is an author I’d read over and over again. His style is so fluid and he knows how to weave a tale. Though this book is a few years old, it’s well worth your time checking out. The action is gripping and the characters are believable. If you’re looking for a well written, well told story set in the far reaches of space with a flawed human family, you need to try Jaxxa Rakala.

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Reviewer: Ryan Batla
Source: Amazon
Date of Review: 12/15/2017
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Couldn’t put the book down-I had to see what would happen during each part. The author jumps POVs well and it only adds to the story. Can’t wait to read the next one!

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Reviewer: Jane Suen
Source: Amazon
Date of Review: 11/5/2017
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Unable to accept that his wife Stacey may be dead after she was abducted by aliens five years ago, Dr. Ken Brody focuses on a project that “…gave him hope that someday he would see her again, and that was enough for him, despite its ultimate cost—seclusion.” With Lark, his 36-year old friend and partner in the project for four years, they build a spaceship to travel at the speed of light.

Relentless in his focus to find Stacey and to fix his broken family, Ken neglected his daughters -a rebellious older daughter Jacquline “Jacks” and a reserved 8-year old Tracey “Squint” -leaving them to bond more deeply with each other.

But left to their own devices each gets into trouble. Jacquline, with the help of Harlet and Jay, break into homes and gets arrested. Tracey, cruelly taunted by a group of ten kids at school, fights back and gets into trouble.

As Ken and Lark Steines rushes to the spaceship and takes off to search for Stacey, the two girls were onboard as stowaways. In their journey they encounter troubles and near death before being rescued on board the Equinox. The cast of characters on that ship include Qah-Shekel, who finds the crystal he was assigned to retrieve, the gem of Jaxxa Rakala…the key to all powers in the universe, for a smuggler that lives on Hasten-Jackai, a trading post; Kahli, the android “Rega”; DovenJadden, the cat and the tactical technician, Sentilla, the pilot, and Massanah and Naja-Leku who later died in the battle.

In the fight for the gem of Jaxxa Rakalaa, in Xyneris, the second moon of Gerinhale to retrieve the gem and the child of the one with the blood of Jaxxa Rakala, the one who bears the mark, they battle with the Eyrixano and the alien vermons.

Bryan Caron spins a thrilling tale with action and suspense that’ll have you holding on and turning the pages in this sci-fi adventure.

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Reviewer: Hollins
Source: Goodreads
Date of Review: 10/15/2013
Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5)

This book’s got an interesting premise, and I think a lot could be done with it. I wasn’t in love with the writing, though — I felt it could’ve done with a heavier editor’s hand. If you like alien stories, give it a go.

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Reviewer: Michelle
Source: Goodreads
Date of Review: 9/22/2013
Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5)

The set-up for this novel was intriguing: An engineer builds a spaceship to rescue his abducted wife, but during take-off, accidentally takes his troubled daughters (one a teenager and one grade-school aged) along on the adventure. I enjoyed the premise of the novel and thought the pacing was well-done and the characters nicely drawn.

What prevented me from giving the book more stars, though, is that while the characters were nicely established, it felt like they didn’t always earn their transformations or growth–some of it just felt a little too easily resolved for individuals with such obviously emotional baggage. In addition, the cast doubles halfway through the novel, but these new characters aren’t given nearly the attention as the others, making the connection a bit difficult.

Overall, I enjoyed this sci-fi adventure, but it did leave me wanting just a bit more.

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Reviewer: Linda
Source: Amazon
Date of Review: 7/21/2013
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

This was a really great. Read. Lots of excitement and action. Good story of family finding each other and how important that relationship truly is. Can’t wait for the adventure to continue in the new book next summer.

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Reviewer: Lynette
Source: Amazon
Date of Review: 7/7/2013
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

“it is only when you can control the ego that you will find peace within yourself….”
Well said Bryon!
Can’t wait for Book 2
If you like this one Readers, try Year Of The Songbird

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Reviewer: Becky Cole
Source: Amazon
Date of Review: 2/2/2007
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

WOW! Let me begin by saying that I like sci-fi movies, but not a big fan of sci-fi books. I picked up Jaxxa Rakala because a friend of mine recommended it… and I’m GLAD I DID! What a story! It reminded me very much of Star Wars, with the kind of characters (beings) you would find on Star Trek Next Generation or Deep Space Nine. There were also some parts that were very Indiana Jones – action, adventure, mystery. Everything you can think of is in this book! The summary gives you great detail on what this book is about. Basically, the main character, Ken, loses his wife to an alien abduction, and spends the next few years obsessed with finding her and finding ways to get to her – all the while neglecting his 2 daughters: one a hormone driven teenager getting into more of her share of trouble, and the other a recluse who has barely spoken since her mothers disappearance. From this point on in the book, it’s impossible to put it down. Those of you out there who are sci-fi fans, this is a great book to add to your collection. For those of you who aren’t, pick this up anyway – it’s a quick read, and i’m sure you’ll find that you liked it as much as I did. From what I understand, the author would like to make this a series, possibly a trilogy – and I know that I cannot wait to find out about what new adventures these characters will go on!!!