Review || Kidnap (Part 1 of Guy Erma and the Son of Empire) by Sally Ann Melia

Synopsis:

I don't want to go! Do I have to go?

13-year-old Teodor knows his duty to the memory of his father and his kingdom, he must help those less fortunate than himself. He must also impress his uncle the Emperor if he is ever to become the Son of Empire. A frightening nightmare fills him with foreboding, but still he must go - into the Dome.

13-year-old Guy Erma lives in the shadow of the Dome, he has no father and no mother and his future is uncertain, he must start earning a living soon. He knows not where he will live or even how he will eat, and his only dream is to be accepted in the military academy - at the heart of the Dome.

Two boys as different as any two boys might be. One act of cruelty will throw their lives together, but who dare they trust?

The Empire of Freyne is a newcomer to the United Races. As a developing race, the thirteen-planet empire is of interest to other galactic races, not all of this interest is friendly. The Dome Elite is a force of space marines whose defensive actions and adventures defend Freyne and its neighbours from hostile alien pirates and acquisitive space brigands, so allowing the inhabitants to sleep soundly at night.

For the young men and women of Domeside, to be a part of the Dome Elite, you need to master the maths and technology associated with space warfare and also to be fierce fighter who can fight in confined spaces with short sharp blades. When you are in Dome Elite, you are the best!

Meanwhile politicians and imperial rulers know that whosoever controls the Dome Elite, who decides their mandate and mission also controls the empire. You have to inspire and lead the men, to have and hold the right alien alliances and legal treaties. When you own the Dome Elite. you are in power!

  

My thoughts and whatnot

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Premise - It was not the most unique plot but this one's pretty different. 

Characters - I like most of the characters. The problem here is, I'm not sure I like Guy Erma and Teodor, a.k.a. the son of empire. Guy was a bit conceited for my liking. Yes, he's pretty great at the stuff he does but that does not justify being egoistic. Teodor, on the other hand, was not really sure of himself, he's still finding himself, I guess. But, and that's a big but, he's unreasonably whiny.

I like, however, other people's pov, especially Teodor's mother; I could feel the emotion of a mother when I read her pov. The same applies to other povs that's not Guy's & Teodor's.

Also, I need to point out that I laughed way too much about the names of the cubs. It's so funny.

Writing style/technique - I like how it has multiple point of views. It made it easier for me to understand what was happening, it certainly weren't biased to any character. It was, however, tedious considering this is only a part of a book (or was this compiled into a volume?).

I like reading conversations of the characters and this book gave me a fill of that. The flashbacks and stuff was a bit messy though.

World building - This is done almost impeccably. The problem was me. I can't imagine the world being described here. I've read some part of the book to my niece and she understood it really well. I can't seem to conceptualize the world with domes set in the future. What I was visualizing was sci-fi set in ancient era. I kept being surprised while reading this and then I remembered, this was a futuristic (?) sci-fi.

Good thing there was illustrations! It made it, a bit, easier for me to understand the world being built and the characters being described. Thank goodness for the illustrations.

Overall, I was entertained by the book. This book was an okay book for me. If I can disregard Guy & Teodor's povs, I would've liked this book better. Also, why is this shelved under YA, shouldn't this book be middle-grades or something?