ALPHA OMEGA
By Van Allen Plexico
White Rocket Books
776 pgs
We love space opera. From our earliest childhood days
reading Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in the Sunday cartoon pages to growing up
with Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Stars Wars and Battle Star Galacta,
to discovering the pulp hero Captain Future. All these series mesmerized us
with their ray-blasting adventures out among the stars. And now, in the middle
of the New Pulp revolution comes the greatest space opera novel of them all, “Alpha
Omega” by multi-award-winning writer, Van Allen Plexico.
Coming in at a whopping 776 pages, this mega book delivers
so much action, suspense, thrills and breath-taking space battles, we see it as
a space opera “Shogun.” Plexico is such a skilled storyteller, his grasp of
pacing is wonderful. When one considers the length of this tale and the
challenge of multiple characters, it’s incredible how he pulls it off. He never
once allows the narrative to slow down; skillfully moving from one scene to the
next. From the conflicts in our own solar systems, where a secret Russian cabal
known as Omega is plotting a coup against allied United Nations, to space
satellites, colonies on Mars and Alpha Centuri the action whips along. Never
mind the spy vs spy manipulations going on behind the scenes. His three main
protagonists, American Naval officers, Corrigan, Maguire and Wolfe are classically
molded heroes, able to outwit their foes at every turn and then, using
ingenious tactics, overcome dead overwhelming odds thrown at them.
Bottom line, regardless of genre, “Alpha Omega” is one of the greatest books this reviewer has ever had the pleasure of reading. Thank you, Mr. Plexico, you made us feel young again.
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