The Backworlds: 1 Paperback – 1 January 2013

Thoroughly enjoyed 'The Backworlds' on my Kindle so much that I finished the entire story in one non stop sitting--very rare for me. This is the first book from M. Pax I have read and I am hooked. This is Sci-fi light reading at its best. Will definitely read more by this author.

It took a while to get into this book but once I settled in the story was reasonably enjoyable. The ending was weak and abrupt in my opinion but I think it is to entice you to read the rest of the books in the series. I may at some time get the next book in the series but do not feel any great urgency to do so.

This book is a simplistic adventure tale with paper thin, childish characters and a largely uninteresting story.What struck me most was the complete absence of character building that reduces the book to an account of people meeting and doing things for no obvious reasons. For instance, near the beginning of the book the main character meets two other characters and apparently becomes life-long friends with them in what amounts to about 5 minutes of conversation. This is continued throughout the book, and while the main character has an element of depth to him no other character is given any time to develop any sort of depth of their own - a fact the author must have recognised since she gives each of them catchphrases to differentiate them.Not worth your time reading. Get a good science fiction book such as Great North Road instead.

Due to the greed of his Father and Community Elders, Craze finds himself exiled from his home world. But all is not lost for him as he teams up a crew journeying the "Backworlds" all the while considering how he will make his fortune and take revenge on those back home!This story introduced some interesting characters and original concepts. It was also a very enjoyable read and I will be adding book 2 in the series to my reading list!

After the first chapter or two, I could tell the characters and world were going to be shallow. I thought maybe the author was intentionally leaving me blind to bring things around later or to keep me waiting for the next tid-bit. That wasn't the case, though. Characters continue becoming best friends in the space of two paragraphs, worlds continue being featureless tunnels, etc..The ideas are good here, I just wish they were fleshed out a bit.

I bought all three in the series at the same time. All three are big on the character's relationships. The action is sparse and low intensity. I found them good for bedside reading, as they did not have that "edge of the seat" plot tension that sometimes keeps me awake.