Book Review - The Word Unleashed

The Word Unleashed by Steve Rzasa

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Steve Rzasa's The Word Unleashed lets fly the finale to an action-packed story started in The Word Reclaimed. Even though it is the second half of a larger story, The Word Unleashed can be read on its own.

Baden Haczyk, the son of a freighter captain discovered a rare book on board a mysteriously destroyed freighter that embroiled everyone he loves in a far-flung conflict for control of an interstellar empire.

Now Baden is caught in the middle of a far-ranging coup as he tries to decide what to do with the mysterious book. A single-minded secret police inspector is determined to confiscate the book over the bodies of every who stands between it and him. Baden's friends, family and new allies are polarized by the book's presence, which seems to demand a decision from everyone who encounters it.

Rzasa's grand story is told from multiple viewpoints. He manages to keep all the action moving well without the reader becoming dizzy from a large cast of characters and locations.

Rzasa also manages to reveal more about the motivations of his characters, and the bad guys are less one-dimensional in this installment. There are more space battles and ground actions, with enough plot twists that surprised me and kept me from skipping ahead in the book.

As I mentioned in my review of The Word Reclaimed, Rzasa handles religious issues well, since they are integral to the story. His even-handed and thought-provoking approach ensures that you are not left with a sappy, cookie-cutter ending.

I recommend this book for lovers SF military stories and space opera. If you have a love of history you will spot a number of interesting parallels.


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