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.
