Title: Expatriate
Author: Peter R Stone
Publisher/Year: Peter R Stone 10/21/14
Length: 236 pages
Series: Forager #3
Overview
The Thrilling Conclusion to the Forager Trilogy
Eighteen-year-old Ethan Jones, Nanako, and the other foragers have fled Newhome after being accused of being terrorists.
However, with Captain Smithson’s parting words of “Don’t forget us,” ringing in their minds, they realise the only way to save Newhome from the Hamamachi Rangers and their Skel allies is to document and expose the Rangers’ villainy.
Yet what sounds like a workable plan is nothing of the sort, for they have to journey into the very heart of Skel territory to obtain the information they need.
Leigh’s warning that “nothing ever goes as you want or plan it to,” turns out to be prophetic. An assassin, a botched raid, and the Skel and Rangers stopping at nothing to prevent them from revealing the Rangers’ activities all complicate matters.
To add to their woes, a word whispered in Ethan’s ear by a new addition to their party brings his world crashing down about his ears. Moreover, should he share this information with Nanako, all her hopes and dreams for the future will be destroyed as well. The question is – how long can he keep such a secret from her?
My Thoughts
Well…..i wish that i like this final installment as much as i liked bits of the others, but as you guys can see (and if you keep tabs on my via goodreads) – i’ve been trying to finish this book for quite some time. FINALLY – on a flight home today i finished it. THANK GOODNESS. There were good bits, don’t get me wrong, but i think that there was too much going on.
As you’ll remember (or maybe you need the refresher), Ethan’s memory has begun to come back, working to solidify his relationship with Nanako. Of course, it also means that he’s left with weird holes in what went on over the past years, but that’s ok. He’s learning about himself and who Nanako is and that’s what matters now since at least he finds that his feelings for her are consistent.
That aside, there’s still all the stuff going on with being kicked out of Newhome – and being hunted by the Militia, Rangers, Custodians, Skel – just about everyone and anything is after him and wants him dead. So this is where we find ourselves in this finale. Ethan, Nanako, the other foragers and a new custodian that they’ve picked up along the way who’s also an echolocator set out on a mission to prove that the Rangers from Himamachi are behind the Skel attacks and recruitment of slaves in the hopes that it’ll create peace and give them all a place to live in the future.
Of course nothing’s ever that easy since they are constantly being tested. Their friendships, their trust in each other, relationships (romantic and otherwise) and really the questions pile up and up. Who was behind Ethan’s ‘accident’ and who wants them dead. Of those that seem like they are supporting the cause – are they really or do they have their own motives?
We see a LOT of battle in this last book – a lot of sneak attacks, scheming, plotting and people going rogue. I think that’s where i’m lost. We find out a bit more of who the Skel are and what makes them as they are – but i still don’t think that we quite ever find the answer on their evolution and why they have slaves. Why they developed their armor and why they are so barbaric.
Anyhow, i still feel like it’s an incomplete story even though we get the ‘epilogue’ of sorts. We see where civilization is going and who’s still alive to make it flourish. But…we don’t see what happens really to a lot of the folks that we met along the way. I think that the one thing that we do learn is who was behind a lot of the atrocity – and it’s completely expected. I knew that it was going to be someone that was woven throughout the story – and i think that it was rather anti-climactic on what happened to them.
On that note – clearly i’m not getting too deep on this review and that’s because i feel like there’s nothing too deep to get into. It was average for a finale and that’s a shame since i think that Forager was a great launching pad – but that could just be my own thing. I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts if you guys have read this though – maybe i missed something since it’s taken me so long to read this one.