"Embrace" had elements that reminded me of classic Star Trek style SF: an intrepid starship captain and diverse, courageous crew setting off on an interstellar voyage to explore uncharted areas and to protect three groups of planetary colonists from potential attack by a hostile alien race. Instead of the Federation emblem, this crew flies under the flag of the Earth Defense Force, or EDF. T.D. Wilson provides a wealth of technical detail about the ship, the weaponry, and the backstories of crew members. He clearly has a passion for this world and this spacefaring adventure, but his proclivity for sharing every detail becomes an obstacle to letting the story unfold.

The first half of the book is pretty much entirely scene-setting and character introduction. I found myself becoming impatient, eager for the main plot line to advance, but that really didn't happen until two-thirds of the way through the novel. At times, the story read like the Star Trek Technical Manual I loved as a kid. (Yes, I was a Trekkie geek.) I remember poring over the intricate schematics of the Starship Enterprise, studying the specs on warp drive and weapons systems, and being fascinated... but that manual did not tell a story so much as provide a reference. This first novel in the Epherium Chronicles felt much like that technical manual, providing the background and context rather than advancing the actual tale.

This book would benefit tremendously from review by a professional editor, who could help streamline the narrative, pare down the exposition, and clean up the numerous misplaced or missing words, missing punctuation, awkward sentences, etc., that distracted me from focusing on the story itself. One gets the sense that Wilson has a lot to share with the reader about Captain Hood and the crew of the Armstrong, the Epherium Corp and their hidden motives for sending out colony ships, and the mysterious alien race (the Cilik'ti) who really only have a cameo in the book's prologue. It simply seemed that there was too much story to fit into this opening book in the series. ( )

This was an ok space adventure in the tradition of Star Trek and Star Wars. The weaponry is similar – shields and lasers – with the addition of added particle weapons. There are fighter planes and battles in asteroids. There was the one crew member of an unusual origin and abilities – security officer Maya Greywalker. In fact, I would say the greatest liability of the book is it’s sometimes too long-winded speeches by the Captain – a trait reminiscent of early Babylon 5 episodes. (Wilson is a fan of all three media universes.) There is some interesting intrigue – murder aboard the Epherium and traitorous officers – but not enough to get me to continue the series.

The production values were good in this self-published work. I didn’t notice many typos. ( )

I received this book in exchange for a review. This was a really good book. It took a while to get into it and the beginning was a little confusing. I had to re-read it to really get it once I was about 100 pages in to the book. The characters are well drawn. I love books about space travel and this book didn't disappoint. I was really sorry when it ended and will be getting the second book in this series. It totally drew me in. The writing and the pace are great. Great read!! ( )