Review of “The 5 Moons of Tiiana” by P.T. Harry

Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

When it comes to EPIC SCI-FI novels, it doesn't come much grander and more epic than The 5 Moons of Tiiana by P.T. Harry!

The 5 Moons of Tiiana follows Captain Rez Cantor, a veteran of the Melela military, a loyal soldier of Melela, who is begrudgingly seeing his world surrender and sign a faux-peace agreement with the imperialistic, genocidal Relcor. The Relcor are a race of metallic monstrous aliens who come from a hellish world that ran short on natural resources, leading them on a rampage of conquest across the star system. The Melela and the Relcor are the first of MANY different alien races who are introduced to us in this book, which just goes to the show the depth and complexity of this literary universe. 

Anyway, Rez is on a quest to, at the very least, accomplish the oldest quest of them all: rescue the princess.

Princess Leanna is one of the best and more compelling characters in the book, serving as the deuteragonist despite disappearing for a large portion of it. Leanna gradually grows in maturity and as a leader, becoming a force to be reckoned with in her own right. 

Her relationship with Rez is also very interesting. Rez is her senior in age and seemed to have more of a big-brother or fatherly relationship with her in her younger years. He actually knew her since she was little and, at the beginning of this story, must rescue her from becoming a political tool of the Relcor at the age of 16. Like we said, she grows and matures throughout the story, and eventually develops into a love interest of Rez as she becomes an adult.

Going back to their relationship... Rez and Leanna actually have great chemistry and camaraderie. For example, they have pet names for each other, an allusion to how long they've known each other. Leanna always calls him “my captain” even when he is acting more like an admiral or general. Meanwhile, Rez constantly calls her “my princess” even when she becomes a queen. 

We wanted to briefly mention a particularly charming character in the earlier sections of this book: Penta, the young prostitute. She was really dealt an unfortunate and tragic hand, and we really felt for her. We're a bit upset and disappointed that she didn't play a larger role later in the book because she really seemed to deserve it. However, there is a slight hint at the very end that she may be around. It's either her or freakin' Philip. We'll get to him soon. One of our favorite short scenes involving Penta is when she is amazed by the extravagance of the palace. She even starts stealing some of the perfume! Keep in mind, this is a girl who grew up impoverished, being pushed into prostitution for the sake of survival. She kinda reminded us of Crutch from Ironborn by Andrew Cavanagh.

Author, if you're listening, please give Penta some justice. She deserves it.

Anyway, we're also introduced to another significant character, Philip Golan. Philip is a pilot and respected officer in the Melela space force who happens to be the great-grandson of Dimitri Golan, the man who invented the inter-dimensional space-warp technology that makes their space travel possible. An argument could be made that Philip is the tritagonist of the novel. We see him develop from a self-assured, overconfident pilot who finds himself at odds with Rez regarding the future of their civilization and the military's role in it. He starts the book as a bit of an antagonist in Rez's way, but he gradually turns to his side. Along the way, he is partially-assimilated by one of the other important alien races in the novel, the Aurians, who are a bit like a friendlier version of the Borg from Star Trek. Ok, they're not as kill-crazy as the Borg, but they're not exactly the most pleasant people. Sorta like Goku and Vegeta in Dragon Ball, Rez and Philip gradually go from being enemies to being rivals, then eventually allies. 

Following the botched escape, Rez finds himself marooned on a moon-world called Urlena. Urlena is a fascinating aquatic world inhabited by adorable, friendly aliens called Dolla (seriously, you'll want to hug and squeeze all of these guys) and much-less friendly, slaver aliens called Aquella. The Aquella were once a seafaring race with a rich history and civilization to rival the Melela and Aurians. However, a catastrophe from the skies forced them underwater in cities that are a bit like bargain-bin, Wish versions of Rapture from Bioshock. 

This catastrophe from the sky is actually a very important figure in the book. See, this... thing in the sky isn't just a giant storm or a force of nature. Yes, it's that, but it's also a sentient, biological force. The people of Urlena live in constant fear and terror of this sky creature they name Giragoc. It's actually the thing on the cover if you paid close attention. You'd be forgiven in thinking that thing was just a storm cloud.

No, Giragoc is kinda like Hedorah from the Godzilla movies, and he kinda looks like him too. His tentacles act like tornadoes and his body behaves like a massive hurricane, swallowing anything in its path, especially metal. Giragoc LOVES metal, which explains why the Aquilla live more like cavemen now. This is also a HUGE plot device later on in the novel. 

You'll eventually realize that all of the moons of Tiiana have their own unique problems and conflicts. Urlena has to deal with Giragoc. The Aurians have to deal with the fact that their own robotic/cybernetic technology is consuming them. Zin is inhabited by multiple dangerous creatures including the Zecla (giant spider crab people) and the Brata (monstrous flying gargoyle people). The Motula on Boutal continue to struggle against both the Zecla and Brata, who are also sometimes at odds with each other.

Ok, well not every one of the moons is a complete dystopian hell hole. Vashia is basically a natural heaven full of advanced technology that doesn't overwrite everyone like the Aurians. It's full of people who basically hold hands and sing “Kumbaya” together (in a matter of speaking).

Anyway, all of these worlds are interesting and different in their own right, and so are their people. 

In terms of antagonists/villains, we've got:

- The Relcor, the original villains who just disappear from the book for a huge section of it while we focus on other things

- Giragoc, the giant cloud monster of Urlena

- The Aquella, at least for the early portions of the book, who enslave and oppress the Dolla and foreigners like Rez

- The Zelca, the spider-crab monsters who would eat everyone if they could

- The Brata, the gargoyle-people who would probably kill everyone with arable land to lay their eggs on if they could

None of these guys really get along 100% of the time, and Rez (and the other protagonists) are able to use a divide-and-conquer strategy against them, sometimes even using them against each other.

It's a bit odd how the Zelca and Brata dominate the last arc of the book despite the fact that the Relcor were built as the big bad. Yes, the Relcor become relevant again, but it seems really rushed.

It's also a bit odd how much time we spend on Urlena with Rez serving as a slave. However, this does help us to gain empathy and respect for Rez. Rez had pretty much failed and lost everything at that point—his people, his princess, his civilization—yet he keeps on keeping on. He keeps fighting for survival.

He also seems to grow socially, or at least shows up the social and communication skills he gained in the military. He is able to lead the other prisoners by rewarding them with extra food/purple seaweed rations and rally them to his cause. He's able to do similar things with the Dolla, the Aurians, Vashis, the surviving Melelans, and even the Aquella who once imprisoned him.

He's able to use his skills and charisma to unite the moons of Tiiana against their common enemies including the Zelca and Brata. 

Check it out on Amazon!