This mediocre military SF adventure sequel to 2008’s Tarizon: The Liberator
continues the exploits of Leek Lanzia, an Earth-born teenager exiled to the planet Tarizon. Hailed as Tarizon’s savior as per an old prophecy, Lanzia leads the mutant Loyalists and their allies in a vicious war against the hovertanks of the Tarizon Global Army. Lanzia’s episodic adventures include uniting Tarizon’s disparate races, bolstering the Loyalist army’s air forces and attempting to free his completely nondescript mate, Lucinda, from captivity. An epic scale and some nifty ideas can’t hide the shallow characterization and rushed plotting, and Manchee completely squanders the inherent humor of a 17-year-old boy leading an army of mutants. The sparse descriptions and assumed familiarity with the first volume leave much of the story inaccessible to new readers. (Sept.)
