Jeri Massi’s The Five Rings of Peril opens by yanking Penny Derwood out of safety and into the wake of Doc Thorson’s old enemy, Theskulis, then widens into a scrappy cosmic pursuit involving kidnappings, casino worlds, alien criminal networks, and the gloriously improbable Mags Hardbottle, a self-styled “Detective to the Stars.” What I found most engaging is the book’s ability to juggle two energies at once: earnest high-stakes adventure and a pulpy, almost serial-style exuberance. The story moves from the familiar orbit of Peabody’s young heroes into a harsher interstellar landscape, where loyalty, courage, and quick thinking matter more than polish.

The book’s voice sounds idiosyncratic in a way I increasingly value. Massi writes with a lively, unabashed fondness for melodrama, old-school daring, and oddball invention. Mags Hardbottle in particular gives the novel a delightful voltage: she is funny, game, strange, and unexpectedly touching, a character who could have remained a gimmick but instead becomes a live wire in the narrative. I liked, too, the way the book treats danger seriously without surrendering its sense of play. Beneath the flamboyant surface, there is a sturdy moral architecture, friendship, duty, and endurance that keep the story from drifting into mere caper.

I also admired the novel’s refusal to flatten its world into generic science fiction. The cosmos here feels peopled rather than decorated: Tarks, Gronnox, body pirates, casino districts, crude transport systems, and improvised forms of cosmic travel all give the setting a rough, inhabited grain. The book feels like it is cheerfully raiding several cupboards at once; space opera, detective spoof, juvenile adventure, rescue thriller, and I mean that as praise. Its pacing can be quick, and its tonal swings are abrupt, but I found that part of its peculiar charm. It reads less like a machine-tooled franchise novel than like a story told by somebody with real affection for her characters and enough nerve to let the tale be eccentric.

I’d hand The Five Rings of Peril to readers who enjoy science fiction, space opera, YA adventure, portal fantasy, and pulpy interplanetary mystery, especially those who like ensemble casts, clean moral stakes, and a touch of retro bravado. It may appeal to readers who enjoy Madeleine L’Engle’s cosmic earnestness or the adventurous spirit of classic juvenile sci-fi more than to readers looking for sleek contemporary dystopia. This is a quirky, high-spirited, wholeheartedly uncynical adventure that wins me over by being exactly and exuberantly itself. Odd, earnest, and fun, it has more pluck than polish, and that is precisely why I recommend it.

Pages: 215 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0GHPMJSX3