Check out Scott Reads It! 
 I really had no idea what to expect from Avalon because it was compared to Firefly and I hadn't seen the show yet. After watching a few episodes of Firefly, I realized that Avalon's plot is extremely similar to Firefly's and that so many of the characters from Avalon bear an uncanny resemblance to those from Joss Whedon's popular TV show. I definitely think that fans will enjoy this novel, despite the immense similarities to Firefly. 
 Avalon starts off strong with an extremely memorable beginning that does a perfect job of introducing our main character, Jeth. The 1st half of Avalon is full of action, humor, and a fun plot-line that kept me really entertained and I was so convinced that Avalon would be a 5 star read or very close to it. Then I started to read the 2nd half and then everything went downhill when a romance was added. 
 The romance in Avalon is poorly done and I wasn't a fan of the whole Sierra-Jeth match up at all. There was zero chemistry between the two and their relationship was an insta-love mess. Mindee Arnett wasn't very subtle in they way she introduced obstacles just to bring the two even closer together. This book would have been so much better if there was no romance at all because the romance just bogged down the plot and made me dread continuing Avalon. 
 The 2nd half wasn't terrible, but it really was such a disappointment after the spectacular 1st half. The 2nd half is full of non-stop unpredictable plot twists that were really well-done, but I just couldn't make myself care because I was so annoyed with the direction of the romance. Romance can definitely make or break a book and in this case, the romance didn't really fit in with the plot and was extremely awkward. 
 I'll definitely be reading the sequel to Avalon, in hopes that the romance doesn't overshadow the plot for me. I'm a bit disappointed with Avalon, but it was still entertaining and enjoyable. Avalon wasn't quite what was I expecting, but was it still a pretty good sci-fi space opera!