Title: Dominant Species: Volume Three – Acquired Traits
Author: David Coy
Publisher: David Coy / Self Published.
Buy Link: Buy Acquired Traits Here!
Rating: 
You Gotta Read!
Reviewed By: Lupa
Blurb:
Spanning a millennium, the Dominant Species Series is a panoramic story of human and alien species locked in mortal conflict. Against this backdrop of deadly biological rivalry, humankind will fight an inner battle whose outcome is as final–and as brutal–as natural selection itself.
Volume Three – Acquired Traits
It is the year 3014. A pivotal battle looms.
Branded as murderers and forced into hiding in the jungle planet’s deepest recesses, pilot John Soledad, biologist Rachel Sanders, and medic Donna Applegate survive on their wits, frequent field remedies applied by Donna, and late-night raids on the colony’s storage warehouses for needed supplies.
While the trio struggles to survive, another threat–one more virulent than the jungle’s life forms–threatens the very survival of the new colony. Rachel’s venom-induced visions are telling her something–revealing the terrible nature of the danger–and awakening memories of things and events ancient, dark and monstrous.
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Like the second volume, the third is constructed in vignettes and subplots woven around a central theme. The subplots are designed to introduce new and interesting characters who play
crucial roles in the outcome of the story or to carry the central theme forward. Each subplot is interwoven serially, weaving an evermore-complex tale of intrigue and mystery where questions are posed and answers provided in a rich and fascinating alien environment.
We discover in the third volume that the story is much more than the sum of its parts. The place, the context, and the subtext define the story too and the message embedded in it is about our role and place in the biological world. For those of us who may never have known in the first place, or for those who may have forgotten, it is a story that reminds us that we are, at our most basic, a species with a place in the great biological hierarchy.
Review:
Acquired Traits is the third book in the Dominant Species Series by David Coy. I fell in love with the first and second books in this series and enjoyed them greatly, so it was only natural that I would read the third in the series. And Wow was I not disappointed.
Unlike the gap in time between the first and second books there was only a short few months between the second and third installment of this great Sci-Fi Horror series. We return to the story with Donna, Rachel, and John living on the land and supplies they pilfer from the settlement. That is where Donna finds Eddie, a great tie to the second books, and their little family of misfits expands a little more. They find themselves living in the great structure they found at the end of the last book and that is when they discover my favorite creepy villain Gilbert, he was in the first book. Gilbert, AKA Jacob, turns out to be a monster even a thousand years after he was imprisoned. Who says you mellow with age. He just got crazier.
The flow of Acquired Traits is actually different from the second book as well. Instead of the vignette feel of the chapters in book two this one focuses predominantly on Donna, Rachel and John. And in truth the main focus is really on Donna and Rachel with John there as a fantastic supporting character. That being said the story still flowed well and was a delight to read. It didn’t feel bogged down or slow at any point. This one is an easy read into the wee hours book.
Once again I loved the characters in Acquired Traits. I liked that Mr Coy brought back Eddie from the second book. He seems like a sweet kid with a good heart who makes some stupid mistakes. At first I was unsure what his being back would mean but I was delighted that he ended up being part of the reintroduction of something from the first book. Poor Eddie but that was awesome. I still love Donna, she is such a tenacious woman, if a little …. Harsh, at times. I love strong female leads in books and Rachel and Donna though dramatically different are both great female leads.
The tie to the first book with Rachel was very well done as well. It was hinted at in the second book but really cemented and detailed wonderfully in Acquired Traits.
I actually cheered when Mike’s brother made his appearance. That was a fantastic twist. And no I am not going to tell you when it happened or when who Paul and Mike are, you have to read the books to find those things out.
I flew through the last 75 pages of this book. I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. And Wow what an ending. The twist and the surprise were very well written and entertaining. Good little wasps.
Fantastic Mr Coy. Absolutely fantastic.
Acquired Traits is one you definitely Gotta Read!
