My rating: 2 of 5 stars
On a planet colonized by Muslims using insect-based technology in the far-flung future ravaged a multi-sect religious war, in the midst of which a scrappy band of pansexual assassins try to scrap out a living (selling the occasional organ to pay bills). Ho-hum. Nothing we all haven’t read a thousand times before, right?
Well, maybe not. Fantastic concept, well-written, heckuva world built by Hurley here.
But here’s the problem — I couldn’t force myself to care about any of these characters, particularly the protagonist Nyx. Unpleasant people, no real moral core, no reason to root for/against them, to care about their lives, their missions, their wars. I kept trying and trying and trying to find a reason to get invested in this beyond trying to figure out exactly how the insect-tech worked and utterly failed at every turn.
You can have the coolest, most inventive setup imaginable, but if you don’t fill it with people readers can give a rip about, it’s just not worth the effort.
Read Irresponsibly, but please Comment Responsibly