For years now, I’ve linked to posts by The Firsty Duelist–typically from his mother’s Witty and Sarcastic Book Club in Saturday Miscellany posts. Since he started his blog, he’s taught me more about manga than anyone that isn’t my kid. And now, I get the pleasure of co-hosting this review of JCM Berne’s great debut. Enjoy, and give ol’ Firsty a follow.
I got this image from jcmberne.com
This book follows Rohan, a man with half-alien parentage which gives him tremendous and spectacular Powers, who is working as a Tow Chief on the space station Wistful, bringing in ships by flying through space under his own Hybrid Power. However, he wasn’t always a Tow Chief, and he didn’t always use his Powers peacefully… When this past starts catching up to him in the midst of a scientific investigation into a nearby wormhole which recently displayed major signs of activity, will he manage to ride it through, or will he have to revert to his old self in order to save those he cares about? Only time will tell…
To put it simply, I loved this book! The pace kept things moving even during more subdued scenes, the dialogue was great and showcased the characters’ personalities really well, and the worldbuilding was super interesting as well. The idea of beings with one parent from a certain alien race having special Powers granted to them by their heritage that their full-blooded parents don’t exhibit is fascinating, and the additional details explained about how this system works later in the book made for some spectacular revelations.
To put it in more detail, this book is a shining example of the kind of sci-fi (or storytelling pace in general) that I like. From what I can tell a lot of sci-fi is a bit slower, or more of a downer, or tries to go more for weirdness than anything else, and this book doesn’t do any of that, which I appreciate. It reads almost like a comic book, which is a comparison definitely helped by Rohan’s quippyness and the fact that he basically has superpowers. And on the topic of those Powers, that was one thing that really stood out to me with this book as well! The idea that not only do some people in this world have the ability to use their own inherent energy to Push and Pull on things around them, as well as an increased healing factor and above-average strength, is cool enough, but the added wrinkle of it being dependent on heritage, and said heritage often using their Powered offspring for intergalactic conquest and warfare, was super interesting to me.
Additionally, this book does a great job not only expanding on the details that are actively relevant to the plot, but also the details of the universe at large. It really felt like the Empire was a massive looming presence, even though they weren’t directly involved in the story. And the ramifications of recent events, especially the ramifications of Rohan’s involvement in said events, also came into play in great ways, further deepening the overall plot. The story pretty much takes place entirely on Wistful and in the surrounding space, but it feels like a much grander scale due to the way the far-reaching parts of the universe play into things.
Meanwhile, the characters were all great as well! Rohan was likeable while still having his own issues to work out, making him a good protagonist trying to do his best despite his flawed past, but for me the supporting cast is even better. The Security Chief Wei Li’s deadpan sense of humor (or maybe just plain deadpan seriousness?) was fantastic to read and always seemed to catch Rohan off-guard, and the scientific research vessel Insatiable was also a highlight for me, with their extremely energetic personality and difficulty with keeping secrets.
Actually, the idea that a spaceship (or space station, for that matter) could be sentient was something that I wasn’t expecting when going into this book, and it surprised me a bit at first, but I feel it makes the story even more unique, and also adds more weight to things like firefights, with multiple ships taking damage or being destroyed. Depending on the scale and origin of the ships involved, destroying them is the same as taking a life, even without taking into account the lives of the crew members, and that additional wrinkle was very interesting. Plus, like I said earlier, the ship Insatiable was really fun to read, and Wistful definitely has a few secrets which I hope will be explored later in the series…
Another thing this book did well was making the different alien species feel, well, alien! There’s a certain alien race in this book that are basically talking space bears, and the way they’re written makes them feel just different enough to feel like aliens, while still having customs and mannerisms that a normal human can understand. I can’t say much more without spoiling some of the latter half of the book, but I really like how the “Ursans”, as they are called, played into things in particular, and some of the offhand descriptions of their rituals and such that I felt did a great job conveying what sort of society they have.
Overall, I can’t say enough about this book! If you want a fast-paced sci-fi story with an unforgettable world, great characters, and a fantastic balance of intense action, a bit of drama, and some good humor as well, then I highly recommend this book.
But, that’s about it for this post! I hope you enjoyed reading what I had to say, and may you have a fantastic day, night, or whenever it is you’re reading this!
-Bye!
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A teleporter named “Bamf”? You know Berne chuckled/giggled to himself when he typed that.
