- Published: March 2024
- Format: Digital, 416 pgs
- Genre: Science fiction, space opera
This book is billed as being a combination of the Expanse series and Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series, but it made me think of Firefly. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before — a ragtag, misfit crew on a space ship fights to save the day and each other. What made this book stand out was the humor and snarkiness of the writing. Sagas’ creative use of swearing made me laugh throughout (though if you mind profanity this is not the book for you). The book was occasionally a bit too “heartfelt” but the humor and creative language balanced it out and made it the kind of book that gives you some of everything: emotion, humor, adventure, and technology.
Jal is a physically-enhanced miner on the run from the Guild, having been accused of desertion. Looking for a ship, he gets on the most beat-up one he can find – only to run into his former comrade and mentor, Saint, who’s prepared to turn him in. The rest of the Ambit’s crew includes its captain, an AI named Eoan, and its engineer Nash.
When the ship responds to a distress call, they find lots of dead bodies, as if everyone died with no warning. Only one person’s alive, a programmer who’s the only person who knows what happened. The Ambit crew can either turn Jal in as planned or help expose a conspiracy that is killing planets.
This was a fun, action-packed science fiction adventure story, with lots of exploration, battles, superpowers and dramatic tension. The emotional development of the characters, particularly Jal and Saint, are completely worth the read.
The soft ground crumbled in layers, giving way under her boots like dry sand. Made the steep climb to the top of the hill feel all the steeper, as the fog and spider-leg trees pressed in around her. Strange, how a place could feel endless and claustrophobic all at once: like she could walk for hours and see only this, and like she could barely move at all.
L.M. Sagas, Cascade Failure
A few things about the book were a little rough (this is Sagas’ debut novel and the first in a series). The conflicts among the Guild, the Trust and the Union could have been more well-defined. There are a lot of narration changes, which leaves some characters a little under-developed, but that may be addressed in future novels. And as I noted already, the book is occasionally a bit too earnest (we don’t need to be told quite so many times the characters are like family and will do anything for each other). And the cover and title don’t do it justice.
Still, reading this novel felt so much like watching Firefly – it’s exciting and dark, funny and emotional, sometimes violent and sometimes sexy. It’s edge of your seat reading. If you don’t mind a book that’s a little rough but you like a good space adventure that doesn’t take itself super-seriously, I strongly recommend this book.
Note: I received an advance review copy of this book, published March 19, 2024, from NetGalley and publisher Tor Books.
