Epic worldbuilding that’s compelling in its ambition, if not always in its execution.
In this SF novel from Bankston, two enemies must work together to right the historical record and prevent an interstellar war.
Thirty-two-year-old Linsorais half-human, half-Khizaran and displays volatile emotions and ingrained knife-fighting instincts, as is typical in Khizaran culture. An archaeologist by profession, she also has the ability to “hear” voices from the past in her mind. This has led her to discover certain historical artifacts that, if reported, would keep her employers, the Carratians, from legally undertaking a lucrative mining operation on a historic site. Instead, they accuse her of stealing from them and get her thrown her in prison. Linsora blames her situation on her erstwhile crewmate, 34-year-old Permac; he’s a Tokorellan, a member of an alien species that’s widely distrusted, due to their ability to influence people’s emotions. The Tokorellans used to be Khizarans; the two cultures separated 200 years ago when the former gained their mental powers. Since then, a great enmity has existed between them, fueled by vastly different accounts of the schism. Permac feels responsible for Linsora’s plight, as he didn’t expect that Linsora would remain imprisoned after he reported her, so he breaks her out of prison. The two remain at loggerheads but are thrown together in common cause—first to flee from the Carratians, then to revisit the archaeological dig and establish the truth of Linsora’s findings. Everything changes when they uncover an ancient recording from a key historical figure, and learn that both their people’s accepted histories are inaccurate. As they develop feelings for each other, they determine to publicly reveal the truth and end the simmering hostility between their peoples.
Bankston writes in the omniscient past-tense, most often from Linsora or Permac’s perspective but occasionally from that of a lesser player. The prose is exuberant from the outset, stumbling over itself in a rush to impart information: “She froze, instinctively reaching for a knife—the weapon of choice on her home world, Khizara. Her subconscious mind reminded her she was still in prison, and correctional officers deprived her of the luxury of carrying a knife upon entry.” This ebullience extends to the dialogue, with characters prone to relating exposition, wholly for the reader’s benefit: “I’ve noticed that your clothes aren’t bulky but have a lot of flowing fabric. I imagine it’s more for functionality than anything—and for carrying knives.” This tendency will likely grate upon those readers who prefer sharper, more immersive prose. Still, there lies within it a clear sincerity of vision. Bankston has conceived a vast, intricately woven tapestry of spacefaring worlds. Permac and Linsora are likable representatives of the enemies-to-lovers trope, and of two peoples whose mutual hostility is underpinned by long history. The characters’ journey, as it gains momentum across the many pages, is sure to pull readers in. One could argue that a book of more than 500 pages in length should offer more closure, rather than simply leading into a continuation, but the journey is mostly satisfying, nonetheless. Epic worldbuilding that’s compelling in its ambition, if not always in its execution.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9780997554717
Page Count: 508
Publisher: OldStache Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Comparisons to The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones series are inevitable, for this tale has elements of both—fantasy, the...
Brown presents the second installment of his epic science-fiction trilogy, and like the first (Red Rising, 2014), it’s chock-full of interpersonal tension, class conflict and violence.
The opening reintroduces us to Darrow au Andromedus, whose wife, Eo, was killed in the first volume. Also known as the Reaper, Darrow is a lancer in the House of Augustus and is still looking for revenge on the Golds, who are both in control and in the ascendant. The novel opens with a galactic war game, seemingly a simulation, but Darrow’s opponent, Karnus au Bellona, makes it very real when he rams Darrow’s ship and causes a large number of fatalities. In the main narrative thread, Darrow has infiltrated the Golds and continues to seek ways to subvert their oppressive and dominant culture. The world Brown creates here is both dense and densely populated, with a curious amalgam of the classical, the medieval and the futuristic. Characters with names like Cassius, Pliny, Theodora and Nero coexist—sometimes uneasily—with Daxo, Kavax and Sevro. And the characters inhabit a world with a vaguely medieval social hierarchy yet containing futuristic technology such as gravBoots. Amid the chronological murkiness, one thing is clear—Darrow is an assertive hero claiming as a birthright his obligation to fight against oppression: "For seven hundred years we have been enslaved….We have been kept in darkness. But there will come a day when we walk in the light." Stirring—and archetypal—stuff.
Comparisons to The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones series are inevitable, for this tale has elements of both—fantasy, the future and quasi-historicism.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-345-53981-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
