THE SOUND OF LIGHT

Miltenberg’s YA SF tale suggests that post-apocalyptic worlds don't have to be gruesome or dreary.

The Nation of the Frii follows a religion built on classic rock and uses giant dragonflies for transportation. Soniqa StarCloud is a teen who is most comfortable on her dragonfly, Lucy. Soniqa and her six-member band, the Beyond, face their Proving, a coming-of-age ritual. Their tribe’s priestess, the High Holy Roller, sends them on a mission of exploration beyond the Prismatic Edge. First, they discover KelpLand, a mass of kelp clusters. Next, the band learns to camp on a cloudplain. Finally, they reach their goal: the Prismatic Edge. Soniqa observes a momentary hole in the Edge that will allow them to cross it. The next time the opening appears, she and her mate Vol go through. Inside, they find the nation of Emo-At, in which a gray populace is rendered mute by their leadership. Among these sheeplike people lives Statistic, a Frii captured decades before who chose to assimilate. Soniqa and Vol escape, and the band returns home, where they become legendary for their exploits. But as she ages, Soniqa can’t escape the fear that the Emo-At aren’t done with the Frii. This volume is the first in Miltenberg’s Sound of Light trilogy, which he describes as “a sci-fi word-symphony in three movements.” This book’s function as a scene-setter becomes obvious when not much happens in the final quarter of the book beyond the Frii leadership exploiting the band’s discoveries. The author does an admirable job of establishing an extensive backstory for his world; still, while his bastardized versions of names and places start out cute, the conceit soon feels like it devolves into a game of deciphering vanity license plates. (If ever a tome cried out for a glossary, this is it.) Miltenberg has successfully introduced a colorful world—if readers can absorb it all.

This SF symphony mostly hits the right notes in this trilogy opener.