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richardrbecker's reviews
497 reviews
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
3.5
3.5, rounded up. The concept is complex and compelling — set in the future dystopia, the remnants of civilization invent a technology that cracks the multiverse and allows agents to visit alternative Earths. The technology is primarily used for exploitation: to mine data (and some inanimate material) from other Earths in order to gain an advantage for their primary world despite subtle-to-extensive differences between worlds. There is also considerable effort to make sure other Earths don't exploit the same technology.
Limitations, such as only being able to visit an Earth where you have already died, keep the story interesting, as does a caste system of sorts that separates the city, rural, and wasteland. Author Micaiah Johnson invests much of his protagonist's time thinking about exactly that — borders and class issues — so much so that it tends to distract from the story and makes the protagonist, Cara, feel like she rambles too much.
The class struggle comes into play because Cara is trying to gain citizenship in the city by being a traverser (agent). She has four years left to go when she stumbles upon a dirty little secret that applies to her world while transversing into another. She has to decide whether to exploit what she knows or bring a culprit to justice while keeping her own dark secret.
As an author, Johnson does an amazing job applying the Space Between Worlds to reflect both transversing to different worlds and the rigid separation of people on most worlds. However, it seems to me that the work stands out when she is most focused on the bigger concept of transversing and the more intimate question of relating to different versions of people in different worlds (e.g. she tries to avoid a dark relationship with a warlord from one, she longs for a romantic relationship with her teammate Dell from another). It's the middle ground between those two extremes that are less interesting and feel a bit wobbly, which is too bad because Cara spends so much time talking about it that it becomes another character that never really develops. And, in some ways, I don't think Cara does so much, either. Still entertaining, just too far away from my favorites list to warrant a better score.
Limitations, such as only being able to visit an Earth where you have already died, keep the story interesting, as does a caste system of sorts that separates the city, rural, and wasteland. Author Micaiah Johnson invests much of his protagonist's time thinking about exactly that — borders and class issues — so much so that it tends to distract from the story and makes the protagonist, Cara, feel like she rambles too much.
The class struggle comes into play because Cara is trying to gain citizenship in the city by being a traverser (agent). She has four years left to go when she stumbles upon a dirty little secret that applies to her world while transversing into another. She has to decide whether to exploit what she knows or bring a culprit to justice while keeping her own dark secret.
As an author, Johnson does an amazing job applying the Space Between Worlds to reflect both transversing to different worlds and the rigid separation of people on most worlds. However, it seems to me that the work stands out when she is most focused on the bigger concept of transversing and the more intimate question of relating to different versions of people in different worlds (e.g. she tries to avoid a dark relationship with a warlord from one, she longs for a romantic relationship with her teammate Dell from another). It's the middle ground between those two extremes that are less interesting and feel a bit wobbly, which is too bad because Cara spends so much time talking about it that it becomes another character that never really develops. And, in some ways, I don't think Cara does so much, either. Still entertaining, just too far away from my favorites list to warrant a better score.
Ark Royal by Christopher G. Nuttall
3.0
Ark Royal by Christopher Nuttall won't find fans in everyone. The story is straightforward. The characters are cutouts. The aliens are expectant. The tone is made-for-television military space opera.
And yet, despite several cliches and leaps of faith, Nuttall manages to wrestle what for other authors would be a cliche action story that crosses vintage military naval fiction and colonial adventurism into something surprisingly engaging as it skips along the surface of something infinitely grander. It isn't even hard to imagine why so many people seem to enjoy its predictable fun. It smacks of nostalgic sci-fi pulp fiction.
And yet, despite several cliches and leaps of faith, Nuttall manages to wrestle what for other authors would be a cliche action story that crosses vintage military naval fiction and colonial adventurism into something surprisingly engaging as it skips along the surface of something infinitely grander. It isn't even hard to imagine why so many people seem to enjoy its predictable fun. It smacks of nostalgic sci-fi pulp fiction.
Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh
4.0
Spaceman used to be an anti-hero. But as his job as a hitman begins to take a much more noble tone, Spaceman feels more like a dark night than the sarcastically deadly loner we knew him to be in Shovel Ready. He is also much more likable as he begins to attract a team of eccentric characters — people whose loyalties range from unwavering to questionable — as they navigate the post-apocalyptic urban noir that Sternberg has aptly drafted here.
If you want something different, dive right in. But before you do, it might be best to start with the darker introduction Shovel Ready. The story is a but less cohesive but contains significantly more grit.
If you want something different, dive right in. But before you do, it might be best to start with the darker introduction Shovel Ready. The story is a but less cohesive but contains significantly more grit.