A Bad Deal for the Whole Galaxy

I really want to like this series, and overall I do enjoy it. I’m just not feeling moved by it - which may have more to do with me as a reader vs the author. Since this is a good read, I don’t want to list out all my quibbles and instead just give a high level comment.

PRO: innovative genre-blending, hints of NK Jemesin in that world-building. I appreciate the perspective-driven storytelling, which can be frustrating as a reader at times but makes for a more immersive read. What’s more, a story being driven in part by the actions and thoughts of someone with what others consider a disability in this world is really neat. Progressive themes fit well with a futuristic setting, while being reflective on the present.

The analogy I draw here is that the series is like a summer popcorn-flick. It’s good, whatever my detractions. And really incredible antagonists, especially in the first book.

CONS: None of the characters are much more than a cardboard cutout. You’ve read them before, seen them before, and have met background/tertiary characters with more to them. The teaser text is right that this series is made for fans of Firefly and the Expanse – because it looks like someone watched those shows/read the books and comics, and a half dozen other well-known ones, and thought hey, let’s do this almost point-for-point at times.

If you haven’t seen those shows/read the books and comics, it probably comes across a little better if still tropish. But you also probably wouldn’t be motivated to read this series if you hadn’t seen or read that other material.

Which is all to say, by the end of the second book, I still don’t really care about any of the characters. The moments of growth and development read like neon lights on a dark night, and moments that are clearly meant to be big, rich, emotional turns end up deflated and hackneyed.

I’m going to finish the series of course, the story is good enough to genuinely want to see how it ends. Some of the thematic elements
That went into this series, I hope, get more flesh and bones to them in the author’s future works.

This is a good book. Kind of safe. Kind of conventional. The spirit of the original is here. But the daring is gone.

Everything that was wacky and weird about the first in the series has vanished. Instead we find a homogenized, “safe”science fiction novel that’s good and enjoyable. Period.

I’m sure the marketing team had more say in the outcome of this project — and every focus tested formula was enforced by an editorial board. “Ugh, editors. Am I right?”

The plot: makes sense. The characters: face conflict and *sigh* evolve. The shadowy antagonists: do dastardly things. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. There’s also nothing amazing — or unique — about it.

There are a few exceptions to that statement, like a segment in the middle of the book involving an armored safe, cookies, disguises, a persnickety front desk attendant and some pretty quick unfolding of events. But that segment, rich with imagination and focus, is the exception, not the rule.

Book sales drive a lot of decisions in this industry. As I’m sure they should. But it felt disappointing to find a franchise that started off so weirdly unique turn into just another industry-milled Ikea furniture.

I don’t know the author. I can’t tell you what was going on in their mind. But in the first book, I found myself laughing at a thousand clever insights and asides. I miss that frenetic energy. Instead, this book felt someone was dutifully taking me through its paces.