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readundancies's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Alright, so last month I picked up Nightwatch on the Hinterlands by K. Eason and basically fell in love with it. Clearly, since I’m still talking about it, it had an impact and I wanted to capture that feeling and stretch it out into my next sci-if read.
So I decided to test the StoryGraph Plus feature which lets you browse a personalized list of similar reads and since NotH was my first 5 star read of the year, that was the one I went with.
And what a winner it came up with.
Now taking into account that Planetside was not on my radar before this, I am very pleased with these preliminary results.
Planetside is a military focused space opera, and in this case, I am defining a space opera as a soap opera for nerds. And in case it’s not clear, I mean this in a totally complimentary way. Because this such a solid plot driven novel. There is tension, there is melodrama, there is rage induced by such tedious bureaucracy and yet decadent political intrigue that lies within war and military and I was reeling from all of it because this was dramatic as fuck and I could not contain myself.
The execution was everything. The pace was rapid with action and slow burn with all of the political manipulations. I cannot explain it exactly but I inhaled this novel with such effortless ease. It has this serial kinda vibe and I respect the cliffhanger, which is not a common occurrence for me. I ended up hybrid reading this digitally with an eBook and audiobook and was totally immersed in the best possible way, and definitely recommend the audiobook.
I am lined, hooked and sinkered with need for the sequel and I’m desperately waiting for my hold on the audiobook to come through so I can hybrid read that as well because it’s the good shit. It is a sweet sweet high of a story being told here. I do have this small feeling though that it maybe could’ve been combined with the next one as a single novel? Like just one standalone tome of a space opera that is brilliance. Time will tell, I suppose.
One of my absolute favourite aspects of the novel was the escalation of stakes because it was so goddamned compelling. Like truly, I have not been so invested in a sci-fi plot since The Martian. This was not even close to the same kind of vibe because this has at its core some strong thriller elements and the takes on survival have very different contexts. Yet with both having that first person past tense perspective, the character voices are just so strong and well established in each, albeit in completely different ways because they are very different characters.
Speaking of characters, usually a plot driven novel tends to lack in this department in comparison to the plot, but the characterization here was not weak, but it has this finite depth to it. It’s not heavily layered or complex but it’s also not trying to be because it doesn’t have to; there’s simply no need. The plot moves at such a breakneck speed that I truly believe if there had been any further levels of introspection or larger analysis of the characters that the plot would suffer from the lack of brevity. You’d be trading away the energy that the story cultivates in favour of unnecessary substance, lengthening the novel to its detriment.
And the key to the plot lies in the brevity of the writing style to explain what is going on without going into much more depth than the implications of those actions or events. It’s keeps things moving at a quicker pace while also retaining the reader’s attention and keeping them invested in the story.
Truly I cannot articulate how much of a treat of a story this was for me. So if anything about a retired military colonel being thrown into a mess of a situation involving a prominent political leader’s missing son on a war torn planet and a minefield of political conspiracies and collusion, don’t hesitate.
Pick this up, and revel in it, because the ride is glorious.
So I decided to test the StoryGraph Plus feature which lets you browse a personalized list of similar reads and since NotH was my first 5 star read of the year, that was the one I went with.
And what a winner it came up with.
Now taking into account that Planetside was not on my radar before this, I am very pleased with these preliminary results.
Planetside is a military focused space opera, and in this case, I am defining a space opera as a soap opera for nerds. And in case it’s not clear, I mean this in a totally complimentary way. Because this such a solid plot driven novel. There is tension, there is melodrama, there is rage induced by such tedious bureaucracy and yet decadent political intrigue that lies within war and military and I was reeling from all of it because this was dramatic as fuck and I could not contain myself.
The execution was everything. The pace was rapid with action and slow burn with all of the political manipulations. I cannot explain it exactly but I inhaled this novel with such effortless ease. It has this serial kinda vibe and I respect the cliffhanger, which is not a common occurrence for me. I ended up hybrid reading this digitally with an eBook and audiobook and was totally immersed in the best possible way, and definitely recommend the audiobook.
I am lined, hooked and sinkered with need for the sequel and I’m desperately waiting for my hold on the audiobook to come through so I can hybrid read that as well because it’s the good shit. It is a sweet sweet high of a story being told here. I do have this small feeling though that it maybe could’ve been combined with the next one as a single novel? Like just one standalone tome of a space opera that is brilliance. Time will tell, I suppose.
One of my absolute favourite aspects of the novel was the escalation of stakes because it was so goddamned compelling. Like truly, I have not been so invested in a sci-fi plot since The Martian. This was not even close to the same kind of vibe because this has at its core some strong thriller elements and the takes on survival have very different contexts. Yet with both having that first person past tense perspective, the character voices are just so strong and well established in each, albeit in completely different ways because they are very different characters.
Speaking of characters, usually a plot driven novel tends to lack in this department in comparison to the plot, but the characterization here was not weak, but it has this finite depth to it. It’s not heavily layered or complex but it’s also not trying to be because it doesn’t have to; there’s simply no need. The plot moves at such a breakneck speed that I truly believe if there had been any further levels of introspection or larger analysis of the characters that the plot would suffer from the lack of brevity. You’d be trading away the energy that the story cultivates in favour of unnecessary substance, lengthening the novel to its detriment.
And the key to the plot lies in the brevity of the writing style to explain what is going on without going into much more depth than the implications of those actions or events. It’s keeps things moving at a quicker pace while also retaining the reader’s attention and keeping them invested in the story.
Truly I cannot articulate how much of a treat of a story this was for me. So if anything about a retired military colonel being thrown into a mess of a situation involving a prominent political leader’s missing son on a war torn planet and a minefield of political conspiracies and collusion, don’t hesitate.
Pick this up, and revel in it, because the ride is glorious.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, War, and Mental illness
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