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readundancies's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
My first 5-star read of 2022 was entirely worth waiting for.
Because I fucking loved this story.
And do you wanna know how much I loved it?
It doesn’t even have a map.
Yeah, I know. A SFF read without a map and I’m not shitting all over it for it’s audacity.
What a time to be alive and reading.
Now I'm not sure if this was the intention of this story, but if I was to make comparisons, Nightwatch on the Hinterlands is what I imagine a mash-up of the buddy cop dynamics of Rush Hour but make it darker and more horror inclined with a strong female lead like Ripley in Aliens alongside a potential invasion of demon-like monsters that must be prevented at all costs akin to the original Doom or Quake video games would be.
Is that a lot to contend with?
Yes.
Did I love every minute of it?
A resounding yes.
The writing of this story is informal but not uncouth. It’s very much reminiscent of inner dialogue and thought and it feels very real. I dig it. I also dig how informative it is at the same time; there’s no infodump, but information sharing with a dose of slight snark. The casualness of the dialogue is still steeped in we mean business and it worked so well for me.
What’s interesting about the informal writing style is that I think sometimes there was some grammar that could be touched up - as if it was a typo or something that slipped past an editor - but then when I read over the section again, I was left with a sense of intention behind the supposed mistakes. Like perhaps the mistakes were not mistakes but rather a stylistic choice to impart sentiments of a more internal nature and thus an extemporaneous one as well. It was quick but not bothersome and truly I’m still intrigued at how strong a voice it cultivates. It all contributes to this blunt, no time, no nonsense writing style and I really liked it. It was very effective at capturing the sense of urgency and danger that’s coupled to the investigation and at propelling the plot along.
So it’s really no surprise that I was so freaking into all of it: the faster pace, the action, the brief glimpses we got of the characters' backstories and inner thoughts, THE WORLDBUILDING. All of it! It was fantastic, and so easy to slip into that even when I was immediately lost in the world when I started, I actually enjoyed all that was unknown. There’s so much I still don’t know or truly understand but I felt so immersed in the plot that I was in awe of everything happening around me in the story. It starts off with such a solid start despite the reader’s lack of comprehension of the world and it’s workings. There’s a distinct lack of knowledge but as you learn more it almost feels intuitive at the same time. There’s truly something captivating about the writing that’s just did it for me.
And the way information is relayed to the reader works so well for me because the pacing is so in the moment, only the relevant and applicable information needed by the characters to react accordingly is provided. There’s no needless dives into historical tangents, no info dumps that express too much in too little time. It’s all very blunt and catered to the character’s perspective.
And the worldbuilding? Fucking stellar. I love this world and the violence that it leans into; the Brood are terrifyingly vicious monsters of the nightmare variety, the vakari arrogance is fascinating and amusing, the arithmancy descriptions are not daunting in the least and the indentured service of the riev makes their lack of person status grate that much more. I was almost immediately invested in everything and I‘m so excited that what was originally planned as a standalone will actually be getting a sequel.
I even became fascinated with the religious aspects, which were more of a core aspect of the novel than I initially anticipated, but they really take the edge off all the tense situations that this hodgepodge assortment of characters find themselves in. And with how solid the characterization is, it complemented the relationship dynamics of the team so well, because it was very evident that the team was in its early days, but there was this fluidity and resilience to them as a whole which was already so strong. Trust is not easy between the members due to their differing races and upbringings but they’re forced to attempt it because they won’t survive otherwise, and it’s simply wonderful.
It’s high octane, high danger, high stakes, bleak as fuck and I just freaking love everything about it. The bureaucratic bullshit between the PK and Aedis just breeds this brilliant flavour of tension that I could not get enough of. The political intrigue was sky high between the Aedis and Five Tribes. Iari’s got this strength to her character that is completely separate from her gender; she’s just a bad ass templar through and through. That coupled with Gaer's sarcasm was everything. And Char is incredibly endearing despite having such robotic delivery in his speech (the curse of being riev). Even the mecha had varying degrees of personality: you could conspire with them, they occasionally made jokes and yet they still embraced all that was deadpan and lack of expression.
I lived for the illegal aura readings, the Brood battles, the traipsing around B-Town in full gear and becoming the talk of the town wherever they went, the blasphemy of the Aedis when they wired tech with flesh, the silent prayers to Ptah, the commitment to rank, everything. This was truly such an inventive story and world and I’m still revelling in its volatility.
It’s not even a question that I recommend this without a second thought to anyone that’s even remotely interested in sci-fi mystery, because there’s some noir and horror elements, friendship and found family vibes and a whole lot of action that made it so I couldn’t put it down.
I enjoyed this so much, and this book needs so much more love, so go read it.
Because I fucking loved this story.
And do you wanna know how much I loved it?
It doesn’t even have a map.
Yeah, I know. A SFF read without a map and I’m not shitting all over it for it’s audacity.
What a time to be alive and reading.
Now I'm not sure if this was the intention of this story, but if I was to make comparisons, Nightwatch on the Hinterlands is what I imagine a mash-up of the buddy cop dynamics of Rush Hour but make it darker and more horror inclined with a strong female lead like Ripley in Aliens alongside a potential invasion of demon-like monsters that must be prevented at all costs akin to the original Doom or Quake video games would be.
Is that a lot to contend with?
Yes.
Did I love every minute of it?
A resounding yes.
The writing of this story is informal but not uncouth. It’s very much reminiscent of inner dialogue and thought and it feels very real. I dig it. I also dig how informative it is at the same time; there’s no infodump, but information sharing with a dose of slight snark. The casualness of the dialogue is still steeped in we mean business and it worked so well for me.
What’s interesting about the informal writing style is that I think sometimes there was some grammar that could be touched up - as if it was a typo or something that slipped past an editor - but then when I read over the section again, I was left with a sense of intention behind the supposed mistakes. Like perhaps the mistakes were not mistakes but rather a stylistic choice to impart sentiments of a more internal nature and thus an extemporaneous one as well. It was quick but not bothersome and truly I’m still intrigued at how strong a voice it cultivates. It all contributes to this blunt, no time, no nonsense writing style and I really liked it. It was very effective at capturing the sense of urgency and danger that’s coupled to the investigation and at propelling the plot along.
So it’s really no surprise that I was so freaking into all of it: the faster pace, the action, the brief glimpses we got of the characters' backstories and inner thoughts, THE WORLDBUILDING. All of it! It was fantastic, and so easy to slip into that even when I was immediately lost in the world when I started, I actually enjoyed all that was unknown. There’s so much I still don’t know or truly understand but I felt so immersed in the plot that I was in awe of everything happening around me in the story. It starts off with such a solid start despite the reader’s lack of comprehension of the world and it’s workings. There’s a distinct lack of knowledge but as you learn more it almost feels intuitive at the same time. There’s truly something captivating about the writing that’s just did it for me.
And the way information is relayed to the reader works so well for me because the pacing is so in the moment, only the relevant and applicable information needed by the characters to react accordingly is provided. There’s no needless dives into historical tangents, no info dumps that express too much in too little time. It’s all very blunt and catered to the character’s perspective.
And the worldbuilding? Fucking stellar. I love this world and the violence that it leans into; the Brood are terrifyingly vicious monsters of the nightmare variety, the vakari arrogance is fascinating and amusing, the arithmancy descriptions are not daunting in the least and the indentured service of the riev makes their lack of person status grate that much more. I was almost immediately invested in everything and I‘m so excited that what was originally planned as a standalone will actually be getting a sequel.
I even became fascinated with the religious aspects, which were more of a core aspect of the novel than I initially anticipated, but they really take the edge off all the tense situations that this hodgepodge assortment of characters find themselves in. And with how solid the characterization is, it complemented the relationship dynamics of the team so well, because it was very evident that the team was in its early days, but there was this fluidity and resilience to them as a whole which was already so strong. Trust is not easy between the members due to their differing races and upbringings but they’re forced to attempt it because they won’t survive otherwise, and it’s simply wonderful.
It’s high octane, high danger, high stakes, bleak as fuck and I just freaking love everything about it. The bureaucratic bullshit between the PK and Aedis just breeds this brilliant flavour of tension that I could not get enough of. The political intrigue was sky high between the Aedis and Five Tribes. Iari’s got this strength to her character that is completely separate from her gender; she’s just a bad ass templar through and through. That coupled with Gaer's sarcasm was everything. And Char is incredibly endearing despite having such robotic delivery in his speech (the curse of being riev). Even the mecha had varying degrees of personality: you could conspire with them, they occasionally made jokes and yet they still embraced all that was deadpan and lack of expression.
I lived for the illegal aura readings, the Brood battles, the traipsing around B-Town in full gear and becoming the talk of the town wherever they went, the blasphemy of the Aedis when they wired tech with flesh, the silent prayers to Ptah, the commitment to rank, everything. This was truly such an inventive story and world and I’m still revelling in its volatility.
It’s not even a question that I recommend this without a second thought to anyone that’s even remotely interested in sci-fi mystery, because there’s some noir and horror elements, friendship and found family vibes and a whole lot of action that made it so I couldn’t put it down.
I enjoyed this so much, and this book needs so much more love, so go read it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and War
sevoo's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is in the same universe as the Rory Thorne books. It could stand alone, but it benefits a lot from the universe-building done in the other books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and War
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