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A review by samuelson_obi
Dark Star by Oliver Langmead
4.0
I was searching for Noir; and I found it.
In Oliver Langmead͛s Noir Sci-Fi novel, ͚Dark Star͛, I found a city where light is as precious a
commodity as water.
Vox is a dark city that͛s filled with ghosts, those people who are addicted to light. Those who are
starved and need its glow.
People trudge along their lives and some fall into the madness of the dark sun plaguing their skies.
Into this setting we meet Virgil Yorke, a washed-up cop addicted to a drug called Prometheus or
colloquially known as ͚Pro͛. Virgil is a hero with scars both within and out; haunted by the memory of
his biggest case and the death of a loved one.
In the streets of Vox, the body of Vivian North, a murdered young woman is found. Nothing unusual
about that except from the fact that her blood glows white, almost as though it͛s made of light.
It falls to Virgil and his partner Dante to investigate the murder, but then One of the three hearts
(ancient artefacts/machines that power the city) is stolen and Virgil is called upon again, to solve the
mystery and retrieve it.
To begin with I wasn͛t sure if I would enjoy this story, looking at the previous reviews did not fill me
with confidence, but I still decided to give it a go.
And I͛m glad I did.
I really loved the atmosphere the author created, noir almost in its literal sense. I felt the despair,
the craving that the citizens of Vox felt for the light that was long denied them by their ineffective
sun.
Somehow the novel felt as though it was both slow and fast paced.
The main character seemed to hardly get any rest and that came across quite clearly, as the hero
was thrown from one parulis situation to the next.
Add to that was the poetic introspection of the character as well as the almost lyrical descriptions;
reinforced the idea that the novel was both progressing at a slow and at breakneck speed. What I
call slow speed…
Virgil York is a flawed hero who does not consider himself a hero.
Initially I thought that there was going to be a major character arc that would lead the protagonist to
abandon his addiction, but oh how mistaken I was.
As he travelled through Vox, I travelled through Vox; as he felt the madness, I felt the madness, the
yearning for the light.
Every twist and turn made me wonder further about this world. One thing I do appreciate is when an
author adds little titbits of information about the world as the story progress͛s. And Langmead does
that all throughout.
We learn a little bit about the history of Vox, it͛s inhabitants and their society.
In the end, the story came full circle leaving the reader almost spent as if returning back to
mundanity.
I was fascinated by that world and haunted almost felt nostalgia for that strange world in shades of
black and grey.
I would also like to add that Toby Longworth; the narrator of the audiobook did a brilliant job. His
voice added that extra washed-up tiredness to the main character. It is largely because of his dark
hardboiled stile of narration that I enjoyed the story as much as I did.
Somehow, he managed to make every character sound distinct without particularly changing his
accent or overcompensating in the voice acting department.
This is a solid 4 stars for me.
In Oliver Langmead͛s Noir Sci-Fi novel, ͚Dark Star͛, I found a city where light is as precious a
commodity as water.
Vox is a dark city that͛s filled with ghosts, those people who are addicted to light. Those who are
starved and need its glow.
People trudge along their lives and some fall into the madness of the dark sun plaguing their skies.
Into this setting we meet Virgil Yorke, a washed-up cop addicted to a drug called Prometheus or
colloquially known as ͚Pro͛. Virgil is a hero with scars both within and out; haunted by the memory of
his biggest case and the death of a loved one.
In the streets of Vox, the body of Vivian North, a murdered young woman is found. Nothing unusual
about that except from the fact that her blood glows white, almost as though it͛s made of light.
It falls to Virgil and his partner Dante to investigate the murder, but then One of the three hearts
(ancient artefacts/machines that power the city) is stolen and Virgil is called upon again, to solve the
mystery and retrieve it.
To begin with I wasn͛t sure if I would enjoy this story, looking at the previous reviews did not fill me
with confidence, but I still decided to give it a go.
And I͛m glad I did.
I really loved the atmosphere the author created, noir almost in its literal sense. I felt the despair,
the craving that the citizens of Vox felt for the light that was long denied them by their ineffective
sun.
Somehow the novel felt as though it was both slow and fast paced.
The main character seemed to hardly get any rest and that came across quite clearly, as the hero
was thrown from one parulis situation to the next.
Add to that was the poetic introspection of the character as well as the almost lyrical descriptions;
reinforced the idea that the novel was both progressing at a slow and at breakneck speed. What I
call slow speed…
Virgil York is a flawed hero who does not consider himself a hero.
Initially I thought that there was going to be a major character arc that would lead the protagonist to
abandon his addiction, but oh how mistaken I was.
As he travelled through Vox, I travelled through Vox; as he felt the madness, I felt the madness, the
yearning for the light.
Every twist and turn made me wonder further about this world. One thing I do appreciate is when an
author adds little titbits of information about the world as the story progress͛s. And Langmead does
that all throughout.
We learn a little bit about the history of Vox, it͛s inhabitants and their society.
In the end, the story came full circle leaving the reader almost spent as if returning back to
mundanity.
I was fascinated by that world and haunted almost felt nostalgia for that strange world in shades of
black and grey.
I would also like to add that Toby Longworth; the narrator of the audiobook did a brilliant job. His
voice added that extra washed-up tiredness to the main character. It is largely because of his dark
hardboiled stile of narration that I enjoyed the story as much as I did.
Somehow, he managed to make every character sound distinct without particularly changing his
accent or overcompensating in the voice acting department.
This is a solid 4 stars for me.