A review by queenmackenzie
Those Left Behind by N.C. Scrimgeour

5.0

Those Left Behind is exactly the kind of space opera I like: character driven, with lots of planets, a political scheme or two, and something dark and half-forgotten slumbering beyond the stars. As the first in a trilogy, this book does not waste time! It quickly introduces the various point of view characters, only some of which are human, and then artfully builds up their settings. Ridley, Alvera, and Kojan are all humans aboard the Ranger, a scout ship leaving the crowded world of New Pallas in search of a new place for humanity. They each bring their own baggage to the mission: Ridley is a linguistics expert from the surface and has to contend with the prejudices of the residents of Exodus Station, Alvera is the leader of the mission and is struggling with the weight of that responsibility, and Kojan is the pilot and the son of the previous governor of Exodus Station who was overthrown by Alvera for experimenting on surfacers. When they punch through a wormhole left behind by whoever build Exodus Station, they arrive in a galaxy already teeming with life and find that they are the last colony to arrive there via the Waystations.

There are already humans there, but there are also dachryn, siolean, jarkaath, and iskaath. The other two points of view of Those Left Behind are Rivus, a dachryn Legionnaire, and Niole, a siolean deserter. Through them we get a feel of the galaxy, ruled by the Coalition and preparing for another war with the Idran-Vaar, a group of people made up of all the various races who are united by their desire to fight and claim a space of their own in the outer rim. I really loved the variety of the species, and the way in which both Rivus and Niole begin to question their roles within the Coalition over the course of their arcs. Along with all the politics, there is also a larger threat: when the Ranger comes through the Waystation – the last of four to be used – it activates a signal that begins counting down. When Rivus is sent to investigate, he discovers that there might be a greater threat out there than the Idran-Vaar, something long forgotten and now being summoned. 

As I said, that is absolutely the kind of magnitude to an SF plot that I love! It reminds me of the protomolecule in Corey’s Leviathan Wakes and the Architects in Tchaikovsky’s Shards of Earth. Hopefully in the sequels this lives up to the expectation. The other thing I really enjoyed was the fact that the humans get split up very quickly, thus giving a greater insight into their new setting, and also weaving more strands into the plot that come together very nicely towards the end. I especially loved Ridley’s chapters because of her linguistics and the way she resents the universal translators for taking away her need to learn new languages, so decides to learn them anyway. Without spoiling too much, all three humans are in a bit of a tough spot at the end of Those Left Behind, so I’m keen to carry on and see how they get out of their scrapes! If you’re a sci-fi fan, I cannot recommend this series enough! Scrimgeour writes incredibly well, and has created a fleshed out world and real people that I am invested in.