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A review by colossal
Linesman by S.K. Dunstall
4.0
Space opera with FTL travel enabled by humans with the special ability to sense and manipulate "Lines", manifestations of some sort of psychic energy that's currently beyond science.
We're introduced to Ean Lambert, one of the few Linesmen that can access level ten, the highest level of Lines and the Line that enables FTL. Ean is unique in that he sings to the Lines and they interact with him in ways that no other Linesman can achieve. Ean starts out with one of the Linesman cartels, but has his contract purchased by a Princess of the Alliance, one of the the three main human political powers. The Alliance are about to go to war with the Gate Union egged on by the third political power, Redmond. Princess Michelle has a last-ditch plan to avert a war and requires a level ten Linesman to pull it off.
The world-building here is pretty good and the Lines and alien influences are fascinating. The politics are ever-present and believable as well, giving the novel that sweeping scope that you expect in the best space operas. Ean himself is likeable, but his inferiority complex can be a bit hard to take for the first two thirds of the book. He was raised in a slum and is lower class than the majority of other Linesman as well as being trained a lot older. The other Linesmen look down on him for this as well as his strange singing process.
This is an excellent first part of a series, with a reasonable and satisfying conclusion for a first book, but clearly with much more to come including the mysteries of the aliens and the mysterious artifacts that they have left behind.
We're introduced to Ean Lambert, one of the few Linesmen that can access level ten, the highest level of Lines and the Line that enables FTL. Ean is unique in that he sings to the Lines and they interact with him in ways that no other Linesman can achieve. Ean starts out with one of the Linesman cartels, but has his contract purchased by a Princess of the Alliance, one of the the three main human political powers. The Alliance are about to go to war with the Gate Union egged on by the third political power, Redmond. Princess Michelle has a last-ditch plan to avert a war and requires a level ten Linesman to pull it off.
The world-building here is pretty good and the Lines and alien influences are fascinating. The politics are ever-present and believable as well, giving the novel that sweeping scope that you expect in the best space operas. Ean himself is likeable, but his inferiority complex can be a bit hard to take for the first two thirds of the book. He was raised in a slum and is lower class than the majority of other Linesman as well as being trained a lot older. The other Linesmen look down on him for this as well as his strange singing process.
This is an excellent first part of a series, with a reasonable and satisfying conclusion for a first book, but clearly with much more to come including the mysteries of the aliens and the mysterious artifacts that they have left behind.