Scan barcode
A review by shipwrecksteph
A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers
4.0
I received an uncorrected proof at NYCC 2019. Many thanks to Harper Collins for the copy.
This book was a little difficult to get into at first (more on that below). But once it gets going it's a really enjoyable journey. I liked all the POV characters, which is rare. Their stories were very compelling. This made for a nice balance as the story propelled towards the finish. Normally there's the inclination to skim the material to see what happens. But here, the author makes us care enough about the character personal journeys enough that we want to read every word.
The setting feels like it's on a timeline halfway towards the Wayfarers series. We're in space, but not as deep. Technology has advanced, but not as far. Humanity has improved, but not as much. The story and writing are completely different, but the SciFi is along that same trajectory. This scratches an itch for Star trek fans who love this sort of aspirational SciFi but would prefer the characters to have actual human emotions.
As mentioned above, the book takes a bit to get into. It's content is compelling enough. But the characters are impossible to follow because of how their names work. Every person has a rank, and that rank's abbreviation, a given name, a family name and a nickname. The nicknames in no way resemble their actual names and everyone is called different things by different people. I spent the first few chapters just reading the dialog without any notion of who was saying what and hoped for the best. I don't like to be molly-coddled by a story, but this was a little overwhelming. Fortunately once they make introductions within the narrative, things flow smoothly.
Overall this was a really great read. It's great science fiction. There's wonderful representation. The main story wraps up well, but I am looking forward to the next installment in this universe.
This book was a little difficult to get into at first (more on that below). But once it gets going it's a really enjoyable journey. I liked all the POV characters, which is rare. Their stories were very compelling. This made for a nice balance as the story propelled towards the finish. Normally there's the inclination to skim the material to see what happens. But here, the author makes us care enough about the character personal journeys enough that we want to read every word.
The setting feels like it's on a timeline halfway towards the Wayfarers series. We're in space, but not as deep. Technology has advanced, but not as far. Humanity has improved, but not as much. The story and writing are completely different, but the SciFi is along that same trajectory. This scratches an itch for Star trek fans who love this sort of aspirational SciFi but would prefer the characters to have actual human emotions.
As mentioned above, the book takes a bit to get into. It's content is compelling enough. But the characters are impossible to follow because of how their names work. Every person has a rank, and that rank's abbreviation, a given name, a family name and a nickname. The nicknames in no way resemble their actual names and everyone is called different things by different people. I spent the first few chapters just reading the dialog without any notion of who was saying what and hoped for the best. I don't like to be molly-coddled by a story, but this was a little overwhelming. Fortunately once they make introductions within the narrative, things flow smoothly.
Overall this was a really great read. It's great science fiction. There's wonderful representation. The main story wraps up well, but I am looking forward to the next installment in this universe.