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A review by annemaries_shelves
In the Company of Others by Julie E. Czerneda
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This could have been a five star book except for the shoehorned in insta-love situation (and very slow beginning).
The novel opens up during humanity's deep space colonization efforts going wrong thanks to the Quill Effect - instant death when in contact with a formerly benign iridescent fungal/strand-like organism that spacers wore. As Sol shuts down and prevents all humans outside the system from returning home with the contagion, rumours begin to swirl of a survivor. Two decades later, and Thromberg Station is visited by a research vessel seeking that very survivor - Aaron Pardell, born with the inability to touch another human being without extreme pain. And he holds the secret to curing the Quill Effect.
The first half of the novel is spent on Thromberg station - we learn a <i>lot</i> about Thromberg's culture, people, and history and we're introduced to some of our key characters, including Pardell and his best friend, Malley. The second half is spent travelling to one specific planet and then attempting to fix everything going horribly wrong (because humans). Unfortunately, I think readers would've benefitted from at least 50 less pages at Thromberg and 50 more pages in the second half.
And no goddamn insta-love and pseudo-love triangle. I refuse to believe Czerneda managed to write herself into a corner so badly with the Quill's conceptualization that the only way things could have been resolved is Gail Smith and Aaron Pardell falling madly in love in a matter of days and their bond helping save everyone. She's a good writer so no excuses.
Gail Smith is the quintessential driven, smart, self-centered, seeking scientific glory, character. And she throws a lot of the away after she meets Aaron. I could've believed their relationship more if they had spent more than a few weeks together! It was honestly maddening how quickly those two fell in "love" (all the more tortured because they couldn't touch). Meanwhile Gail and Malley have a weird semi-sexual tension thing going on too... This book would've been a lot better without those elements, in my opinion.
Thankfully the writing, the rest of the plot, the world building, and secondary characters like Malley and Grant (who needed his own POV chapters I think) made up for it and had me reading all the way to the conclusion. Which was satisfying but could've used more pages to wrap things up in my opinion. The short story added to my edition, "The Franchise," was excellent as it follows some of the minor characters from Thromberg Station and I really recommend it.
Overall, this was a book I picked up completely on whim - had never heard of the author or title - and enjoyed the experience (except for the above ranting). I'll probably check out more of Czerneda's works because her worldbuilding and characters (for the most part) are fantastic.
The novel opens up during humanity's deep space colonization efforts going wrong thanks to the Quill Effect - instant death when in contact with a formerly benign iridescent fungal/strand-like organism that spacers wore. As Sol shuts down and prevents all humans outside the system from returning home with the contagion, rumours begin to swirl of a survivor. Two decades later, and Thromberg Station is visited by a research vessel seeking that very survivor - Aaron Pardell, born with the inability to touch another human being without extreme pain. And he holds the secret to curing the Quill Effect.
The first half of the novel is spent on Thromberg station - we learn a <i>lot</i> about Thromberg's culture, people, and history and we're introduced to some of our key characters, including Pardell and his best friend, Malley. The second half is spent travelling to one specific planet and then attempting to fix everything going horribly wrong (because humans). Unfortunately, I think readers would've benefitted from at least 50 less pages at Thromberg and 50 more pages in the second half.
And no goddamn insta-love and pseudo-love triangle. I refuse to believe Czerneda managed to write herself into a corner so badly with the Quill's conceptualization that the only way things could have been resolved is Gail Smith and Aaron Pardell falling madly in love in a matter of days and their bond helping save everyone. She's a good writer so no excuses.
Gail Smith is the quintessential driven, smart, self-centered, seeking scientific glory, character. And she throws a lot of the away after she meets Aaron. I could've believed their relationship more if they had spent more than a few weeks together! It was honestly maddening how quickly those two fell in "love" (all the more tortured because they couldn't touch). Meanwhile Gail and Malley have a weird semi-sexual tension thing going on too... This book would've been a lot better without those elements, in my opinion.
Thankfully the writing, the rest of the plot, the world building, and secondary characters like Malley and Grant (who needed his own POV chapters I think) made up for it and had me reading all the way to the conclusion. Which was satisfying but could've used more pages to wrap things up in my opinion. The short story added to my edition, "The Franchise," was excellent as it follows some of the minor characters from Thromberg Station and I really recommend it.
Overall, this was a book I picked up completely on whim - had never heard of the author or title - and enjoyed the experience (except for the above ranting). I'll probably check out more of Czerneda's works because her worldbuilding and characters (for the most part) are fantastic.