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A review by jdhacker
Zelde M'Tana by F.M. Busby
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
3.5
More pulpy scifi from my aunt's house. Also my first F.M. Busby. I realize now I was supposed to read the Rissa Kerguelen stories first (which I also have) as apparently this character features in them at some point later in life and this is somewhat of a prequel. However, this works as a jumping off point too, as we're getting a solid life story here that doesn't seem to require any prior knowledge, Busby is doing a good job of making the world feel 'lived in' without much exposition.
This is interesting reading from a current time lense...Busby was a good friend and contemporary of Heinlein, as well as being very heavily influenced by and sitting firmly in the pulp world. That will give you some idea of what you're in for. We have a protagonist that you're going want to like, she's strong, she's female, she's lgbtqia+, she's a poc that embraces aspects of her appearance...but she's also a pretty terrible person. Though of course this is grounded in the idea that her life has also been pretty terrible, and as know, hurt people hurt people. I've seen quite a bit of criticism of those less than savory aspects of her character, other characters, and Busby's world in general. While I get where its coming from in modern readers, I also think I understand where somewhat of a disconnect is occurring.
Many of us are used to the Star Wars era of Space Opera. Because this is definitely not crunchy, hard, scifi. And in that Star Wars-esque Space Opera, we see a lot of classic tropes of good versus evil, heroes' journey, fable and fairy tale. And none of that is here. This future is a pretty goddamned bleak one. But, unlike something modern like the Expanse, we get only brief glimpses into how bad the world itself really is...Busby is good about showing, not telling, but in this case he 'shows' very minimally. A few brief looks at average conditions on earth and the shantytown on a colony world. Most of setting that's described and explored feels more like a gleaming star trek future, and less like an Alien hellscape. Yet, what we see about actual *people* from rape, slavery, mutinees leading to desperate escapes to other questionable conditions, widespread homelessness, clearly abusive institutions, its definitely not the sort of gleaming future we're used to seeing in space opera. I personally find the juxtaposition of setting to action and behaviors of characters really interesting rather than offputting. Its also fast paced and packed with action as one might expect from pulp era space opera.
I think as long as you go into the story knowing what to expect, and are willing to look at it through a broader lense, there's a lot to enjoy and to find of interest here.
This is interesting reading from a current time lense...Busby was a good friend and contemporary of Heinlein, as well as being very heavily influenced by and sitting firmly in the pulp world. That will give you some idea of what you're in for. We have a protagonist that you're going want to like, she's strong, she's female, she's lgbtqia+, she's a poc that embraces aspects of her appearance...but she's also a pretty terrible person. Though of course this is grounded in the idea that her life has also been pretty terrible, and as know, hurt people hurt people. I've seen quite a bit of criticism of those less than savory aspects of her character, other characters, and Busby's world in general. While I get where its coming from in modern readers, I also think I understand where somewhat of a disconnect is occurring.
Many of us are used to the Star Wars era of Space Opera. Because this is definitely not crunchy, hard, scifi. And in that Star Wars-esque Space Opera, we see a lot of classic tropes of good versus evil, heroes' journey, fable and fairy tale. And none of that is here. This future is a pretty goddamned bleak one. But, unlike something modern like the Expanse, we get only brief glimpses into how bad the world itself really is...Busby is good about showing, not telling, but in this case he 'shows' very minimally. A few brief looks at average conditions on earth and the shantytown on a colony world. Most of setting that's described and explored feels more like a gleaming star trek future, and less like an Alien hellscape. Yet, what we see about actual *people* from rape, slavery, mutinees leading to desperate escapes to other questionable conditions, widespread homelessness, clearly abusive institutions, its definitely not the sort of gleaming future we're used to seeing in space opera. I personally find the juxtaposition of setting to action and behaviors of characters really interesting rather than offputting. Its also fast paced and packed with action as one might expect from pulp era space opera.
I think as long as you go into the story knowing what to expect, and are willing to look at it through a broader lense, there's a lot to enjoy and to find of interest here.