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A review by allisonwonderlandreads
Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis by Nicky Drayden
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This follow-up to Escaping Exodus shows the aftermath of its cataclysmic events a few years afterwards. It continues the intriguing weirdness of living in a ship that is actually a beast with all the accompanying biological ramifications (honestly, kind of gross ones sometimes). There are political wars to be won, some as continuations of issues from the first book but with added concerns like what to do with thousands of refugees from another ship. There are interesting conversations about egalitarianism and resisting constricting social traditions. There are conspiracies to uncover and careful socialization to unravel. I think one of the strengths of this book is creating a society with far different norms from any on Earth (restrictive, domineering matriarchy and standardized, tradition-bound polyamory) to show how any social mandate about gender and sexuality can be harmful even if it's not in a familiar form.
A strength of this book is the queer representation, including the poly relationships required in this society, where three throuples in specific configurations make a family unit. Before, it was background, but here it's front and center in the two main characters' lives, their family unit gifting both joy and drama throughout. There's also more time spent with a trans man side character since he is a husband in their family unit.
Something that bothered me with this book that I don't recall being an issue for me in the first is that dramatic happenings and bad decisions lead to a lot of harm done, but the emotional ramifications felt surface level. The plot moves so quickly that characters' reactions are lost in the milieu, and sometimes a shift in the plot called for an abrupt change to the characters' feelings or relationships that didn't feel organic to me. As an ace reader, I was also frustrated by how much the bonds between characters were based in attraction or sex without convincing (to me) work done on the emotional connection. This lent itself to some bizarre choices about when and where to have sex and who to hurt in the process (content warning for cheating). It left me unbalanced and uninvested, but someone who's wired differently might not be concerned since that's a purely personal reaction.
***mild spoilers from Escaping Exodus follow. Proceed with caution.***
One of my biggest complaints is the shift in POVs from the first book, largely because Adalla is downgraded from an intriguing and pivotal character with her own plot to a background character who works too much and mostly doesn't engage with any of the major happenings of the plot on a macro or micro scale. The addition of Doka's POV in her stead was welcome generally speaking but not as a replacement. It seemed like such a disservice to Adalla that she is sanded down to blandness, losing her edges, opinions, and vigor from before. Her behavior is a catalyst for Seske in some ways, and she is the source of much of Seske's angst and guilt, but she lacks her own vitality.
This was a disappointing conclusion to the duology for me, and a rushed ending left things on an unsatisfying note.
A strength of this book is the queer representation, including the poly relationships required in this society, where three throuples in specific configurations make a family unit. Before, it was background, but here it's front and center in the two main characters' lives, their family unit gifting both joy and drama throughout. There's also more time spent with a trans man side character since he is a husband in their family unit.
Something that bothered me with this book that I don't recall being an issue for me in the first is that dramatic happenings and bad decisions lead to a lot of harm done, but the emotional ramifications felt surface level. The plot moves so quickly that characters' reactions are lost in the milieu, and sometimes a shift in the plot called for an abrupt change to the characters' feelings or relationships that didn't feel organic to me. As an ace reader, I was also frustrated by how much the bonds between characters were based in attraction or sex without convincing (to me) work done on the emotional connection. This lent itself to some bizarre choices about when and where to have sex and who to hurt in the process (content warning for cheating). It left me unbalanced and uninvested, but someone who's wired differently might not be concerned since that's a purely personal reaction.
***mild spoilers from Escaping Exodus follow. Proceed with caution.***
One of my biggest complaints is the shift in POVs from the first book, largely because Adalla is downgraded from an intriguing and pivotal character with her own plot to a background character who works too much and mostly doesn't engage with any of the major happenings of the plot on a macro or micro scale. The addition of Doka's POV in her stead was welcome generally speaking but not as a replacement. It seemed like such a disservice to Adalla that she is sanded down to blandness, losing her edges, opinions, and vigor from before. Her behavior is a catalyst for Seske in some ways, and she is the source of much of Seske's angst and guilt, but she lacks her own vitality.
This was a disappointing conclusion to the duology for me, and a rushed ending left things on an unsatisfying note.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Body horror
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Abortion, Sexual content, Animal death, and Genocide
Minor: Classism, Excrement, War, Vomit, Murder, and Xenophobia