Utunu

I am one of the judges of team Space Girls for the SPSFC4 contest. This review is my personal opinion. Officially, it is still in the running for the contest, pending any official team announcements.

Status: Safe!
Read: 100%

Now that the official announcement is public, I am now greenlit to write my review! Even if I had not been assigned to read this book, from the cover alone, I probably would have ended up reading it. Really, I wish to send kudos to the artist, the cover is GOREGOUS!

It seems show more like the author was born in Britain and resides in Texas, so we get a strange mesh of occasional US idioms intertwined with British spelling. This was not an issue for me at all, I have read enough books by New Zealand authors to feel pretty comfortable with the writing style.

This is a book that combines several genres in one. It seems like the author is from a videogame job background, so you do get vibes there is a strong Progression Fantasy element to it, maybe to a small degree even LitRPG since abilities are classified by type and Tier range. Combine it with queer polyamorous Romance, Post Apocalyptic, Space colonization and Coming of Age, and you get quite a surprising mixture of genres that work quite well together.

One of the aspects of the book I truly enjoyed was the collectivist and good natured culture of the humanoid Hyenas and Fennec crash survivors. After reading so many Grimdark books where thugs terrorize everyone and live like kings, it was quite refreshing to have a story where crime is not tolerated and the worst punishment someone can endure is exile. Which, given a good chunk of the novel happens in a desolate desert planet with minimal water deposits would equal certain death.

While the book never confirms (nor denies) it, I am already suspecting the immense history and technology loss of the 1st generation that ended up in planet Sands was deliberate. I also believe a colony ship with 100 Tier IV and V psychics did not just conveniently crash against an asteroid right before it reached one of the 3 intended inhabitable planets it was tasked to populate. Could these folk be slaves to an evil empire and intended to harvest planet goods for an evil overlord? Was the memory swipe done in the hopes the survivors enjoyed true peace without relying on psychic abilities?

The current story happens around 100 years after the initial crash and 75 years after survivors begin a sibling enclave in the much more inhabitable jungle planet Verdant. Both colonies have equal amounts of Hyenas and Fennecs living together in complete harmony and only have a shuttle visit the sands planet whenever both planets are in sufficient conjunction.

Most of the story focuses on a teenage Fennec named Bori whose Psionic teleportation abilities have awakened recently and his mother (who is a low level Sniffing Psionic) is encouraging him to practice his skill so that he joins the Verdant colony. There is just one problem: Bori doesn't want to leave his love interest Tuther behind or his best friend, a Hyena with an inclination for science named Samna.

So we spend a gigantic portion of the book where the talented protagonist only wants to practice and hone his teleportation skill among the privacy of his friends and pretends to be mediocre in town in the hopes the shuttle team won't choose him. Tuther was also born Psionic, with the abilities to Mend and alter minds (for good and bad), Hide his own skill (that he's trying to hone so that he sabotages Bori's test when the shuttle team arrives) and can also begin seeing the auras of Psionic fennecs and determine their abilities and skill level with increased accuracy as the story advances. I quite enjoyed the relationship being formed by the 3 friends, and how Samna feels 'left out' because hyenas aren't born with psychic abilities. The romance aspect of this novel was one of the aspects I enjoyed the most.

On occasion, the normal dialogue of the book switches from normal to a kind of computer code like speech with brackets whenever psychic characters are telepathically communicating with each other. Some readers will find this jarring, it was ok with me. Takes some time getting used to it.

I did have some issues with the book that isn't related to my spoilery theories of the truth behind the space ship crash. The reason why Sands is still being inhabited despite the harsh climate is because Verdant lacks the metal mineral deposits to build more modular housing and other devices. We also discover for odd reasons, Psionics are never born on Verdant (which might have something to do with the jungle planet's more electromagnetically charged atmosphere).

It did seem confusing for me that if the colonies are in such desperate need for birthing Psionics (it seems to be inheritable and 'turns on' with the right environment), they'd purposely have their shuttle teams birthing kids left & right on Sands, maybe staying for an entire year during a conjunction. And only return to Verdant to fetch for constructed building materials.

Whether there is some kind of 'brain fog' that is purposely keeping the community ignorant as I am suspecting, it did surprise me that nobody has ever thought of inventing the wheel. Like quite literally, the desert colony can clone lambs, but nobody has a wagon to transport minerals, recreate the modular home building machine so that Verdant shuttles can prioritize bringing other products and no solar panels either. Heck, nobody knows what a bike is! It's honestly quite bizarre and I really hope the sequel explains this further.

Alongside those quips, I did feel the middle of the book was spending too much time having Bori unwanting to be selected and his conversations with his friends. It could have been tightened just a little bit more to emulate better the faster beginning and more hectic ending. However, this didn't reduce how much I enjoyed spending time with all 3 characters, learning more about their Psionic abilities and unraveling the secrets about what really happened 100 years ago.

I am sooooo definitely wanting to read book 2 whenever it comes out and am voting Yes for this book to continue in the competition.

4.5 stars! show less

As if the author wasn't a suspiciously talented magician with words already, the second installment took the characters of 'Far Flung' and took them to new heights of relatability. The plot dragged me along its ups and downs even more intensely than before (isn't a book supposed to make your vision blurry only once at the end, not three or four times at arbitrary occasions?!) and, luckily for my sanity, concluded in a cliffhanger not as dreadful as the first. It provided all the answers I show more was hoping for and uncovered more of the intricate sci-fi world that feels just right: exactly the right amount of tech and (scientific and psionic) mystery to fit together neat and plausible.

I feel ready and eager for the last part of the trilogy, whenever it comes. show less

After having my emotions flung around like flimsy little toys by the author's first book, Rafts, I approached this novel with anxious caution, expecting hidden hints or foreshadowing between every other line. However, this story is quite different and deserves to be looked at with a fresh perspective.

The narrative takes its time to develop the connection between the three protagonists and introduces the reader to an intriguing world. It's only near the end of the 300 pages that a (somewhat show more predictable) conflict errupts, leaving readers eager for a continuation. Unlike many other sci-fi stories, this one strikes a perfect balance between providing enough technical detail to satisfy my curiosity while remaining accessible to non-technical readers. This makes it an ideal read for any sci-fi-loving fennec and hyena enthusiast.

I already can't help but speculae about how the story of Tuther, Bori, and Samna will continue. show less