A well-developed cast enriches this sublimely constructed futuristic world.
In Searle’s SF debut, salvagers in the mid-23rd century seek a dangerous artifact.
Brothers David and Jason and their female friend Sam comprise the salvaging squad. They do supply runs for the Village, which lies underneath the domed city of New Toronto; toxic superstorms rage outside the protective barrier. The members of trio are mum about their pasts—eight years ago, they escaped being experimented upon by the United Earth Federation, and now Jason and Sam have psychic abilities. Jason, however, can’t control his, and he suppresses them with regular doses of the drug Osmium. Untreated, he hears the voice of the Abaddon Beacon, an alien obelisk that sat in the labs with the three when they were still test subjects. As Jason’s connection to the Beacon hurts him as well as others, the salvagers vow to retrieve the artifact, which promises Jason answers to his “psychic affliction.” That’s just one reason to brave the surface of New Toronto, where they’re classified as “Undocs”; the other is to salvage parts to repair their damaged 14-foot robot, the true muscle in the Village’s defense. Meanwhile, the ongoing Solar War may be nearing an end, with the very real possibility that the UEF will surrender to the Solar Empire. Cyborg Anne Oakfield, who has ties to the Village and the government’s experiments, has another idea: She sets out to kill the nefarious EmperorHadrian Mariko of the Solar Empire. All the while, the Nanophage, a plague of corrupted Nanites that infect humans and bots alike, threatens everyone.
Searle’s extensive worldbuilding turns this tale into a richly detailed epic; backstories include Anne’s murky past; particulars on Julian Yamamoto, the Village’s governor and founder; and several nods to the Great War from a century ago. The three protagonists—tortured, sympathetic Jason; fiercely loyal David, whose reason for also being in the lab is eventually revealed; and Sam, who’s refined her psionic skills—are superbly rendered. They lead an indelible cast, highlighted by the unshakable Anne, another few notable Oakfields, and the diabolical Emperor and his “augmented” Imperial legionnaires. While there are some solid action sequences, this story relies more on the buildup of tension as various groups of people come into conflict. Perpetual menaces abound as the war continues, the Abaddon Beacon’s voice proves merciless, and the Nanophage-infected victims amass in zombie-like hordes. Throughout the narrative there are signs of familiar tech, from cybernetic implants and parts (like Anne’s “cyber-eyes”) to a variety of vehicles including an airbus and a Jetbike. While these are fun details, it’s just as entertaining to watch characters get by without fantastical tech at their disposal (Jason, David, and Sam must make a hefty jump sans jetpacks and confront bulky foes in New Toronto with no assistance from their own gigantic robot). It’s hard to imagine where the salvaging trio might go next—which makes a sequel all the more appealing.
A well-developed cast enriches this sublimely constructed futuristic world.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781069265319
Page Count: 414
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ambitious but plodding space odyssey.
Having survived a disastrous deep space mission in 2038, three asteroid miners plan a return to their abandoned ship to save two colleagues who were left behind.
Though bankrolled through a crooked money laundering scheme, their original project promised to put in place a program to reduce the CO2 levels on Earth, ease global warming, and pave the way for the future. The rescue mission, itself unsanctioned, doesn't have a much better chance of succeeding. All manner of technical mishaps, unplanned-for dangers, and cutthroat competition for the precious resources from the asteroid await the three miners. One of them has cancer. The international community opposes the mission, with China, Russia, and the United States sending questionable "observers" to the new space station that gets built north of the moon for the expedition. And then there is Space Titan Jack Macy, a rogue billionaire threatening to grab the riches. (As one character says, "It's a free universe.") Suarez's basic story is a good one, with tense moments, cool robot surrogates, and virtual reality visions. But too much of the novel consists of long, sometimes bloated stretches of technical description, discussions of newfangled financing for "off-world" projects, and at least one unneeded backstory. So little actually happens that fixing the station's faulty plumbing becomes a significant plot point. For those who want to know everything about "silicon photovoltaics" and "orthostatic intolerance," Suarez's latest SF saga will be right up their alley. But for those itching for less talk and more action, the book's many pages of setup become wearing.
An ambitious but plodding space odyssey.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-18363-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Elegiac and elliptical, this slim novel is a sobering read.
Six astronauts on a space station orbit the planet over the course of a single Earth day.
Two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth, a space station goes round and round. Over the course of 24 hours, the astronauts inside experience sunrise and sunset 16 times. Though they're supposed to keep their schedules in tune with a normal “daily” routine, they exist in a dream-like liminal space, weightless, out of time, captivated and astonished by the “ringing singing lightness” of the globe always in view. “What would it be to lose this?” is the question that spurs Harvey’s nimble swoops and dives into the minds of the six astronauts (as well as a few of the earthbound characters, past and present). There are gentle eddies of plot: The Japanese astronaut, Chie, has just received word that her elderly mother has died; six other astronauts are currently on their way to a moon landing; a “super-typhoon” barrels toward the Philippines; one of the two cosmonauts, Anton, has discovered a lump on his neck. But overall this book is a meditation, zealously lyrical, about the profundity and precarity of our imperiled planet. It’s surely difficult to write a book in which the main character is a giant rock in space—and the book can feel ponderous at times, especially in the middle—but Harvey’s deliberate slowed-down time and repetitions are entirely the point. Like the astronauts, we are forced to meditate on the notion that “not only are we on the sidelines of the universe but that it’s…a universe of sidelines, that there is no centre.” Is this a crisis or an opportunity? Harvey treats this question as both a narrative and an existential dilemma.
Elegiac and elliptical, this slim novel is a sobering read.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780802161543
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Grove
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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