Harare Review of Books

420 pages.

First published February 13, 2024 (CamCat Publishing)

SF.

What I loved: the amazing world-building.
What I loved less: the world-building was so much stronger than the story.

This is an enjoyable SF novel about various communities on a planet in the future/in an alternate universe where humanity co-exists with the natives of a planet they landed on centuries ago. This coexistence and their defense depend on the hiddenness and isolation of their realm, Angolin, particularly against a war-like people who now want to ally themselves with rebellious elements in Angolin.

The story centres on Dharmen Tate, the book’s gay protagonist, and his family and friends. I enjoyed how Tate was fleshed out, but felt on the whole that the story was overwritten around his homosexuality, and did not feel at all natural. However, Tate is located in a society that’s as homophobic as current human society, and it is wholly necessary to explore that conflict, as the author did. I don’t know where the balance should lie, but I felt that it was perhaps not achieved here.

However, this novel is also deeply military SF, and here Tate is a wonderful protagonist: the son of a military hero, an immature young leader learning to lead, and a clever strategist. As a fan of mil-SF, I thoroughly enjoyed these aspects of the book, and all of the imagined tech. Interestingly, the other well-written characters in the book are the military commanders; the military SF of the book is great, and the personal relationships less so.

So, a mixed experience; but enjoyable on the whole. I’d love to see an exploration of the rights of the planet’s natives against the human invaders in future books, as this book was very pro-human—the colonisers.

Thank you very much to CamCat Books and to Edelweiss for early access.