This book has received an enormous amount of press (at least I’ve seen a lot) and accolades for a first novel, so I went in expecting to really love it. There is a lot to like about this book, but I found some aspects of it less convincing.
This book is set in a universe (possibly even our universe) that has bubbled off smaller universes at its growing edge. these universes are covered by “rinds,” (which is a great term) that are barriers where laws of physics and nature can change; not all life forms can inhabit all universes. This is a cool premise and it is used effectively as a plot device during the story. The main character, Caiden, is a boy of 14 who works as a livestock handler with his father on a small planet. But all of their livestock have died, and then something horrible happens.
I don’t think its a spoiler (given that it is obvious from all the reviews and press) that Caiden goes out to seek revenge for the deaths of his family and on his planet. And yet, I think this is probably my biggest issue with the first third or so of the book… the kid just feels underdeveloped and headstrong…. and only writing that just now do I realize that of course a 14 year old is going to act that way. I guess it just felt out of place that this kid is all of a sudden on a space ship with adults, and there was something that just felt wrong about it. On one hand, the adults assume that the ship is his (even though he just stumbled into it) which shows their honor, but on the other hand, it just felt unconvincing that this group of … well it isn’t ever really clear who they are, but a group of “free lancers” don’t just take the ship for themselves.
The rest of the book involves advanced alien tech, and so many species that I had a hard time keeping up. There is a villain… who turns out to be an ally against an even larger villain… maybe… and wheels within wheels. I liked the setting, I liked how the different characters had different voices and felt different, but I just couldn’t ever get past some of what I felt were unrealistic depictions of Caiden and his new found family.
I found myself reading for story and plot rather than craft so I didn’t really notice much about the craft aspects of this one. That’s good and bad. Good, because it means the story engaged me and I cared about the characters, but bad because I didn’t take away as much as I probably could have from this one. There is a sequel, and I am actually quite interested in picking that up when it comes out later this year. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this isn’t a 5-star book in my mind, but its a strong 4-star.