BookView Review

A fisherman discovers that the monsters he spent years hunting were never monsters at all in Bao’s immersive sci-fi tale. Vertan Zviedal joins the Coalition’s Special Expeditions hoping to escape poverty and build a better future for himself and his mother. The work promises wealth, purpose, and heroism: recovering ancient artifacts and fighting the mysterious “demons” threatening civilization. After surviving a catastrophic attack that kills his closest friend, Vertan learns a devastating truth. The demons are the Happians, a race of people hidden behind decades of propaganda. When he encounters Lym, a stranded Happian warrior connected to the tragedy that changed his life, the two embark on a dangerous journey that could expose the lies sustaining an interstellar war.

Bao populates his story with characters whose convictions are continually tested. From Vertan and Lym’s uneasy alliance to Gahn and Hiau’s conflicting loyalties, the novel finds complexity where lesser works might settle for certainty. The novel’s worldbuilding is expansive without losing sight of character, presenting a lived-in universe defined by competing histories, political interests, and cultural perspectives. Bao is especially effective at depicting the tension between personal conviction and institutional loyalty. Most impressive is the novel’s refusal to settle for simple answers. Rather than framing its conflict as a struggle between heroes and villains, the book examines how entire societies construct narratives about enemies, sacrifice, and progress. 

A thoughtful, ambitious, and emotionally grounded work of science fiction..

***