First off, even though this a big story with a lot of world-building behind it, it never info-dump and never feels overwhelming. Coatsworth keeps the story well-balanced and well-paced, using flashbacks and memories to fill in gaps that tantalize rather than frustrate. What we are looking at here is a not-too-distant future where Earth is on the verge of collapse, leaving humanity to take to the stars in 'living' ships.
For a story that deals with a lot of heavy social themes (politics, religion, immigration, capitalism,etc.), it never feels heavy. Instead, this is a story where things just are, where people are allowed to just be, without making a big deal out of it. In fact, you'll come away from it thinking far more about the ship-mind, station-mind, and world-mind than you will the character's gender, sexuality, faith, or politics . . . and that's precisely how it should be.
Like so many of the golden age science fiction authors, Coatsworth tells his story in pieces, separating the book into 3 interconnected stories, each of which moves the overall narrative ahead by decades. It makes for an interesting read, with the character in each segment getting just enough page-time to develop and make themselves memorable, while injecting new life into the story along the way. Where it differs from those golden age authors, though, is in its resigned pessimism regarding humanity. This is not a story of an enlightened people taking the best of themselves to a new Utopia, it is a story of humanity transplanting its struggles to somewhere new, without seeming to have learned anything in the process. Don't get me wrong, there is hope to be found within it, but as a race we're going to have to earn it.
ebook, 284 pages
Expected publication: October 10th 2017 by DSP Publications
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for review consideration. This does not in any way affect the honesty or sincerity of my review.
