I only review books I’m really engaged by. So here’s a good one. A Star Curiously Singing resonates with me the way Asimov did. Its social issues are carefully considered, informing the sci-fi plot. In the grand tradition of science fiction, the story turns on societal worldview.

The Setting

I’ve read work where secular thinking becomes the enforced norm; work where Judeo-Christian-based thinking is the threat. Kerry Nietz gives us a glimpse into a world where some variant of Islamic thinking is the state-mandated perspective.

Of more immediate impact than this is the social state of main character Sandfly, who is a powerful slave controlled by an internal brain implant. Even Sandfly doesn’t consider himself really human. He’s an intellectual cyborg.

Sandfly’s circumstances could exist in any sci-fi work involving state control, but actually, the plot hinges on there being a non-Christian religious element to that control. It just wouldn’t work with secularism. Nietz gets my full endorsement for weaving the religious elements into an organic necessity, avoiding cliche or sermonizing.

The Plot

Sandfly is dispatched by his master to solve a mystery from space. He hates space. He also soon realizes very weird things are going on. He’s been given a robot to fix, but if he does, things will get life-threateningly messy.

And he’s not even able to complain. If he does, the built-in controls of the chip in his head will punish him with a hard shot to the pain sensors. Nonetheless, he has a few methods for dealing with his masters’ controls.

The Genre Elements

The sci-fi elements are great, the balance of technical-vs-vague is excellently handled. I am enthralled by Nietz’s spaceship, DarkTrench. The very ideas of the star curiously singing, of the datastream running through Sandfly’s head, build a strong, unique technological world.

In fact, the book’s structure itself reflects its storyworld. It’s written in first-person present, as if the reader is plugged into Sandfly’s data stream. I am so refreshed to see a revival of the grand tradition of author speaking to reader, done in a futuristic way, no less.

Perhaps my favourite expression in the book is the mathematical phrase: A-not-A-cubed. But you’ll have to read to find out what that means. All I can say is, I was riveted by it.

The spiritual element is slowly revealed, and again, very organic, very piquing, with a tug of the heart and a shiver down the spine. It is not overstated, but it is clear.

The Packaging

Much as I’m a big fan of Kirk DouPonce’s cover designs, this one was not on my favourites list. [edit--this cover design is actually by Jeff Gerke.] In fact, it nearly turned me off buying as I didn’t identify with or really “get” the story the image told. (My ranking fave MLP cover to date is worn by Kirk Outerbridge’s Eternity Falls–in that case I was strongly influenced on cover appeal.) After reading, I can see its suitability, though.

The Final Analysis

I sure hope this guy writes a sequel soon.

Where to find it:

At Marcher Lord Press

On Amazon.com

On Kindle

On Amazon.ca