Review of 'The Widening Gyre (Fiction Without Frontiers)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I’m not sure how I stumbled across The Widening Gyre, but the novel was inspired by a discussion the author had during a Modern Irish Literature course, when he wondered how one might translate the British imperial fuckery in Ireland to a science-fiction context.
The book lays that concept a little thick and with a few overly-familiar tropes, but I’ve read plenty of bad science fiction before and this is not bad science fiction, even for a debut novel. As Tom Whitmore put it for Locus, “What makes the book work is the characters. They all have interesting flaws, strengths, short-sightedness, and wisdom: they’re well rounded enough that I really came away liking them, even some of the villains.” It’s a pulpy but entertaining read about realising that empires are never benign and the power we all have to Make a Difference™.
To steal the author’s description directly …
I’m not sure how I stumbled across The Widening Gyre, but the novel was inspired by a discussion the author had during a Modern Irish Literature course, when he wondered how one might translate the British imperial fuckery in Ireland to a science-fiction context.
The book lays that concept a little thick and with a few overly-familiar tropes, but I’ve read plenty of bad science fiction before and this is not bad science fiction, even for a debut novel. As Tom Whitmore put it for Locus, “What makes the book work is the characters. They all have interesting flaws, strengths, short-sightedness, and wisdom: they’re well rounded enough that I really came away liking them, even some of the villains.” It’s a pulpy but entertaining read about realising that empires are never benign and the power we all have to Make a Difference™.
To steal the author’s description directly from an interview:
Once a war hero of the Zhen Empire, Tajen Hunt has become a freelance starship pilot, scrabbling for a living on the fringes of the Empire. When his estranged brother is murdered, Tajen discovers that he was killed by Imperial agents. Betrayed by the Empire he used to serve, Tajen gathers a crew and sets out to finish his brother’s quest — to find the long-lost human homeworld, Earth. What they discover will shatter 800 years of peace in the Empire, and start a war that could be the end of the human race.
That’s the plot, anyway. But it’s really about self-creation, and re-creation. It’s about building a family to replace the one you lost, and reclaiming yourself from bitterness and the hole you’ve dug yourself into. It’s about healing, both yourself and your people.
And I have to quote this great review from Goodreads, which included:
It reminds me of Star Wars without the Jedi. Like if everything just followed around a gay Han Solo, as he battled his way from one sticky situation to the next, always with a clever response to the situation. Anyone who prefers the X‑wing scenes from Star Wars to the Jedi stuff, should check this one out.
The Widening Gyre is excellent in its queer representation — the protagonist is a Hero of the Empire but not a broad-strokes-blunt-edges, kinda problematic James T Kirk type. After becoming disillusioned with his warrior role he’s more of a Mal Reynolds ship captain, just getting on with moving stuff from planet A to planet B and minding his own business. But he happens to be gay; it’s not the defining aspect of his personality. And his love interest Liam is an engineer and is stacked, capable of looking after himself; neither of them is camp or effeminate in some way. (The author’s mental casting has Nathan Fillion or Anson Mount for protagonist Tajen and Ryan Reynolds for Liam, with Ming-Na Wen for Tajen’s second-in-command.) I shouldn’t still be surprised by this; I guess the ubiquity of 1980s’ homophobia and the expectation of something unmanly about being a queer man is still festering inside me. I should probably do something about that.
The Widening Gyre is the first in a trilogy; I’ve not yet read number 2 ([b:The Blood-Dimmed Tide|44234468|The Blood-Dimmed Tide (The Remembrance War #2)|Michael R. Johnston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580226148l/44234468.SY75.jpg|68764748]), which came out last year, and the final instalment is due out in 2022.
CN: racism, genocide, death of a parent/sibling, revolution