Behind The Throne is a fun book.
I just wanted to get that out of the way, because it has a heck of a lot going on. There’s some sterling character work. There’s a world that slowly pans out from an initial tight focus to a sprawling, interplanetary scale. And there’s a story which blends byzantine politics, mystery, and heart-stopping action into a delicious narrative gumbo. The tl;dr is that it’s a cracking start to a series, and well worth a look.
The longer version of the story, starts with Hail. Hail is a gunrunner. Hail has a willingness to punch people who give her crap, and Hail has a streak of daring, and a wider streak of contrariness that make her a delight at parties. Unfortunately for Hail, she’s also on the run from a life she never wanted, and constraints she never needed.And that family runs an Empire. And has security teams that are very, very good at their jobs. Now the black sheep of the family is going to come home, whether she wants to or not.
Say what you will though, Hail is a lot of fun to follow around. Assuming you like people with a line in smart banter, that is. Or people not afraid to break out a can of whup-ass when they need it. And Hail backs those things with a gently simmering mixture of pride, familial affection, and long-buried responsibility. As an aside, whilst all of those things are fine, and they make the text a genuine pleasure to read, I want to take a moment and appreciate the way that Hail is also a portrait of grief. Dragged home because her family is under attack, she deals with deaths in a way that cloaks the rawness of her emotions in a facade of work, politics and occasional firefights. But the emotion, the essential humanity, is still there.
And the world. Ahhh, this is something. We’re swiftly embedded in conspiracies and palace politics, and the marble halls of a palace have an austere beauty that contrasts wonderfully with the more gritty mood of Hail. Then there’s the sense of a broader universe - hints of gangster havens. Civic squares filled with celebrations. An Empire which spans star systems, and aliens and other polities out beyond their writ. It’s a space filled with life and energy.It’s a universe, not just a backdrop, and one which is carrying its own history, and sense that something else is out there.
That said, we tend to focus on the palace, the politics, and the urban environs thereof; and those have a realism, and if not a grit, a kind of gently used patina that makes then feel like real places, human places. These aren’t start spaces filled with ideas, but living textures, filled with people going about their day. That for some of them, their day is figuring out a series of murders, or plotting to keep or overthrow a throne, or just trying to get home and see their kids. ..well, it’s all wrapping life and humanity around the characters.
I talked about Hail, but she’s surrounded by a cast of, if not thousands, more than a few. And one of the wonderful things about this book is their relationships With Hail, as the protagonist of course but with each other. Old wounds are dug up, new friendships made.A particular shout out to a sensitive portrayal of queer relationships, which were also a spot on look at long term partners and their foibles, and the deep affection they have for each other. In any event, Hail is the protagonist, and fills every page she’s on, but there are quieter, delightful moments stashed away too, from families to couples, from banter to cold silence. In all those case,s these are people that feel like people.
In the end, as I say, this is a fun book. It gives us believable characters, with relationships that you can care about, in a convincing, vivid sci-fi world, with a story filled with backstabbing, politics, buccaneering, grandstanding, and general adventure.
It is, again, a fun book. Go give it a read!
No comments:
Post a Comment