Cascade Failure

, #1

eBook, 412 pages

English language

Published March 19, 2024 by Tor Books.

ASIN:
B0C1X8ML1B
(3 reviews)

There are only three real powers in the Spiral: the corporate power of the Trust versus the Union's labor's leverage. Between them the Guild tries to keep everyone's hands above the table. It ain't easy.

Branded a Guild deserter, Jal "accidentally" lands a ride on a Guild ship. Helmed by an AI, with a ship's engineer/medic who doesn't see much of a difference between the two jobs, and a "don't make me shoot you" XO, the Guild crew of the Ambit is a little . . . different.

They're also in over their heads. Responding to a distress call from an abandoned planet, they find a mass grave, and a live programmer who knows how it happened. The Trust has plans. This isn't the first dead planet, and it's not going to be the last.

Unless the crew of the Ambit can stop it.

2 editions

A Solid Character Driven Story

This story is carried by its characters. The plot is pretty interesting, which augments the enjoyability, but the focus is entirely on the main crew. Their chemistry and interactions are quite good. There's a lot of found family trope elements, and if that is your jam, you're going to adore this book.

I was intending to give this a full 5/5 ranking, but after about the 60% mark is when I started binge reading it, and I have to say--this isn't a book that stands up well to rapid binge reading. A lot of the dialogue is funny, but it's "quippy one-liners" funny and after hours of solid reading, it began to grate on me more than amuse me. The book started to feel a bit like an action blockbuster movie made by Marvel. There was a little too much repetition on certain things--key phrases and memories, like flashbacks in …

Not for me

Content warning Here are the problems:

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