Michael R. Johnston

Johnston, Michael R. The Widening Gyre. Remembrance War No. 1. Flame Tree Press, 2019.
With characters of several cultural origins and gender orientations, Michael R. Johnston’s debut novel, The Widening Gyre, gets high marks for diversity, but it stays faithful to the tropes of military science fiction. Protagonist Tajen Hunt is a veteran space captain who is drawn back into a war he thought he had left behind. Humanity was almost wiped out in its early days of interstellar exploration and has been folded into the Zhen Empire, where human beings survive as second-class citizens. When Tajen rescues another trading ship from space pirates, they are thrown into a quest to return to Earth. The story is character-driven without being too gushy. And because he teaches high school English, I will forgive Johnston his pretentious titles borrowed from “The Second Coming.” 4 stars.… (lisätietoja)

I can't say I really enjoyed this very much even though I read through to the end. If I had know this was the start of a series I would have given up on it early.

The premise is good. Some 800 years have passed since a remnant of humanity was found in a giant spaceship by the Zhan, some sort of lizard creatures with a space empire. Humans are given a planet and some other concessions but are pretty much a downtrodden race. As are several other races subjected by the Zhan. Some humans believe that their home world, Earth, is out there somewhere, waiting for them to return. The actually is more sinister than that.

The story is told in first person by our hero, Tejan Hunt. Hunt is a former Hero of the Empire (one of few humans to rise so far in the Zahn military) but now disgraced. He operates a one-man heavily armed freighter. Early on he rescues a human crewed ship from space pirates. With them he sets off on a mission to find Earth using clues left behind by his murdered brother.

So there's a lot of plot and a lot of action. Really, too much action. With barely time to catch their breath, Hunt and his crew are fighting one space battle after another. In between battles they engage in dirt side adventures like trying to rob a heavily armed gangster's house to pay for ship repairs. Within all that action, Hunt engages in a high school romance with one of his crew members and tries to make up with his highly resourceful teenaged orphaned niece.

The story doesn't so much come to an end as stop to catch its breath. With about 30 pages to go I realized the story wasn't going to be resolved satisfactorily. And it wasn't. I really didn't care enough about these people to want to read another story about them.

The author also had some problems with keeping his technology straight. The ships have a 'chain drive' which helps them travel faster than light for short trips within a solar system and a 'jump drive' for FTL travel between stars. After setting up the premise that you can't use the jump drive within a solar system, he several times seems to confuse the use of the jump and chain drives. He also writes about NeuroNet (no trademark) technology which is apparently computer implants which allow one to communicate with others and the 'slipnet', some sort of FTL internet. Toward the end of the story Hunt discovers all sort of magical powers in his NeuroNet which are just too convenient to the story.… (lisätietoja)

Although humans are second class citizens in the Zhen Empire, Tajen Hunt managed to work his way up through the military and become a Hero of the Empire. He is the only human to have received this honor. He has retired due to a terrible incident in which many lives were lost. He is now a freighter captain.

When Tajen gets word that he must return home due to his brother's death, he has no idea what he is about to walk into. His brother was part of a movement to find Earth and in his will he asks that Tajen continue his quest. Tajen, his crew and his estranged niece take on this challenge.

I really enjoyed this book. The world building is well done and the science and characters are interesting and entertaining. If you like hard sci-fi and/or space opera, I recommend this book.… (lisätietoja)