The last few books I read this month all followed the same pattern: interesting, nuanced characters out of the gate and some engaging world-building had me burning through the first 100-150 pages. But once the plot was really underway, everything flattened out; all those interesting details got left behind and I was just along for the ride. What I thought were going to be solid 4-star reads all petered out and dropped me off somewhere in 3-star land. Ocean’s Godori completely flipped that script, but it took off a bit late and didn’t finish quite strong enough to completely escape the three-star orbit.
There’s a lot to like here, and I really appreciate the kind of sci-fi that doesn’t ease you into the author’s world with any expository hand-holding, just dropping breadcrumbs here and there and letting you fill in the gaps while the story moves forward. But whether it’s my fault or the author’s, after finishing Ocean’s Godori I’m still trying to fill those gaps in and get a clear picture for how the world works.
Some of my confusion is about the nitty-gritty: how do spaceship dogfight tactics hinge on “aerobraking” and “traction” when they’re flying between planets? Don’t get me wrong, I love the drift racing visuals, and they totally fit the mood of the story. But don’t we at least need to hand-wave a little and re-skin that with lateral thrusters or something? Or did I miss a beat, and these ships are all descending into the atmosphere to duke it out? I honestly don’t know.
Other gaps feel more important to the narrative and the setting. The Alliance, for example, is apparently a Korean national military organization. But what is everyone else on Earth doing? There are colonies on Mercury, Venus, and Mars, but where are the Chinese, the Europeans, the Russians, the Americans? If there’s been some major geopolitical re-alignment and Korea is the new superpower throughout the solar system, cool – but I don’t think anything like that is ever alluded to. (Is it?)
Lingering confusion about the bigger picture aside, I’m kind of in the same place when it comes to the characters themselves. Everyone’s carrying a hefty dose of trauma around (and doing their best to repress it), so there’s depth in that respect. But although I feel like I have a great picture of what all the main characters are running from, I’m still really in the dark as to what drives them forward. Who do they want to be, and where are they trying to get to?
All of this adds up to a well-crafted atmosphere and mood: Akira meets Cowboy Bebop, with a little bit of “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” thrown in for good measure. But with all those loose ends floating around, I don’t feel like I have enough grasp on the world or the characters for things to ultimately gel into a great story. The action ramped up a little late and the book ends with most of its balls still up in the air, but I’m not in a hurry to put the sequel on my reading list. We’ll see how long it sticks with me…
Leave a Reply