Reviews

[SPOILER] Review of the Red Space Series by David Wellington (Paradise 1, Revenant X, Erebus 13) CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS I am a big fan of this series and enjoyed it quite a lot. To the degree that I waited six months in anticipation for the last book in the series, Erebus-13, to be published and purchased it on its release day. After completing this series, I can say that it was well written, contained well fleshed out characters, and gave great world building to its semi-near-future setting. Paradise 1 After the introductory opening to the novel, which engages through a quest of discovery for what is happening to the distressed colony on the planet Paradise 1, we are immediately thrust into a strong action environment. High stakes, no appetite for mistakes, all in a quest for survival after the protagonist’s starship is struck while in orbit around the planet. Almost all of this first book takes place in orbit around Paradise 1, which was quite surprising to me during my read. As I got progressed and the pages passed by, I kept wondering when they would make the decent, to possible relative safety. It was a good feeling and motivator as I read to see my progress through the length of the book and comparing it to the characters progress in their quest for survival and information. There is good character development for the small cast and plenty of introspection. I did enjoy the constant action and suspense that the story provided. I would rate this book a 10/10, I enjoyed it, thought it was well written, and would recommend to a friend. Revenant X The second book picks up directly after the first, with the characters finding the seemingly empty colony on the planet’s surface. There is a unique take on the sort of zombie archetype which fits well into the narrative. One thing I did appreciate was the consistency of the characters state of affairs. Petrova suffers an injury to her hand and this injury doesn’t disappear into the background. There are constant reminders to her condition from how she interacts with the environment. It makes the injury feel real in a way I have not seen in many stories because there are actual stakes and decisions that are made based on it. It plays a role in the story and helps the reader to feel very immersed in the journey with the characters. Zhang is also a part of this immersion, his difficulty with high gravity due to living on small inhabited moons feels like a real struggle. The two other major aspects to the second book which I greatly enjoyed was the interaction between Petrova and the Basilisk and the irredeemably evil disposition of the antagonist entity. It gave me a true feeling of uneasiness from its nature, which I enjoyed in the context of the story. Petrova’s communication with the Basilisk is exciting to read about and does well to illustrate the sentiment of negotiating with an angelic type being. I would rate this book a 10/10, I enjoyed it, thought it was well written, and would recommend to a friend. Erebus 13 This book was a fantastic finale to the trilogy and neatly wrapped up the series. Essentially all the questions that the narrative asks through the first two books are answered in some way or another. It also finds a way to continue to raise the stakes and use its in-universe logic to solve problems. While I think that the ultimate goal of the narrative was executed well, this book loses a point for me because there were parts of the end I didn’t like. This is purely a matter of personal taste and though I disliked it I cannot deny that it fulfilled a strong narrative and character ending. In particular there did not seem to be any particular reason that Petrova had to die. Additionally, I thought it was flawed for Zhang to deviate from his consistent morality merely for convenience. And the main antagonist of the first two books, while greatly overshadowed in the third, suffered no consequences whatsoever for any action. Parker’s sacrifice to kill the evil aliens was good though, a worthy character death, even if the others were less so. I would rate this book an 8/10, I enjoyed it, except for the ending resolution, thought it was well written, and would recommend to a friend. Conclusion Overall, I rate the Red Space series overall at a 9/10. Each book at 10/10, 10/10, and 8/10 respectively. For a cumulative score of 28/30. This is a good series and I highly recommend if you are interested in science fiction with a bit of psychological horror thrown in. Of course, my personal grievances with the ending will differ from others. Still, it hooked me from the first chapters and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope you will as well should you decide to pick it up. [/SPOILER]