/lit/ - Literature

>>23247660
Planetside, Planetside #1 - Michael Mammay (2018)

Planetside is a military science fiction mystery novel with some noir elements and ethical considerations. As may be expected from most debut novels, Mammay, who has 25 years of military service, hasn't quite found his voice yet. What's written here is solid, though relatively generic. The content tends towards action rather than contemplation. One military SF novel seems to have been of significant influence, though to say which one would be a major spoiler. The ending may greatly upset those who didn't realize they were reading a MilSF novel and what that often means. Although there are more books in the series, this one tells a complete story and can definitely be read by itself.

Colonel Carl Butler served 37 years, 24 years outside of stasis, in SPACECOM, before being put out to pasture at STUCOM (student command) right before retirement. General Serata, a friend that he's served together with 3 times, has called him out of semi-retirement to investigate the disappearance of a lieutenant who is the son of one of their High Councilors. Butler is reluctant because his wife is already 13 years older than him and he'd be returning to the frontlines of a frontier planet. Speed is never mentioned, only distance, so it's unknown how far away any place is or how quickly they travel.

The characters in general are adequate. There are many names, though most are only passing through and mentioned once. None of the characters receive anything more than the slightest development. They all seem set in their ways, which may be because almost everyone is military. First person perspective is only used to moderate success. Usually first person is great or terrible for me without any middle ground, but this seems to be an exception.

The year is 3943, but it doesn't feel like that. What it feels like is more contemporary and specifically the Afghanistan War, or at least the idea of a Middle Eastern war. The narrow and focused scope of the narrative is both a strength and weakness, though for me it's more the latter. It's a strength in that it doesn't get bogged down in the details and is constantly making progress through the plot. Outside of what's immediately happening not much is known. The setting isn't developed, but it's known that humanity has colonized many worlds and has met a considerable amount of alien life. Only the frontier planet Butler is headed to has intelligent life though, and humanoid at that. However, humanity mostly sees them as a commercial development obstacle. Earth is never mentioned except once as a generic term, nor is Terra. Whether they even still know about their birth planet isn't known. The planets that are known are called by name and number, such as Elenia 4 and Ferra 3. I don't like that naming convention, but it doesn't really matter. This first book isn't anything special, but I'll be reading the rest of the series.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)