/lit/ - Literature

>>22128545
The Light Brigade - Kameron Hurley (2019)

The Light Brigade was intentionally written by Hurley, she states as much, to be in conversation with other military science fiction novels, the history of war, and as an extrapolation of current trends. Three that I saw prominently referenced were Starship Troopers, The Forever War, and Slaughterhouse-Five. There were doubtlessly several more that were referenced in many ways. The title itself is a reference.

The story is experienced nonlinearly by both the reader and the protagonist. The structure of the narrative and its presentation is what I most enjoyed most about the book by far. It allowed for me to overlook the concerns I had about the book's other elements. Hurley has provided an explanation of how it all works and her writing process, though it does contain full spoilers, so if you intend to read the book you may want to hold off until you've finished. It's probably better not to know the specifics as that aligns the reader more with the protagonist's experience and allows for greater emotional resonance. The characters travel as light, there's time disorientation, interplanetary war, and corporations rule everything, but all that seemed secondary to me compared to the protagonist's personal journey.
https://www.kameronhurley.com/the-logic-of-time-travel-with-graphs/

As with Starship Troopers, The Light Brigade is a deeply ideological novel, increasingly so as the narrative progresses. There are a series of interviews that are basically infodumps of political messaging which are heavyhanded even if the reader agrees with them. I'm sympathetic to the expressed ideals though I found them bordering on melodramatic sentimentality, especially near the ending. If you're someone who can't abide explicit political messaging, especially if it's contrary to your own preferences, then this may not be a book for you.

It isn't all talk without action though. Soldiers are messily blown apart, body horror is common, minds are regularly broken, and murdering civilians and children is routine. All sorts of atrocities are constantly occurring because that's how all out war goes, especially when there's seemingly minimal rules of engagement. The protagonist also has sex with both men and women, though that's more about release and wanting to feel anything at all with whomever it may be rather than anything emotionally meaningful.

I had been avoiding Hurley's works due to what I perceived as a reputation for a kind of nastiness that I didn't prefer. This one didn't have that and it's possible that her other novels may have less than I believed. The author-provided content warnings weren't anywhere as severe as I thought they would be. I read this one as a suggested group read and I'm glad that I did, as once again my prejudgment was wrong. It's still unlikely that I'll read her other novels, but it's much more likely now than it was before.

Rating: 3.5/5