Gareth L Powell is a British science fiction author and is best known for the Embers of War trilogy and the Ack Ack Macaque books. He is a two-time recipient of the BFSA best novel award and has been shortlisted for many other awards. His writing always has great world-building, and he is known for imaginative character-driven stories.
The warship Trouble Dog was built and bred for calculating violence, yet following a brutal war, she finds herself disgusted by conflict and her role in a possible war crime. Seeking to atone, she joins the House of Reclamation, an organisation dedicated to rescuing ships in distress. But, stripped of her weaponry and emptied of her officers, she struggles in the new role she’s chosen for herself. When a ship goes missing in a disputed system, Trouble Dog and her new crew of misfits and loners, captained by Sal Konstanz, an ex-captain of a medical frigate who once fought against Trouble Dog, are assigned to investigate and save whoever they can.
Meanwhile, light years away, intelligence officer Ashton Childe is tasked with locating and saving the poet, Ona Sudak, who was aboard the missing ship, whatever the cost. In order to do this, he must reach out to the only person he considers a friend, even if he s not sure she can be trusted. What Childe doesn’t know is that Sudak is not the person she appears to be.
Quickly, what appears to be a straightforward rescue mission turns into something far more dangerous, as Trouble Dog, Konstanz and Childe, find themselves at the centre of a potential new conflict that could engulf not just mankind but the entire galaxy.
If she is to survive and save her crew, Trouble Dog is going to have to remember how to fight.
It took me a while to pick up this book as I have that much to read, and I am annoyed it took me this long. I’m a person who loves to read characters who are or find themselves in morally gray areas. I think it makes the story or character so much more interesting. Embers is full of this. Set in the aftermath of a big war, the main characters are unhappy with their part in it. The Trouble Dog is now atoning by working for the House of Reclamation, and Sal Konstanz captains the eccentric starship. The crew is mashed together and has different personalities. I know when I was reading, I was getting annoyed with Alva Clay, just a rude and disobedient character. I am sure it is meant to offer a different level, but I just found myself getting annoyed with it.
The other main point of view is Ona Sudak, survivor of an attack, and then finding something hidden in an alien artifact. The action is constant and switches POV often. This is fine as I don’t mind that type of story, but I did find some of the short chapters a bit jarring.
I try not to have spoilers in these articles but it’s not a big one to say when Ona finds the entrance to the alien structure, I just remember thinking how daft that this had not been found before now, given these artifacts were a bit of a monument that people visited.
I loved the world-building, and this story seemed to pull bits from favorite scifi stories in a fun way. It’s often compared to Firefly and I can see why. It’s a good book and I am looking forward to reading book 2.
You can purchase Embers of War from your local Bookshop supporting indie bookshops is important and something I am very in favor of. I like nothing more than to browse physical books. Or if you want you can shop at your local Waterstones, or online at Amazon
