TL;DR Review: Great character work. A solid mystery driving the plot. A fascinating exploration of first contact and its ramifications.
Synopsis:
‘Eight years ago they sent a single ship to test our defences. Now they’re building an armada.’
Cole grew up in the shadow of grief. Kyoko grew up in the shadow of war. Two pilots, separated by time, set out on parallel journeys to Proxima Centauri. What they find could be the start of something new. What they bring with them could be the end of all we know.
In this sweeping science fiction debut from Ross Garner, readers will find an Earth that is transformed by fear of an imminent invasion; a space station in orbit that acts as a gateway to other worlds; a Martian colony with all of the threat and violence of the Old West; and a distant star where answers can be found.
What is ‘the signal’? A greeting, or a threat?
Full Review:
Centauri’s Shadow is not your typical sci-fi—and I say that as a good thing.
Where some sci-fi series expand into epics, this stays tightly focused on the characters. The result of that is an incredibly character-driven plot with people you can truly get invested in.
Cole Anderson is the primary protagonist. We’re introduced to him in the opening chapter as a child, and witness the accident that destroyed his family left him scarred physically and mentally. We’re along for the ride as he struggles to live a “normal” life on Earth, then whisked away to Mars along with him. There, we get to see just how cold and uncaring the world is through his eyes, and how it shapes him. Inevitably, this character keeps trending more towards the anti-heroic than properly heroic. More than once, he crosses the line into villainy, though always steps back in time to keep him firmly in the realm of protagonist. But as we follow along the journey of his life, we can’t help but wonder: is he the hero or the villain in all this?
Kyoko Ishihara is a highly successful pilot, trained to combat the “alien threat” that attacked Mars and is believed will one day soon threaten Earth. Her POV chapters are interspersed along with Cole’s, though they take place 30+ years after Cole’s begins. In her story, we keep seeing mentions of Cole Anderson and veiled allusions to his actions, but we never get a sense of whether they were good or bad.
Her whole life is dedicated to military service and attempting to combat the threat. She’s even willing to give up her life on a suicide mission intended to do away with the aliens once and for all.
Where Cole’s story is more tortuous and twisted, Kyoko’s is straightforward and clear-cut. She is driven by a strong moral compass—a sharp contrast to Cole’s flexible morality—and though she doesn’t experience a great deal of “growth” as a character, you’re easily sucked into her journey as she bids goodbye to everyone and everything and prepares to strap in on a one-way ride to blow up the enemy.
The contrast makes things very interesting. Cole’s story is all about trying to find connection and a home, whereas Kyoko’s is about disconnecting and leaving everything behind. Though they couldn’t be more different—one a child growing into a man, the other a confident, highly trained officer—there is a wonderful symmetry between them that makes the story feel like two parts of a very satisfying whole.
The character work is where Centauri’s Shadow absolutely shone. I was engaged in both of these characters from the beginning until the very end. They kept me burning through the pages to find out what was going to happen to them next, and how one would impact the other even if their timelines weren’t aligned. Very clever structure to the story, indeed.
The technology and worldbuilding was also spot-on and fascinating. Everything felt incredibly well-researched and grounded in technology that was currently available, but with just enough advancement that it read like “near sci-fi” set in a future a century or two from today.
Ross Garner is a newcomer to the world of sci-fi, but after reading Centauri’s Shadow, I have no doubt we will have many more fantastical and fictional voyages to look forward to!
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