Synopsis
You can go your whole life in the Void without trouble ever finding you. Moss doesn’t have that kind of luck.
First, there was the stowaway, the pirate, and a centuries-old mystery drifting through the void of space.
Then, there was the robbery that became a rescue mission, and a race to escape the Silver Legion.
Now, the past is on a collision course with the present, and Maurice “Moss” Foote is stuck in the middle… again.
For Moss, nothing is ever simple, not even a day on the beach. It’s not long before he and his crew are on the run from the authorities, hiding out, finding more trouble, and cleaning up what should have been a simple diplomatic matter. But it’s only fair—he did help create the mess in the first place.
Actions have consequences, and soon the events from Lost Souls and Lost Cargo collide in the most unexpected ways.
Lives will be lost, but with luck, a future will also be found.
“The Get Lost Saga is the far-future hopepunk series for our times..” – Ottawa Review of Books
Review
LOST LIVES by Noah Chinn is the finale of the Get Lost Saga trilogy. I first knew Noah Chinn from the work he does in KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE MAGAZINE and loved the first two novels in this series. So, when the third book came out, I decided to give it a chance. Without getting into spoilers, if you liked the previous two books then you are bound to like this one and I believe it’s the best of them.
The premise of the series is Earth has been destroyed. Our planet met its end as part of a civil war between humans and their cyborg slaves. This resulted in the power dynamic switching between the two races of humanity. Regular humans, called “Freeborn”, are now the oppressed servants of the cyborgs with cloned soldiers called “synths” serving as middlemen. Humanity is not alone in the universe either and we have several alien species surrounding our territory.
The protagonist is Moss Foote, the unfortunately named star freighter captain who is less Han Solo than spacegoing con artist. Moss has a weird habit of becoming involved in incredibly important events. Moss used to be a bold explorer and was even the inspiration for a cartoon called “Ranger M” but those days are long behind him. Moss has a ship AI named Violet and a recent recruit named Hel that forms a fun crew for what passes for adventures.
The previous installments had the heroes struggle to help the mysterious Order. The Order seeks to advance humanity while simultaneously also working to save a generation-ship left over from the destruction of Earth. Oh, and struggling to fight space pirates as well as the dystopian technocracy of Sol (The Protectorate). All of these plots come to a head and get resolved in a reasonably coherent manner. Sometimes that’s all you can ask of a book.
There’s a lot of good character development in this volume. We find out how Violet went from being a lesbian bounty hunter and Moss’ partner to being the AI in the ship. We find out how Moss went from being a respected explorer of the galaxy to being the star of a cheesy cartoon. We also get to find out what Roy’s plan is to get himself out of house arrest that just requires betraying everyone..
The book’s humor and sparing use of pop culture is excellently handled. Much is made of the loss of Earth’s history as well as art due to the destruction of the planet. At one point, the characters discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation because it’s a view of a possible future of humanity that wasn’t an oppressive dystopia.
In conclusion, Lost Lives is a good novel. I really enjoyed the characters, the humor, the plot, and the development. While obviously you have to experience the previous two novels to enjoy this one, you are going to find a well wrapped-up story here. With so few examples of that lately, it’s nice to say this is a good story to invest in.
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