Synopsis
Humanity is falling. She has little hope of survival.
Charlus Vaughn, a teenage refugee on the run from machine judgement and haunted by her mother’s secrets. When a rogue data-pirate crew pulls her from the brink of execution, Charlus finds a place to belong, but something far older and far more dangerous is watching.
Entangled in the schemes of an ancient arachnid intelligence, Charlus begins to uncover powers within herself that unravel what she’s been told.
Her past was hidden for a reason.
Humanity is losing its fight for dominance and the machines that hunt Charlus remember exactly who she is.
Residuum is a thrilling space opera of hidden legacies, AI genocide, and imperfect families, perfect for fans of sweeping galactic conflict, found-family crews, and slow-burn suspense.
Once Charlus learns who she is, the galaxy will know about it.
Review
Another read I grabbed on Audible in my quest to read all my fellow authors in The Book of Spores anthology. While folks usually think to recommend me their darker, more horror-turning tales, I actually started with reading all fantasy and sci-fi. I was right at home. The narration by Cricket The Narrator was solid, particularly in voice, delivery, and tone for the lead character, and I was engaged for the full four hours.
Charlus is a teen, a refugee, a person who has witnessed too much loss for her age. She’s also actively on the run while secrets from the past keep her in hot pursuit. But after a run-in with a pirate crew, who take her in, you have to wonder if she’s found somewhere worth staying after all this time, if something good might finally stick. Not that it’ll be easy though…
This was awesome. Like a little pocket-sized space opera. It had elements that felt like Star Wars, with a droid that felt similar to K2SO, and a crew with hearts of gold. It also reminded me of iRobot with its AI genocide and threat of human extinction. And then, with its subtle dark humor (like a ship called the MTV), it felt reminiscent of the crew from Guardians of the Galaxy. The blend lends itself to something that felt wholly Rook for me, as opposed to just an amalgamation of other things, and I would be happy to see more of this world to come.
And while I did find multiple things about this one to be humorous, it also tackled some darker themes/topics. For Charlus to be toppled with the loss of her parents so early on, especially while on the run in a world where having a guardian could keep you going, she’s really shown to be a strong female lead. She sees death and destruction, she finds out the truth about secrets kept, and yet she keeps persevering all the same. It’s a testament to the author’s writing, and also one of the things I think is the most crucial about the science fiction genre as a whole: hope. This novella displays it well. Even on the verge of human extinction, people pull together and pull through, and that’s a topic I will continue to read on and on.
I thought the ending happened a tad abruptly, too easily, but then I was, of course, faked out, and there was a climax within the climax. I am happily surprised that even within such a short piece of writing, I could forget to keep track of the things seeded throughout the story by the author. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy it too! This one needs more sci-fi reading eyes on it stat.
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