Review: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

Rating: ★★★☆☆

[Note: Thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm for a listening copy in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this listening copy did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the audiobook rendition of the novel.]

Synopsis

A space adventure set on a lone ship where the clones of a murdered crew must find their murderer — before they kill again.

It was not common to awaken in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood.

At least, Maria Arena had never experienced it. She had no memory of how she died. That was also new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died.

Maria’s vat was in the front of six vats, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it could awaken. And Maria wasn’t the only one to die recently…

Review

First off, I thought the author did an ok job with the narration, but for me, I don’t think she differentiated the character voices enough, nor was there really any consistency in tone or pacing. You just never really know what you are going to get when author’s narrate their own works but I think this one could’ve been better.

For the most part, Six Wakes was an enjoyable Clue! in space and featured some original material in regard to clones and the laws surrounding their purpose. I really liked how the book opened with an instant array of mystery and never slowed down from that point on. The chapter sequences also gave the reader a chance to learn about each character’s past and how they got to this point, but unfortunately, it didn’t allow for much engagement with a single one of them. Maybe it is because they are clones with no memory of the past, so you can’t really form a relationship? No idea.

I did find that the laws surrounding “mind maps” to be very unique, where when one instance of a clone dies, all memories will be transferred to a new one (hence, basic immortality for the original host). It makes you wonder if future clones should be responsible for the actions of their predecessors. You would think yes, but with the ability to mind-hack, it makes for an interesting dilemma.

Overall, it was a pretty short read/listen and I don’t have many major things to say about it, other than it was entertaining for 8+ hours. With the focus being on the characters, I just expected more emotional connections and I just did’t get them. But if you enjoy a good murder mystery, this one is right up your alley. I just recommend you read it rather than listen.