cover of “Lightless” by C. A. Higgins

I enjoyed the multiple mysteries presented in this combo Hard Sci-Fi/Soft Sci-Fi tale: Who is Ivan and is he really a bad guy? What did Mattie do to the Ananke’s computers? What is the real identity of space terrorist Mallt-y-Nos and what is their “big plan” against the System?

The storyline alternated nicely between Althea and her crew’s attempts to maintain and hopefully repair their ship’s computers with the interrogation of Leontios Ivanov — aka “Ivan” — so that the pacing was well-maintained. Also, Ms. Higgins does a fine job of character development: I had a clear picture of each person by the time I’d read the first 30% of the book. I also enjoyed reading the imagined crew life onboard the Ananke as well as the of the vessel Ananke itself.

If I had any complaints — and I really hate to complain about debut novels — there were a few parts I felt they needed a tad bit more tightening up…for example, I started skimming over parts of the interrogation conversations with supercilious System agent Ida Stays, but that’s being exceedingly nit-picky for a book that nicely combines so many different spec. fiction genre attributes: hard science, social commentary, military sci-fi, and aspects of a spy thriller. There really is something for pretty much everyone.

A recommended read for sci-fans.

Published September 29th 2015 by Del Rey ; ISBN 9780553394429

Is this book at your library? Check at Worldcat http://www.worldcat.org/title/lightless/oclc/891942007