Insurrection

A caveat. There are two orders to read the Starfire books, and no one bothered to explain that before I jumped in. This book, Insurrection, was the first written, but it is actually the fourth book with regards to the Starfire timeline. Audible advertises them in the storyline chronological order (but even then manages to jumble them up). Now having listened to all of the books, I can confidently state that listening/reading them in the timeline order and not publication order will have no adverse effect on the story. Starting with this book gives away a few little things about the others, but not enough to spoil them at all. In fact, it only builds the tension, as you know certain things are coming. Now for the actual review

This book series is not for those who like a slow burn. It packs punch after punch with little time for stewing over nuance. I, personally, absolutely love the way this is done, but if you are a fan of delving deep into the inner workings of one or a handful of characters for steady character development followed by a final flourish of bad-arsery, this won’t be the book for you. Namely because it’s wall-to-wall bad-arsery from the get-go.

This book is centred around a civil war that breaks out within the Terran Federation, humanity’s first interstellar government reaching across hundreds of planets. This isn’t just some simple, ‘we don’t like those guys so we’re leaving’ sort of deal. This is an in depth look at how the greed and prejudices of the wealthy and more developed Corporate Worlds leads to the less developed and far more plucky Fringe Worlds seceding and the ensuing physical and psychological torment that follows as the peoples of the federation are forced to pick sides. True, early on there definitely appears to be ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’, but very quickly all we are left with are just decent people on either side fighting for what they see as right, be that independence from a tyrannical regime or bringing the rebellious traitors to heel before they destroy the only institution that has stood between humanity and extinction for hundreds of years. This truly is a one of the most realistic portrayals of the drivers and horrors of a civil war that I have ever found.

A key feature of all the books in this series is a lot of head jumping. Sure, there is a cadre of core characters who we return to time and time again who do get some good, albeit condensed, bursts of character development and all that good stuff, but we must also get the perspectives of some 20-30 other characters at various points through the story, and it gets a little jarring at times. There often isn’t a clear-cut sign when the perspectives jump, and although we do get used to it in time, it does get a little messy. However, in order to tell this story (with all of its hundreds of various complex aspects) in the manner in which it was intended to be told, you do need the perspectives of so many people. This is first and foremost the story about the civil war, with the people within that civil war taking a secondary role.

Time and time again this book hits that personal favourite of mine: satisfaction. There usually isn’t some long and draw out build-up. It’s quick, decisive, and rib-tricklingly delicious. There is one event in the opening chapters which is one of the single best ‘oh my god!’ moments I have ever come across in a book. Something that actually had me shouting out ‘YES!’ when it happened, entirely out of the blue. One of those moments where you are thinking ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if that person did that thing, but there’s no way it could actually happen because usual story structure would mean that you’d have to build up to something like that and… holy crap, they actually just did it!’. This book and, as I now know, this entire series consistently slaps you in the face with such wonderful moments, and it’s why I can’t stop listening to them. They are exactly what I want from this type of novel. They hit you where it hurts and then toss you up to dizzying hights with no remorse and very little time to breath. This is a truly great book if this is the sort of book you are into. And I, for one, very much am.

Narration was brilliant. Marc Vietor nailed some of the more distinctive accents of the Fringe Worlders perfectly. As before, there are so many different characters that you simply can’t get a truly unique voice for all of them, but for the core group he is able to perfectly nail it.

Personal Score: 4.5 stars

Professional Score: 4 stars