The Light Brigade — Ingenious And Mind-Bending Military Sci-Fi Thriller
This review was first published on my website about sci-fi written by women and non-binary authors where you can find lists, interviews and more posts that don’t get republished on Medium.
The Light Brigade: it’s what soldiers fighting the war against Mars call the ones who come back…different. Grunts in the corporate corps get busted down into light to travel to and from interplanetary battlefronts. Everyone is changed by what the corps must do in order to break them down into light. Those who survive learn to stick to the mission brief — no matter what actually happens during combat.
Dietz, a fresh recruit in the infantry, begins to experience combat drops that don’t sync up with the platoon’s. And Dietz’s bad drops tell a story of the war that’s not at all what the corporate brass want the soldiers to think it is.
Is Dietz really experiencing the war differently, or is it combat madness? Trying to untangle memory from mission brief and survive with sanity intact, Dietz is ready to become a hero — or maybe a villain; in war it’s hard to tell the difference.
The book made a huge impression on me and I couldn’t put it down! There was so much in it that I liked: the plot twists, the complexity and ingenuity of its structure, the clever observations about human nature, the intimate first person narration, the flawed protagonist who gets a chance to grow, the criticism of some of the real-world issues, the originality. It’s a great and well-written story, but what made it stand out most was the way it was told.
The book explores the meaninglessness and cruelty of war, poses questions about inequality, class system, capitalism, exploitation, manipulation and brainwashing. It’s gory, which I think is suitable for a story about war, and at the same time human connection and taking care of each other are a crucial part of it. I really enjoyed the author’s style and her unique voice.
You might enjoy the book if you like military and time travel sci-fi, mind-bending thrillers, non-linear stories and don’t mind gore / violence / death.
For a more detailed version of this review that also discusses characters, world-building and plot, please check out the original post.
You can get the book on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Apple, Google Play and Kobo.
The author
Kameron Hurley is the author of The Light Brigade, The Stars are Legion and the essay collection The Geek Feminist Revolution, as well as the award-winning God’s War Trilogy and The Worldbreaker Saga. Hurley has won the Hugo Award, Locus Award, Kitschy Award, and Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer. She was also a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Nebula Award, and the Gemmell Morningstar Award. Her short fiction has appeared in Popular Science Magazine, Lightspeed and numerous anthologies. Hurley has also written for The Atlantic, Writers Digest, Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, Bitch Magazine, and Locus Magazine. She posts regularly at KameronHurley.com.
Check out her website, Patreon, Twitter and Goodreads page.
You can get my dystopian sci-fi thriller ‘Entanglement’ at Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes&Noble and other retailers.
