Review – Blindspace by Jeremy Szal

Big, brutal and bloody, Jeremy Szal’s sequel is a hefty chunk of sci-fi brimming with action. Fair warning, if you haven’t yet read Stormblood, there are spoilers ahead.

After surviving the House of Suns initial attack and having saved his brother’s life, Vakov Fukasawa is back hunting down drug dealers, leading his fire team on dangerous missions. Compass, home to all manner of human and alien life, is an asteroid of epic proportions; lavish and breath-taking one minute and deadly dangerous the next. It’s a place where the elite of the galaxy gather just as readily as the dregs – the dealers, smugglers and outlaws.

In amongst all this thronging madness, Vakov is searching for a way to free his brother from prison. But, the House of Suns is serious business and the cult has its claws in all manner of dirty business. Not least dealing the very stormtech that is at the heart of a great, devastating intergalactic conspiracy.

Vak knows it well as a Reaper; a genetically modified soldier whose very DNA has been altered by the drug – a drug made from the blood of a distant alien species whose whole premise is destruction and dominance. The Suns want to bring that species back to life but doing so will mean the end of Compass and all the lives on it.

What happens is a riot of violence and mayhem as Vakov and his team go hunting. But, in this game everyone is a hunter and it’s a dog fight to the last. There are some intense battles, not least a harrowing passage when Vakov is captured and tortured. It highlights the total, unhinged nature of the cult against a background of cruelty and violence that marks life amongst the stars.

Blindspace is big idea sci-fi. Full of smart armour, wetware, hardware, energy weapons and space battles. Throughout it all there is a thread of redemption and rehabilitation; of bonds and brotherhood. But, it is also about action. Vakov isn’t a character that backs down and the story flows with that energy. It builds to an explosive conclusion only to end on a cliff hanger that demands to be answered.

Review copy

Published by Gollancz