Book Review: Into the Dark by JA Sutherland
INTO THE DARK by JA Sutherland is a book that I recommend purely because not every book has to be a deep hard read into complicated worlds. Sometimes, well, you just want a plucky heroine going through a grand naval adventure IN SPACE. This is a short entertaining novel that is part of a larger series but can be enjoyed on its own. It reminds me most of David Weber's Honor Harrington series but without that series over verbosity (sorry David) as well as somewhat bizarre politics. It's also a crazy steampunk version of space travel where spaceships use sail and rigging as well as act like it's the era of Horatio Hornblower in terms of laws.
The premise is Alexis Carew is a young landowner's daughter on a human colony world called Dalthus. The colonists had a somewhat retrograde view of the world that prevent women from inheriting ownership of their estates. Alexis' grandfather attempts to change the law but the controversy results in her needing to leave the world for a time. She does this by agreeing to be a midshipman on one of Her Majesty, the Queen's space navy vessels.
Much of the book is a coming of age drama as Alexis attempts to deal with the problems of life on a navy vessel when you are the only woman. It turns out those retrograde attitudes extend throughout the colonies and she has to deal with being an oddity. Thankfully, her captain is supportive and there are much bigger issues than her double X chromosomes. The ship is a mess with bad food, low morale, and more than a little criminal activity going onboard.
Alexis is an enjoyable protagonist that possesses a spunky can-do attitude that infects the rest of the book. Everytime someone tries to throw an obstacle in her way, she manages to power through it via perserverence or exploiting the laws of the Navy that she's memorized from front to back. The fact she's a YA heroine doesn't really impact my level of enjoyment either versus a more mature protagonist.
The juxtaposition of 17th century British Navy values and settings with the far future isn't always an easy fit. This is supposedly set in the future but this feels very much like an alternate history set in a universe with different physics. Despite this, I had a lot of fun and kept in mind it was a steampunk story that was meant to be fun rather than a strict hard sci fi story of the future. Space opera fans will also love this book for its fantastical handling of action, drama, and weird science fiction concepts. Steampunk fans will love its retro-future sensibilities and all the homages to the past.
The world-building is simple and to the point but not poorly done. We have the galaxy divided between various equivalents to real-world governments of the 17th century and some deliberate nods to famous battles of the past. Alexis' inexperience with the Navy allows us to learn everything from port and starboard to how ships were run in the past. The books also incorporate a decent number of science fiction elements like the darkspace dimension that allows "sailing" elements like winds, storms, and shoals in an otherwise vacuum-filled universe.
Into the Dark also has some interesting fun with the logistics of space travel. In this universe, it's entirely possible to recycle the ship's wastes into solution that can be grown into beef and other food. Unlike Star Trek's replicators, though, the resulting food is barely edible but no one cares in the officers' ranks because they buy their own food and store it. Alexis plans on eating with the ranks right up until she tastes what they're forced to eat.
The only real flaw to the book is everyone is a bit too supportive at the start of the story. Alexis doesn't face her worst challenges until she's out of the comfort zone of the first book where most of the crew and its captain very much want to make her comfortable in her new role. The only antagonists are the despicable band of pirates which our heroes have to deal with on their first run as well as a very drunk sailor who the author has Alexis redeem. I'm not sure his crimes really warranted forgiveness and I'd advise most women who have that sort of treatment to report them rather than forgive them.
In conclusion, I strongly recommend picking this up if you like steampunk, space opera, or military science fiction.