Tuesday, June 20, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper

 

Hammer and Crucible is a self-published Science Fiction (Space Opera) thriller written by author Cameron Cooper. The novel is a finalist in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC2 - See my earlier SPSFC2 reviews here) and as such, I was given a copy to Judge as part of my reviewing team. Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of conspiracy thrillers like Hammer and Crucible - I enjoy them when they have strong characters and/or strong themes, but the very plot structure of seeing characters on the run trying to figure out a grand conspiracy until they can strike back against the conspirators to save the day and clear their names isn't something that really appeals to me (and I've seen a bunch of them as a Judge in this competition). But Hammer and Crucible, which is the first of a five book series, is a finalist, so I was hoping it would have those characters and themes to show it worthy of possibly winning the SPSFC2 crown.

And well, to be frank, it doesn't really have either. Hammer and Crucible features a space opera setting where the galaxy is ruled by an Empire who controls space travel through proprietary technology that controls wormhole gates between planets and a humanity that has discovered technology that can reset one's body age, eliminating death by old age...except this rejuvenation technology is largely expensive and usually forces people to either enter into military service or some form of indentured servitude to pay for it. There's some interesting stuff that can be done with those themes (and other books have), but Hammer and Crucible doesn't bother to try, and instead focuses upon the chase by its protagonist Danny around the galaxy with her granddaughter Juliyana to discover what really happened 40 years ago when Danny's son (and Juliyana's father) went mad and seemingly caused massive chaos, killing many and upsetting the galactic orer. The story really tries to lean on its main protagonist Danny being cool as she figures things out and keeps her and her family/friends alive, but really never develops its characters in any interesting way; nor does its reveals make any impact since there is little reason to care about the world or to even realize that the revelations make much difference in how the characters see the world. I'm not sure how this was a SPSFC2 finalist - it's crafted okay but that's about it - but it isn't quite up with many of the books I've read in this competition so far, and it wouldn't have made my list.

Note: For whatever reason, the book's plot summary on websites includes a massive spoiler for a last act reveal and at the same time pretty massively mischaracterizes the book's plot for most of its runtime. If you intend to read the book, I would avoid the plot summaries posted online.



----------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------
Danny Andela was once known as the Imperial Hammer and as one of the best Imperial Rangers working on behalf of the Fourth Carinad Empire which governs galactic space. But then, forty years ago, her son Noam - a Ranger himself - went crazy, and in an event known as the Drakas disaster, caused such destruction and death so as to change the order of things in the Galaxy. His death in the process destroyed Danny's reputation and led to Danny's retirement as a ranger, and she has spent the last forty years on her family corporation's ship, slowly wasting away...all the while refusing rejuvenation treatment that could possibly extend her life.

But when Danny's granddaughter (and active Ranger) Juliyana appears on her station with a bang - giving Danny a swift punch to the head - Danny finds a new motivation. For Juliyana has somehow come across evidence that Noam was actually working for the Emperor's special guard, the Imperial Shield, at the time of the Drakas disaster - an assignment supposedly given to him by Danny herself. Danny knows that almost certainly isn't true - her memories around that time are shaky, but not that shaky - but the revelation leads Danny and Juliyana on a chase around the galaxy to try and figure out what actually happened all those years ago. And what they will find will threaten to overturn the galaxy's order once more....assuming those now after Danny don't manage to catch her first.
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The conspiracy thriller is a novel that has a tried and true formula: you have a well meaning protagonist (if often a cynical one) who stumbles onto - or more often perhaps, is approached by a more naive outsider who stumbles onto - a hint that something they know isn't quite right, and who then tries to investigate that strange thread....only to find themselves suddenly pursued by people who seemingly don't want the truth to come out. The result tends to be a chase as the protagonist(s) try to stay ahead of their pursuers as they look for the next possible lead to answers, with the book usually culminating at least once in a revelation that changes everything and that forces the protagonist to make a choice as to whether to how to approach their newfound knowledge (often having to do with whether they let the world stay in the dark about the truth or whether they make the secret public). It's a formula that provides easy moments for excitement and cliffhangers and can result in examinations of some serious themes about actions that appear horrible but were done for the greater good and whether such cover ups are worth the cost. And if the characters in a thriller are really well done such that the reader cares about them, well the fact that the thriller puts them constantly in jeopardy can easily keep the reader glued to the page. (And of course the thriller can lead to exciting action scenes, for those who care about those sort of things).

Hammer & Crucible follows that formula - Danny is brought new information by Juliyana that leads the two of them on their chase for the truth, gets them into trouble (made even worse by some third parties not related to the conspiracy going after Danny once they realize who she is for unrealted reasons), and well leads them all into some serious revelations that require them to make some big choices. But Hammer & Crucible fails to do anything with the formula other than play it out - the setting is so threadbare that revelations frequently involve events and parties who were JUST introduced before the revelations, so you never have any reason to care like the characters do, and the characters are so generic and boring and never really make any choices that stand out. Danny for example is seemingly meant I guess to be endearing in her stubbornness and quick thinking and general badassness - first as an older woman and then after being rejuvenated as a young fit woman? But there's nothing special about her except I guess early on in her having to try to figure things out while an older woman in a universe where no one is ever suffering aging, but the book disposes of that quickly enough. And to give another example, one character who becomes an ally apparently went on the run for forty years because of a small hint from a source of his, despite the fact he has no idea what that hint even means and that doing so completely uprooted his life and required him to be in constant danger...it doesn't make any sense whatsoever except to land the character in the position he needs to be for him to be an ally to the protagonists. And while coincidences like that are somewhat explained by the revelation at the end of the plot, well it's still not enough to justify it all.

And the revelations here, in addition to being spoiled blatantly by the book's online plot summary, just aren't interesting enough to actually make it all worth it. So what you have is a book that's not bad or offensive in any way, but just is a generic space opera thriller that knows how the formula is supposed to go, but doesn't understand that the formula is meant to say something. I don't see how this is was a finalist in this competition - we've had a couple of other thrillers in the competition that tried to do things, even if unsuccessfully, and I'd prefer to see that than this book, which just is so paint by numbers I'll forget all about it tomorrow.

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