Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on June 27, 2023 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.
The Ghosts of Trappist is the third book in KB Wagers' NeoG series of space opera novels, which follow a future space version of the Coast Guard in the 25th century, after humanity had experienced a societal collapse from which it emerged a better, more egalitarian and accepting, but still far from perfect society. The series, which began with the really enjoyable A Pale Light in the Black (my review is here), follow specifically a team of Neos who crew the interceptor "Zuma's Ghost" as they attempt to safeguard travel in the Black - both in the Solar System and around a human colony in the Trappist system - and as they form a found family...even as things can get rough for them personally and professionally. Also there's a fun inter-military competition called the Boarding Games that the team competes in for fun and bragging rights. The first book was largely found family and light-ish, even as there was a background conspiracy plot, but the second book (Hold Fast Through the Fire) got a bit darker, featuring betrayal, traumatic events, and struggles to pull through together (I didn't quite love it as much).
And so we come to this book, book 3, which tries to sort of hit multiple themes we saw in both books - found family, struggling with trauma and grief - as well as some new ones having to deal with AI, specifically the team's robot dog "Doge" who was one of my favorite characters in prior books. There's also a major new theme of abusive relationships, which was previously touched on in the family sense with major character Max's family (and is still dealt with here on that note) and now extends to other such abusive relationships, romantic and otherwise. And for the most part, I think The Ghosts of Trappist does this well - the characters remain excellent, both new and old, the dialogue and plot events are sharp and enjoyable (even as the horror nature of the plot never really is that horrifying and parts of the plot are predictable to the point where you just wish the protagonists would get a clue for a long long time). And I enjoyed getting point of view chapters from one Zuma member, Sapphi, who we previously only saw from the side...and seeing how the "hacking" seems to work in this book was kind of fun and enjoyable, even if it reads a little silly. That said, the book is probably spread a bit too thin, with some subplots not feeling complete amidst everything else, so it's not perfect...but it's still a very solid continuation of this series.
Plot Summary:
In the asteroid belt out by the Trappist system, Commander D'Arcy Montaglione, captain of the NeoG Interceptor Dread Treasure is struggling - with the pain of betrayal by one of his own, in an act that cost the lives of many others, with the trauma of the costs of that betrayal for himself - the loss of one of his other teammates - and with the new crew members that have come onto his team...including Master Chief Emel Shevreaux, a woman from his past on Mars. Emel brings up bad memories of how he left her and Emel's brother back in the day, and D'Arcy is having a hard time handling having Emel and the other new member of his team onboard.
Meanwhile the crew of Zuma's Ghost is dealing with their own traumas and struggles, even as they look set to win yet another edition of the Boarding Games. Max finds herself facing a nosy reporter who was clearly sent by her parents, who are once more threatening to drive a wedge between Max and the NeoG, and Max finds herself wondering if she can make the ultimate choice to cut off her own family. And then there's Sapphi, the team's elite hacker, who just barely survived death two years ago (and in fact did biologically "die" for a second), who finds herself struggling with the trauma from that experience. That trauma is only exacerbated by the return of an old flame from Sapphi's past, one who once took Sapphi to the brink of self-destruction, and who wants to try to resume their relationship. And then there's the weird fact that the team's robot dog Doge is acting strange, as if his simple AI program has obtained far more sentience and intelligent thinking than was previously believed to be possible...something that if known to the wrong people could get him shut down.
In the middle of all this comes a new mystery: a series of freighters showing up in the asteroid belt near Trappist, all abandoned, and all reported as missing years prior. Investigating this mystery reveals that the disappearances of freighters and other ships has only increased recently, such that even the local Pirate chief in Trappist space is scared of something out there. And then there's the mysterious song that plays near the freighters, one that comes as prelude to the strangest real space and cyberspace attacks the NeoG has ever seen - one which will require them to figure out their own traumas and to move forward if they can even hope to survive....
Previous NeoG books focused largely upon the crew of Zuma's Ghost. Max and Jenks have been main characters in every book to date, with point of view segments of their own and usually big important plot arcs. Book 1 also included Rosa (who is bizarrely absent from this book, even despite being retired) and Book 2 included Nika as POV characters, while Book 2 also introduced new crew member and major character Chae as well. But the series has touched on other people as well, most notably other NeoG crews, such as the crew of Dread Treasure, led by D'Arcy. And so it shouldn't come as a surprise in this book that D'Arcy and a new Dread Treasure crew member Emel become major POV characters in this book 3. As I'll detail below, the expanded scope of this book largely works in its favor, and really allows for us to see how much of a family the NeoG fully is and how that family isn't limited to just each individual Interceptor's crew.
And the story uses each of these characters to deal with a number of strong and important themes in really usually well done ways. For D'Arcy, that theme involves dealing with trauma, betrayal, and grief, as D'Arcy struggles to deal with how one of his trusted crewmates betrayed the others and cost him the life of one other member of his team. D'Arcy can't help but feel guilty and responsible - with this not helped by the return of someone from his past for whom he also feels responsible - and finds it hard to trust anyone other than the two remaining members of his longtime crew...and D'Arcy's refusal to trust and to open himself up clearly is cost him and the rest of his team, forcing them into suboptimal decisions and situations. Worse, as the commander of the team, D'Arcy's actions are being imitated by the junior surviving member of his crew, resulting in more disarray. Wagers manages to make this theme play out really well, showing how hard it is to move past grief and trauma, and how it does take time even when it is possible to do, even with all the support you can possibly have around your side...as D'Arcy fortunately has in the rest of the NeoG.
For Sapphi, there's similar grief of the loss of a girl who she may have wanted to get into a serious relationship with had there been the opportunity, and that's only made worse by her own traumas from almost dying. And then comes along Yasu, a former flame who once led her down a path of self-destruction through drugs and bad decisions, and who seemingly is a new person (besides being trans) and wants to reconnect and apologize. The result is a story that is really well done as Sapphi relives the toxic relationship and finds it hard to now how to react when that relationship might be coming back. The themes of toxic relationships are also exemplified in Max's story as Max finally has to figure out how to make a stand against parents who, after getting off her back a little in book 1, refuse to back off and let Max be who she wants to be. For both Sapphi and Max, the key to getting through it is to realize how much support and healthy friends they both have, but even that's not always enough as the book makes fully clear and it requires a strong will that not everyone can have to try to get through it all.
All of this is tied in very well to the main plot, which deals with AIs - both new ones and Doge, who has grown into a being that has incorporated Jenks' and the rest of the team's teachings to become a worthy and trusted member of the team, who isn't just funny and perceptive but is a real caring person. The main plot is done well enough, even if it will be insanely predictable as to what's really behind the mysterious ghost ships for pages and pages before the main cast figures it out (hence why I'm not even using spoiler tags to mention part of it here), and it all ties up together really well with the book's general themes. And of course Wagers manages to use quips and great dialogue and some solid action to tie it altogether in a package that is really enjoyable even if the themes are really serious. Add in a plotline for Jenks that is basically just heartwarming and isn't really traumatic at all (a nice change for Jenks!) and there's a lot here for fans of the series, like myself, to like.
Not everything works - new character Emel's storyline of leaving her wife to join NeoG after her naval career because she just couldn't stay out of the Black just feels half-done, with her reconciling at the end without any page length really showing why her significant other should try to reconcile (it would've made more sense for that reconciliation to never happen, which is fine! Not everyone needs to stay together and this is a reasonable and realistic conflict). Also Max's struggle with her parents works well...but it's kind of hard for Rosa and especially Ma from book 1, who both helped her with that conflict in the past (and Ma knows her parents really well) to not show up. Still the result is generally a really well done NeoG book and one that is a very solid book in general, making this series still one I recommend to queer Space Opera fans.
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