Wednesday, February 26, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Silver by Linda Nagata




Silver is the second in Linda Nagata's "The Inverted Frontier" series and a direct sequel* to her previous novel, "Edges", which I reviewed previously on this blog here.  Edges was a different type of novel than what I usually like - it was more high concept scifi, dealing with various concepts derived from nanotechnology than character-based fiction - but I enjoyed it quite a bit, as Nagata managed to introduce a lot of concepts quickly and effectively.  The results was a fun plot that featured a number of characters using the mechanics of those concepts against each other in a battle for survival and exploration, ending on a cliffhanger with things left into a new status quo.

*Silver is also a sequel to Nagata's prior novel, "Memory," which I haven't read.  But while readers of that book may gain greater enjoyment and seeing that book's world and characters again, knowledge of it isn't necessary, as that book's elements are introduced to the reader as if the reader has no foreknowledge, even if references to that prior book are made.  So I had no problem without having read Memory.  Reading this book without reading "Edges" first however, will not work, as the book does not bother reintroducing concepts/characters from that book.  

 Silver is a very different book than Edges, with it being a lot more character focused than its predecessor, and yet it's still a highly enjoyable and effective one.  New interesting concept mechanics - some of which may have been from another novel - are still introduced and are central to the plot as well mind you, but a lot of these are even more magic-like than the science-like concepts of the previous novel (yes yes, Clarke's Third Law) and more of the focus is on the characters this time around.  The result is a fun and solid novel, even if it's very different from what I expected, and I hope it's not the end of the Inverted Frontier series, as this does close one story arc.


------------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------------
Urban is no longer the master of Dragon, and is down to only a single copy of himself onboard one of his outriders.  Believing that the powerful enemy Lezuri has taken over Dragon and is heading towards Lezuri's lost homeworld of Verilotus - where a goddess as powerful as Lezuri may still reside - Urban heads desperately to Verilotus as fast as possible to set a trap to stop Lezuri and to possibly save any of his people who might still be left upon Dragon.

Unknown to Urban however, is that the crew did manage to defeat Lezuri and remove him from Dragon, and that Clementine is taking both ships to Verilotus in hopes of stopping the fleeing Lezuri herself...and in the hopes of rescuing Urban.

But what Urban finds on Verilotus is far stranger than he could have imagined: a world seemingly without order and a group of people who regard themselves as "Players" in a game, reincarnating after deaths, with the eventual goal of finding happiness with their destined soulmates....and a goddess seemingly destroyed.  And more than that, he finds the mysterious material known only as Silver, which rises and falls on the world under strange circumstances, absorbing what it touches and creating new things seemingly at random.

It will take Urban learning from and allying with the Players he finds, the woman Jubilee and strange boy Jolly, to deal with the powerful Silver so that this last copy of himself can survive to reunite with Clementine.  For Lezuri, wounded and alone, is coming and Verilotus was partly his creation first....a creation he now wants to remake in his own harsh image....
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Edges had a whole bunch of characters, some of whom would drop out of the narrative for long stretches of time (due to being archived/in-hibernation or whatnot), though it eventually came to focus upon Urban and Clementine, with asides from the second person POV of the antagonist Lezuri.  Still, that novel mainly focused upon seeing the characters deal with the mechanical problems caused by unforeseen circumstances in their trip of exploration back to the worlds of humanity's origin and then with the characters manipulating the mechanics of their physics and nanotechology to try and take on Lezuri, rather than in the relationships between the characters.

Silver is very different - focusing heavily upon Urban as a main character (Clementine, the biggest character of the prior novel, is really just a side character here) as well as new characters (from Memory) Jubilee and Jolly.  Jubilee and Urban are basically our primary characters equally, with Jubilee's segments being written in first person (though Urban's remain in third person), as she first explores the world looking for her love and then tries to figure out how much she can trust Urban to not destroy everything she loves in his campaign.  She's a character seemingly from Memory, but the book does a great job introducing her and her compatriots so I never felt like I was missing any part of their characters, and she's an excellent addition here.  Urban meanwhile, is far less opaque in this novel than in Edges, as he desperately tries to not only understand the properties of the Silver and defeat Lezuri, but also to do so in a way that doesn't make him unworthy of Clementine's love.  And the other characters we see are also more built out and interesting to read: Riffan, who wants to atone for his errors in the last book but still believes the best in everyone; Jolly, who wishes for more than his strange unique existence on this world; and of course our antagonist Lezuri, whose viewpoint, of essentially survival of the fittest, is more fleshed out here.

All this takes place on a world and setting that is as much a character in and of itself, with the Silver causing strange and unusual events to occur on Verilotus on a regular basis.  It's a fascinating world, featuring things like again the Silver destroying and recreating on a regular basis, nanomachine like kobolds that can create things on their own - like smells that drive away or draw forth the Silver, and filled with people who try to survive the best they can, through a sixth sense known only as "Ha."  It's by design almost like a video game world, and how the characters learn to "level up" is a major part of survival, and this book in general and it makes it fascinating to read.

Silver has some flaws mind you.  As I mentioned above the jump, a lot of the mechanics involving the silver and other technology are portrayed almost like magic in a video game, with even Urban not understanding quite how it works by the end, which doesn't quite match how the impossibly high tech level worked in the prior novel (one threat of the antagonist is basically described as physically impossible and never explained even in concept for instance).  More of an issue, I think, is that the last book and beginning of this book ended with characters all out of communication with each other, resulting in everyone jumping to incorrect conclusions as to the status quo and others' motivations and suggesting potential conflicts are coming - particularly with Clementine and the rest of the crew upon Dragon - and yet these conflicts resolve into nothing.  It's not a huge issue since the existing conflicts are strong enough to carry the plot, but it's just awkward. 

Still, Silver is a very satisfying package in general, ending the plot arc started in Edges that dealt with Lezuri in a very enjoyable fashion.  Still, the Inverted Frontier is hardly explored at this point in the series, so hopefully we will get to see Nagata explores it more in the future.
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