Centuries ago, humanity entered into The Defensive Compact with hundreds of other species in order to stop the grim advance of the Dorylus Encephalon: a single-minded collective organism driven to eliminate other lifeforms. The Compact was sturdy enough to force the Enceph to respect a cease-fire, but it has since turned brittle as the various sentient races that comprise it scheme and squabble for advantage.
The Eminent Voice of the human diaspora, Mats Hyyland, stumbles onto a conspiracy involving an entire planet that's been deleted from databases and a missing weapon. The mysterious weapon finds its way to a backwater planet populated by criminals and worse, while Hyyland’s investigation reveals more than he bargained for—threatening to snap the already-strained bonds that are holding the Enceph back.
Z. Bennett Lorimer's THE POLITICS OF FEAR (The Compact Cycle, Book 1) creates a vibrant and complex universe with stellar world-building that finds a good balance between detail and hand-holding. A little more of the latter would have been appreciated, though; flipping back to the supplied appendices can be a bit frustrating at times. The Compact is a great engine for conflict, as diplomats and politicians smile and plot behind each other’s backs—resorting to assassination (and worse) to further the interests of their species, even as those efforts also threaten to give the Enceph an opening.
The characters are uniformly interesting. Each one sings with a dash of personality that prevents them from being stock or little more than NPCs. Hyyland is a highlight: a universe-weary operator with a snappy, gimlet-eyed view of existence, yet also the sort of competent man that humanity could only hope to have as a cosmic representative. He’s not perfect, and he makes mistakes; but those mistakes often break in his favor anyway, which is a neat trick to pull off.
What’s most admirable about this dense but enjoyable first book in the series are its many reveals. They're not offered up as mind-blowing twists; they're simply enjoyable swerves you didn’t see coming, and this lack of overblown drama is much more effective. The writing is nimble for such a lengthy novel, ending on a nicely balanced note of optimism and pessimism. A fine example of space opera done very well.
Z. Bennett Lorimer's THE POLITICS OF FEAR (The Compact Cycle, Book 1) is a satisfyingly complex space opera that manages its sprawling story and cast of characters with aplomb.
~Jeff Somers for IndieReader