History repeats itself in the form of religious inquisitions and the brutality of slavery, with warring over resources and revenge leaving its mark on this post-apocalyptic future. But resistance and adaptation persist, with the heroes of THE RED OCCUPATION leading the charge. Among the populous cast of spies, diplomats, medical specialists, slaves, and prisoners, three characters emerge as foundational, fascinating players: conciliatory yet conniving translator Zari, quiet polymath Fazel, and crass rogue Vik. As Marthinian attacks escalate, they must choose whether to compromise their values to protect Earth or allow humanity to succumb to yet another apocalyptic fate. Each main character is likeable in their own way, and the war tests their varied strengths and weaknesses to gripping effect.
The sixth volume in W.G. Hladky’s Book of Ruin series, THE RED OCCUPATION is set in the same world but does not require familiarity with the other novels. Zari, Fazel, Vik, and others spring into action with their backgrounds and worldbuilding explications built into the story as needed for the plot. While each of their immersive alternating perspectives is vivid and thrilling, the connection between them all is not immediately clear beyond the political machinations and cultural head-butting that defines this complex world. As the story evolves and secret motivations and alignments emerge, the individual pieces click into place to reveal a character-driven, action-packed adventure.
No stone goes unturned in the intricate and vast worldbuilding of Hladky’s creation. Depictions of Earth’s development of empirical tribes (defined by their religion as humanity rose from the second Dark Ages) are interspersed throughout the story with vivid, believable detail, while the Marthinian adaptation to a foreign planet (along with their own intraspecies divisiveness about genetic modifications) encompasses scientific detail that bolsters realism. Some caricatures of cultures feature, such as Germanic Christians and Islamic people whose religiousness eclipses other personality traits. When characters defy the tropes of their culture, as when a devout Frau kicks a Marthinian into a canal, subversive characters (Vik here) are both surprised and delighted. Eloquent, dramatic imagery focuses its lens on landscapes as well as culture: “the image solidified into a complex of low-slung buildings tucked into the shallow embrace of a crater rim. The one hundred thousand residents of Chryse, a Marthinian edge city, maintained the vast agricultural greenhouse and the terraforming plant, which belched a faint pinkish gas that quickly dissipated into the thin Martian atmosphere.” Battle scenes fill the skies with spiraling spaceships and fiery destruction, with pointed dialogue bolstering suspense. When the book’s wide scope zooms in on action that centers characters’ interpersonal struggles, Hladky’s writing is at its vibrant best.
W.G. Hladky’s THE RED OCCUPATION is an impressive, immersive science-fiction adventure with vibrant characters and rich worldbuilding.
~ Aimee Jodoin for IndieReader