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Goodbye to the Sun by Jonathan Nevair

Summary

A rebel intent on justice. A lost soul pursued by an infamous bounty hunter. One impossible moral choice…

Tucked away in the remote dunes of Kol 2, the Motes are on the brink of cultural collapse. Razor, a bold and daring pilot, leads a last-ditch gambit against their local oppressors, the Targitians. The plan – abduct visiting Ambassador Keen Draden and use him as a bargaining chip to restore her people’s independence in the Sagittarius Arm. But when the operation unravels, Razor is forced to renegotiate terms with the arrogant diplomat.

Light years away on Heroon a radical resistance blossoms. The alluring rainforest planet haunts Keen. All his problems started there during the Patent War, but it’s where Razor’s troubles may find a solution. The moral tide ebbs, exposing an impossible choice that links their futures together more tragically than they ever thought possible.

Goodbye to the Sun: a space opera inspired by the Greek tragedy, Antigone.

Review

I enjoyed it quite a bit and I think it will stick with me for a long time, which is a good sign in itself. The plot of Goodbye to the Sun is mostly a backdrop to the deeply personal story of Ambassador Keen Draden, who is a political tool of a corrupt interplanetary government acting as puppets to monopolistic corporations. He is kidnapped by a small rebel group, lead by a woman named Razor, trying to free their planet from a corporation, who literally destroyed the ecosystem of the entire planet in order to create huge windstorms that they derive energy from. This novel has a lot to say about so many topics, and the author leaves you with much to think about by the end of this intrinsically philosophical story.

The novel is very much character driven, and while it technically has two POV characters, Razor’s POV chapters were mostly focused on her thoughts of Keen. You learn a lot about the personal life of Keen, both those before the events of the novel as well as what he is currently going through. The author structures it very well so as you progress though the novel you learn more and more about Keen, and come to empathize with him more as a result. The introduction of Jati as a character added contrast to Keen and worked really well for me, Jati quickly became a favorite and I can’t wait to see them more in the next book.

I do have to add that this book was a slow start for me. I was about a third of the way into the book before I really became invested and the unique POV structure was a part of that. We alternate between Keen’s POV chapters in third person and Razor’s in first person from a future perspective. While not a bad choice it was a bit jarring and took a bit for me to get used to. The other larger issue for me in the beginning of the book was the genders were handled. We are told that long ago humanity has moved on from issues of gender and everyone adds a suffix to their name or uses a hand sign to inform others of their current gender identity. That in itself I had no issue with, I actually think it’s quite unique and could be used in clever ways during the story if done well. And while it occasionally was done well, I found it more clumsy and heavy handed in the first portion of the book. Instead of being told how these gender identification dynamics work and then letting it work out in different situations, I felt that the author over-explains the identification mechanics and its implications repeatedly in almost every new interaction between characters for the first third of the book. Luckily after that it was handled more deftly and that helped me become immersed in the story.

Apart from the one issue, I felt the writing of the novel was superb. The author has a talent for words and the prose is both beautiful and philosophical, without making me feel bogged down by its heaviness. The ending of the novel was executed perfectly, it was so emotional and both resolved the story of this novel, while setting up future stories at the same time. A heart-wrenching and ultimately tragic novel, but beautiful in the telling. I highly recommend this novel to readers who enjoy thought provoking stories and deep character exploration.