Review: Outpost by W. Michael Gear

Outpost by W. Michael Gear
Published by Daw Books on February 20th 2018
Pages: 432
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

From the bestselling co-author of the People novels comes a riveting science fiction adventure on a planet with danger around every corner

Donovan: A world of remarkable wealth, habitable, with a breathable atmosphere, water, and a salubrious climate. Call it a dream come true. A dream? Or a nightmare? Donovan's wealth comes at a price. For Donovan lies thirty light years away--a two-year journey that few survive.

When Turalon arrives in orbit, Supervisor Kalico Aguila discovers a failing colony, it's government overthrown, and the few colonists left now gone wild. For Kalico, Donovan offers the chance of a lifetime: one desperate spin of the wheel that will leave her the most powerful woman in the solar system. Or dead.

Planetside, Talina Perez is one the three rulers of Port Authority--the only remnant of a town on Donovan. She's the only law left, and now a Corporate ship has appeared in orbit and is demaning answers about things she's done in the name of survival. Perez is about to lose everything, including her life, when Kalico lands with her Marines.

For Dan Wirth, Donovan is a last chance. A psychopath with a death sentence looming over his head, he can't wait to set foot on Port Authority. He will make one desperate play to grab a piece of the action. No matter who he has to corrupt, murder, or destroy.

Captain Max Taggart has been The Corporation's "go to" guy when it comes to brutal enforcement. As the situation in Port Authority deteriorates, he'll be faced with committing mass murder in order to dominate the wild Donovanians. Only Talina Perez stands in his way. Or. God forbid, is he getting squeamish in his old age?

Just as matters spiral out of control, a ghost ship, the Freelander, appears in orbit. Missing for two years, she arrives with a crew dead of old age, and reeks of a bizarre death-cult ritual that forewarns any ship from making the return journey to Solar System.

Does anyone dare space back on Turlon with her wealth of ore, ceramic, gems, and gold? Or do they take their chances on a deadly planet that kills three out of four colonists?

And in the meantime, a brutal killer is stalking all of them, for Donovan plays its own complex and deadly game. One whose secrets are hidden in Talia Perez's very blood. A game which will change everything, forever.

First things first: I am going to throw a trigger warning up here, and if you know me, I don’t do these lightly. But there are a couple pretty significant/graphic rape scenes, so you have been warned.

Second thing, the Goodreads page says that this book is 336 pages, and that is such a lie, my friends. Amazon says it’s 432, but I won’t lie, I am going to go to my bookstore just to see for myself. My point is, it isn’t a quick book- which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a thing that messed with my mind a little while I wondered if I had lost my ability to read at a normal human rate.

Ahem, the actual book, sorry. I liked it! I did! It was delightfully dark, and really a pretty great portrayal of what a fight for power might look like on a new planet. I liked most of the things about the book, so we’re going to go ahead with a likes/dislikes!

Things I Liked:

• New planet!! Did I mention that I liked new, uncharted planets before? Of course I did. Spoiler: I still do. And the awesome part is that the people of the new planet had to actually fight to stay alive. It makes sense, really. Imagine if you’re dumped onto a world you have no knowledge of? You don’t know the climate, the creatures, what is safe or unsafe, etc. There’s going to be a huge learning curve, especially coming from the relative comfort of Earth. I liked that a lot. I was a little confused by some of the creatures at first, but it did become much easier to figure out. Here’s some help:

  

• The characters were so freaking badass. Some by nature, sure, but some because the only choice was to deal with it or die. The story is told from several points of view, but Talina is our main Donovanian. And while she is a super tough woman, she has plenty of flaws that can hinder her goals. I liked that toughness and strength of spirit didn’t equal perfection, not with any of the characters. Some, like Shig, another Donovanian, were much more peace seeking. Shig was one of my faves, because he was very thoughtful- and his intelligence and wisdom was so necessary.
  

  “Ultimately, government and hypocrisy become synonymous”

  Not all the characters are awesome- in fact, some are downright horrible. But… that’s life, right? I liked that there were some people who were just straight up real assholes. You know, the type for whom you assume there is no chance of redemption? Because we know these people, in all societies. Some of our societies elected these people. Which leads me to the next point….

• The governing of this planet? Such a mess. A delightfully authentic mess. So much is relevant now, but honestly, it’s always been relevant. People fighting for power, people who have no idea what they are getting themselves into throwing their hats into the ring, all in the name of control. Egos have more weight than knowledge and reason, and no one wants to give up their leadership. This is all too true on Earth, so it makes sense that it would be this way on a smaller scale on Donovan, too.
• There’s another verrrryyy creepy and dark part of the story that I have no intentions on spoiling, but it is morbidly fascinating and I want to know all the things. Also, it involves space. So if that is your kind of thing, I recommend.
• The atmosphere of the whole book was on point. It was bleak and hard but then there were uplifting times- not many, but enough that it made life seem worth it. The planet was fascinating, yet cutthroat, and the author did a great job of painting it as such.

What I Didn’t Like:

• It felt long. This is my biggest qualm, really. Like I said, I knew that it wasn’t the Goodreads-stated 336 pages, but it still took me longer than usual to finish. Not because I wasn’t interested; I was. But some parts felt even slower, like the pacing was a bit off.
• While I liked the characters, I would have liked to have felt a bit more connected to them, especially Talina. I think part of it was because she doesn’t really let anyone in, but I would have felt more for her if I felt a bigger connection.

Will I Read the Sequel: Absolutely! I need to know what happens next, and the whole space-mystery thing, and everything.

Bottom Line: Dark and gritty, this book shows both the best and worst sides of humanity, all while being emotional and thought-provoking.

Do you think you’d make it as one of the only humans on an unknown world? Or would you be Quetzal food?