EDGE OF DARK - THE GLITTERING EDGE BOOK ONE

EDGE OF DARK – THE GLITTERING EDGE BOOK ONE

Written By:

Ryan Pollard

BOOK REVIEW: EDGE OF DARK – THE GLITTERING EDGE BOOK ONE / AUTHOR: BRENDA COOPER / PUBLISHER: PYR / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 3RD

Brenda Cooper, author of The Creative Fire and The Diamond Deep, returns with new book Edge of Dark which tells the story of a banished group of people who have been cast off into the furthest reaches of the solar system to die. Instead of dying they thrive, evolve and return to the sun to wage war on those who threw them aside.

The book is split up into three, with narration by Nona Hall, a privileged child of power from The Diamond Deep; Charlie Windar, a ranger exploring his home planet; and Chrystal, Nona’s best friend who has awakened in a robot body. All three characters eventually come together and dividing the novel up into sections is a great device for setting up each part of the world but unfortunately the world is never fully explored in depth.

While there are characters who are supposed to have no feeling and no emotion, it feels like all the characters speak in the same tone and voice with no emotion at all. Nothing feels different and it is hard to tell who is the lifeless A.I. from across the galaxy and who is the human with flesh, blood and vitality.

The book plays with some interesting ideas, most notably artificial intelligence, but it never explores these themes fully, instead being bogged down by dialogue and long explanations of motivations.

Edge of Dark assumes familiarity with Cooper’s previous books, so new readers will most likely be put off but fans will most likely enjoy a return journey into Cooper’s sprawling sci-fi world. Edge of Dark is an intriguing concept but ultimately it is a confusing book that contradicts itself and is really only for fans of Cooper’s previous work.

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