Post by AloeVega on Sept 10, 2023 19:20:34 GMT
I've just finished reading the second of Obverse Books' Faction Paradox novels, The Brakespeare Voyage; or, The Fourth Wave Boys' Book of Whaling for Universes, and it was absolutely fantastic.
In terms of how it fits into the context of the broader FP series, it works perfectly following the previous novels - it represents a significant shift in certain aspects which makes it stand apart from its peers, but it's also fits in with the rest of the series. The biggest departure from the previous novels is that every book from This Town Will Never Let Us Go to Newtons Sleep is very solidly grounded in real human history; most of the novels are actually set in one era of real-life human history or another, and even the ones that aren't (like Of the City of the Saved) retain a strong connection to human history.
The Brakespeare Voyage doesn't do that - the vast majority of the novel is not set on Earth and does not feature humans (at least, not ones with a connection to human culture as we know it). Instead, it deals with people from the constructed, fictional cultures of the Great Houses and of the other inhabitants of the Brakespeare - the titular ship, that is - both of which occasionally resemble and always parallel human history and culture.
Nevertheless, it fits in with the rest of the series because it's playing with the elements that are central to FP's identity as a series, most prominent among them history. The novel makes frequent use of weird, cosmic occurrences, but the main substance of the book seems to be centered around an exploration of how history is made, how history can be changed, and the effects that changing history can have on a people, through the Brakespeare, whose history is shaped by the Great Houses and subject to change due to their own politics and struggles for power, as well as subtler intervention from other parties in the War, including of course the Faction.
Of course, the thematic elements aren't everything, and The Brakespeare Voyage tells a phenomenal and personal story, too - it alternates between the perspectives of Robert Scarratt, the newly-appointed captain of the Brakespeare, and Nebaioth, a native inhabitant of the ship. Scarratt is consistently presented throughout the novel as a complete and utter bastard, but a bastard whose motivations are understandable and even, at times, relatable, making him a very compelling protagonist to me. Nebaioth is an ambitious native of the Brakespeare who gives us a perspective wholly rooted in the ship's culture, which is always fascinating.
You might remember Scarratt from The Book of the War, and in general this book is very heavily tied in a lot of ways to TBotW, providing probably the most direct follow-up to its entries on the Great Houses themselves of any of the FP novels - a major bonus for me, personally, as those were some of the most interesting entries in TBotW to me. I would definitely recommend keeping a copy of TBotW on-hand and referencing it to see what it has to say about some of the characters and concepts featured in The Brakespeare Voyage, so you can see better how exactly it follows up on the threads left hanging.
By following up on these threads, it also gives us a picture of how the War is proceeding after the status quo presented in TBotW. It doesn't center itself around actual War engagements between the Homeworld and its enemy, but it offers us tantalizing glimpses of what's going on in the War that prompts the creation of the Brakespeare. And, perhaps most significantly, the book begins with a disclaimer that describes the book itself as a briefing document designed to engage with a variety of wartime cultures and includes brief notes throughout which show that this book (or something very much like this book) exists in-universe as an educational tool for the next generation of the House Military. It's not a direct depiction, but from this we can start to imagine what the future of the War's combatants might look like - and by extension, the future of the War itself.
Anyway, I highly recommend The Brakespeare Voyage. It's definitely among my favorite FP novels, and I think it'll be especially enjoyable to anyone interested in the cosmic, weird-fiction side of the series. To everyone else who's read this one, what did you think?
In terms of how it fits into the context of the broader FP series, it works perfectly following the previous novels - it represents a significant shift in certain aspects which makes it stand apart from its peers, but it's also fits in with the rest of the series. The biggest departure from the previous novels is that every book from This Town Will Never Let Us Go to Newtons Sleep is very solidly grounded in real human history; most of the novels are actually set in one era of real-life human history or another, and even the ones that aren't (like Of the City of the Saved) retain a strong connection to human history.
The Brakespeare Voyage doesn't do that - the vast majority of the novel is not set on Earth and does not feature humans (at least, not ones with a connection to human culture as we know it). Instead, it deals with people from the constructed, fictional cultures of the Great Houses and of the other inhabitants of the Brakespeare - the titular ship, that is - both of which occasionally resemble and always parallel human history and culture.
Nevertheless, it fits in with the rest of the series because it's playing with the elements that are central to FP's identity as a series, most prominent among them history. The novel makes frequent use of weird, cosmic occurrences, but the main substance of the book seems to be centered around an exploration of how history is made, how history can be changed, and the effects that changing history can have on a people, through the Brakespeare, whose history is shaped by the Great Houses and subject to change due to their own politics and struggles for power, as well as subtler intervention from other parties in the War, including of course the Faction.
Of course, the thematic elements aren't everything, and The Brakespeare Voyage tells a phenomenal and personal story, too - it alternates between the perspectives of Robert Scarratt, the newly-appointed captain of the Brakespeare, and Nebaioth, a native inhabitant of the ship. Scarratt is consistently presented throughout the novel as a complete and utter bastard, but a bastard whose motivations are understandable and even, at times, relatable, making him a very compelling protagonist to me. Nebaioth is an ambitious native of the Brakespeare who gives us a perspective wholly rooted in the ship's culture, which is always fascinating.
You might remember Scarratt from The Book of the War, and in general this book is very heavily tied in a lot of ways to TBotW, providing probably the most direct follow-up to its entries on the Great Houses themselves of any of the FP novels - a major bonus for me, personally, as those were some of the most interesting entries in TBotW to me. I would definitely recommend keeping a copy of TBotW on-hand and referencing it to see what it has to say about some of the characters and concepts featured in The Brakespeare Voyage, so you can see better how exactly it follows up on the threads left hanging.
By following up on these threads, it also gives us a picture of how the War is proceeding after the status quo presented in TBotW. It doesn't center itself around actual War engagements between the Homeworld and its enemy, but it offers us tantalizing glimpses of what's going on in the War that prompts the creation of the Brakespeare. And, perhaps most significantly, the book begins with a disclaimer that describes the book itself as a briefing document designed to engage with a variety of wartime cultures and includes brief notes throughout which show that this book (or something very much like this book) exists in-universe as an educational tool for the next generation of the House Military. It's not a direct depiction, but from this we can start to imagine what the future of the War's combatants might look like - and by extension, the future of the War itself.
Anyway, I highly recommend The Brakespeare Voyage. It's definitely among my favorite FP novels, and I think it'll be especially enjoyable to anyone interested in the cosmic, weird-fiction side of the series. To everyone else who's read this one, what did you think?
