Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've really enjoyed Tade Thompson's work in the past--especially his imagination above all else--so it was a no-brainer to take up an actual spacefaring SF with a fair degree of relish.

From what I understand, it was meant to be a Poe riff, a locked-room mystery on a spacecraft, but it quickly diverted from that course with some of the trademark IDEA stuff I like so much from Tade's writing. Originality always gets super high marks in my head, even over excellent writing. It's what makes me always come back for more.

In this case, it was pretty much only the ideas that carried this book for me. The plot, unfortunately, was slightly odd, or at least a bit too subtle against the actual SFnal backdrop and several big reversals.

Mind you, I think subtlety is a fine, fine thing, but it must be matched with a proper breath in the text. And this? The flavors were a bit of a mismatch. I'm not saying it was a bad book, but it isn't on the same level as the great trilogy.

Do I recommend? Perhaps--if you like to hunt for subtlety. Just don't really expect it to pan out as a true mystery, either.

Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.

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