- Author: Kameron Hurley
- Publisher: Tachyon
- Publication date: July 2018
Kameron Hurley delivers with this set of five novellas from the Bel Dame Apocrypha series. Each of them centers around Nyx, who is–well–Nyx.
The book follows the various jobs that Nyx and her crew take on. Mainly, though, the focus is on Nyx herself as she struggles with a leadership role.
To put it lightly, Nyx is not the easiest person to love. She is almost completely selfish. For example, in one scene a crew member saves someone’s life and leaves something valuable behind; Nyx berates them for not getting the valuables first and going back to see if the person was still alive. She is incredibly stubborn and gives off a vibe that she doesn’t really care about the majority of her crew as individual people. She just cares that she has a crew. Yet Nyx is competent and acknowledges were weaknesses. Doing something about her shortcomings, though? Nah. And while she will leave a crew member to die if it benefits her in the short run, she still does depend on them. Her character is excellently written, along with the others.
Another positive about this book is how it incorporates grimdark and new weird elements (bugpunk, for example) seamlessly in the world. Nyx’s moral seems to be, “A job is a job. If it pays well, take it.” The world is full of morally grey characters. Nyx might be extreme, but her crew isn’t innocent either. And despite the perspective being mainly hers, the other characters are still well developed.
A minor issue is that parts of the stories felt a little too slow. This will vary with taste, of course. However, these few sections (in the entire book) slightly threw off the pacing for me. I found it tended to happen just after the job was accepted but before the job actually started. Like I said, this is a minor issue.
I confess that I haven’t yet read God’s War, so perhaps I spoiled myself for something there. However, I truly feel that this collection stands on its own very well. I devoured this book, and I’m pretty sure it ate a little piece of my heart, too.
[I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
