Book-Thirsty Thursday: Outpost, W. Michael Gear

While W. Michael Gear’s Outpost has some extraordinary worldbuilding, it doesn’t pay off quite as much as a first novel usually does.

There was a brief and shining moment while I was reading Outpost by W. Michael Gear in which I thought that I was about to venture into something like a book form of the original Dead Space, probably without any necromorphs but with some sort of unknown menace threatening the living at the very least.

And, to be fair, DAW sent this reviewer a very decent sci-fi novel. It’s just that it doesn’t quite go where you think it goes, and it’s also the start of a series. So if you want to find out any of the grand, overarching mysteries, you’ll need to keep reading.

Standard operating procedure, sure. However, it’s hard to not have any sort of clue about what could be happening (or only mild clues) and want to figure everything out without worrying that you’ll just be strung along for the rest of the series.

There are two dangling sort-of mysteries throughout the book: the nature of the quetzals of Donovan (the main planet, suffused with resources but also a bit like Australia in planet form, since everything’s trying to kill you) as well as what happened to the Freelander, a supply ship sent from the solar system only to appear late and as if it’s traveled through time. (You can guess which reminded this reader of Dead Space.)

To have both mysteries function requires some particularly strong worldbuilding, and Gear has that in spades. Some of the book’s biggest reveals are based in just how deadly Donovan is. Gear easily unfolds these layers. The book doesn’t trend too far into explaining everything about the world, either, which would have been easy considering his creation of the Corporation, which governs quite literally everything. We learn just enough about it to understand how pervasive its powers are.

Gear’s main characters, however, range from being a bit flat to well-developed. Yours truly expected to like Talina Perez, one of the main leaders of the people on Donovan, the best. It would make sense, since she’s the main character, though not the only POV character. Ultimately, however, Shig, another leader and more of a supporting character, ended up as the most interesting. Unflappable and ultimately the wittiest character, his appearances lightened the book considerably.

But with a story that feels unsatisfying because of how it leaves so much dangling, it’s hard to justify keeping interest in this series, at least for me. Part of the uncertainty is simply baked in to the nature of Gear’s world here. Indeed, it’s a major plot point that how ships reach Donovan is essentially through the nature of technology that nobody understands. But still more of it could have been explored in this first book to lead to some sort of breakthrough.

Next: Review: Tarnished City, Vic James

Considering that the book’s cover seems to focus on the Freelander instead of what actually takes up the bulk of the novel, some disappointment seems justified.

Outpost is currently available through multiple retailers, including Barnes and Noble.