Dead Space: Novel Review
Hey, dear reader. Another Monday, another review!
Before we dive in, I wanted to shout out an event I’m hosting online later this month! It’s a book launch event for Carson Winter’s latest release: A Spectre Is Haunting Greentree. The event is only August 15th at 6pm MT/8pm ET. It’s totally free and will have a live reading, author interview, audience Q&A, and three giveaways so you have a chance to win a copy of the book! So, if you’re free that night, why not reserve your free spot and hang out?
The Author
I have been writing fiction my entire life, but for a long time I thought I would be a scientist when I grew up. On my first day of college, I discovered that geology was the one field where I could get course credit for hiking and camping, so that's what I picked. I studied geology at Brown University and went on to graduate school at the University of Colorado at Boulder, eventually earning a PhD in geophysics doing research on Himalayan mountain-building and Indian earthquakes.
After attending the Clarion Writers' Workshop at the University of California at San Diego in 2010, I devoted myself in earnest to writing. I sold my first short story in fall of that same year. My short fiction has appeared in a number of science fiction and fantasy magazines, including Clarkesworld, F&SF, Asimov's, Lightspeed, and Tor.com.
— Kali Wallace’s About Me page on her website
You can check out more on Wallace’s website, or follow her on Instagram.
The Book
Hester Marley used to have a plan for her life. But when a catastrophic attack left her injured, indebted, and stranded far from home, she was forced to take a dead-end security job with a powerful mining company in the asteroid belt. Now she spends her days investigating petty crimes to help her employer maximize its profits. She’s surprised to hear from an old friend and fellow victim of the terrorist attack that ruined her life—and that surprise quickly turns to suspicion when he claims to have discovered something shocking about their shared history and the tragedy that neither of them can leave behind.
Before Hester can learn more, her friend is violently murdered at a remote asteroid mine. Hester joins the investigation to find the truth, both about her friend’s death and the information he believed he had uncovered. But catching a killer is only the beginning of Hester’s worries, and she soon realizes that everything she learns about her friend, his fellow miners, and the outpost they call home brings her closer to revealing secrets that very powerful and very dangerous people would rather keep hidden in the depths of space.
— Dead Space book description from Wallace’s website
Released in March, 2021 through Berkley, Dead Space is a sci-fi horror novel by Kali Wallace and absolutely not related to the game series of the same name. Essentially, the book is a murder mystery set in space and dealing with themes of racism, xenophobia, corporate corruption, and worker's rights. It was also nominated and won the 2022 Philip K. Dick Award.
The Review
You know me, I love a good space horror and I really love one with a strong femme protagonist and Wallace delivers with Dead Space. Legit cannot gush about this book enough.
Wallace shines with her world building, pacing, atmosphere, and characters. The book opens up strong with our protagonist, Hester, investigating a crime. We get to know her more, then she gets a weird message from an old acquaintance who ends up dead — dun dun duuuuuh — and the mystery begins!
Wallace’s characters and their complex relationships really shine and I love the aspect of a “locked room” murder mystery on a remote station on a desolate asteroid. We learn Hester’s old acquaintance may have discovered something on this asteroid and was likely killed for it, which also means the killer is still in the station!
Hester is someone I really grew to connect with and love. Wallace does an amazing job building Hester through her actions and flashbacks that show us who she was before she was essentially conscripted to work security for the Parthenope company. Her struggles to deal with her traumatic past and relatively new prosthetic limbs, while also trying to solve the mystery on the asteroid station, make for a captivating, emotional journey.
Hester isn’t the only one I ended up rooting for, but also her fellow investigator, Adisa, and the smarmy lawyer, Hugo. All have their facets and moments that really make them shine.
I loved this slow burn, which had enough twists and turns that I never knew what to expect. Incredibly well written and paced, besides being a murder mystery, Dead Space also explores serious themes like capitalism, racism, and the role of technology in the characters’ lives — for good or bad.
As the tension grows heavier, we slowly unravel the secret — Wallace is a queen of misdirection so I never saw the end coming — on the station and how it relates to the main character and what it means for the galaxy. The ending was magnificent. I am still thinking about it, just perfection.
This is my favourite read this year, by far! I would 100% recommend it, whether you’re a space horror fan or not.
Like right now, go and read it!
10/10
x PLM
