Book Review: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
(Three Stars)
”Everything that’s going to happen has already happened. You just haven’t experienced it yet. We are, all of us, caught within a massive loop of time, bouncing around in the spaces between things.”
Innovative fold-timeline, time-travel story. Narrative follows the protagonist as she tries to figure out when and where she is, what’s happening, and whether she can do anything about it. Hurley worked hard at this; it shows. It could have been the big story of this generation, but it isn’t.
“You all right?” “No. None of us is all right.” “I’m not the bad guy.” “No. We all are.” “I don’t think that’s true.” “Whatever helps you sleep.”
A few decades ago I would have found this cutting edge; now it’s just repetitive. Well-done, but same-ole, same-ole. In her rush to pin all the ills of the world on corporations (and before them nations), Hurley ignores that everyone is guilty. Everyone may be the hero of his or her own story, but more often we’re villains, quick to cast stones at those whose sin we match.
“None of this was our fault. Why are we suffering for it?” “We pay for the sins of those that came before.”
Expletive overkill. Lazy way to illustrate crudity among the soldiers. I served over thirty years; most military don’t swear. (Some swear worse.) Also, there are at least three versions of the “I let out my breath. I didn’t realize I’d been holding it” cliché.
“The lies are what sustained us. The lies kept us going. Gave us hope. Without lies we have to face the truth long before we are ready for it.”
As a Matter of Fancy 