The three books of this trilogy—Refuge, Aftershock, and The Bereft—tell the story of the Vennan delegation sent to Tradepoint Station, a meeting and trading place for all sentient lifeforms. Their mission: to demonstrate the arts, trades, music, dance, and crafts of their beloved world, Venna. While most other races that visit Tradepoint rely on technology, Vennans are blessed with many magical Gifts, one of which enables them to travel great distances through space with no ship. But everything about their visit—its purpose, their social rankings, and their cultural organization—changes when young Gredin is visited in her sleep by the Power, who tells her a) Venna is no more; all those left behind are gone; b) she is the one the Power has chosen to lead the delegation through this calamity; and c) she is bidden to find New Venna.
The rest of the tale unfolds through the Vennans’ stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Author J.J. Blacklocke does a masterful job of demonstrating young Gredin’s strength and courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. She makes impossible choices for the good of her people and overcomes the resistance of those Vennans who wish to maintain long-established traditions, which no longer serve their best interests. Overall, the story was an interesting commentary on the difficulty of effecting social adaptation, even when the need is inescapable.
But the tide of change that sweeps through the Vennan delegation—now the sole remaining Vennan community—affects everyone else on the station, as well. 900 Vennans, forced to remain longer than expected aboard a space station with limited resources, strains not only the station’s food supplies and living space, but relations between the Vennans, their station hosts, and the other races. Gredin and her chosen counsel of five must find a way to convince their hosts they can earn their keep, find food sources that won’t kill them, avoid those races that would do them harm, and salve damaged relations with other races whose resources they now require. Blacklocke skillfully shows readers the varying perspectives from each race’s point of view without losing coherence or becoming too confusing. This made it easier to relate to even seemingly hostile races, a nice trick, but not easy to accomplish.
There is also a delightful mix of “magic” vs. technology. Blacklocke demonstrates how each has its drawbacks as well as its benefits, and how they can work together or at odds. Sometimes, magic brings the Vennans into conflict with the other races. Other times, the station’s technology brings harm to the Vennans. Even the most advanced solutions won’t work in every situation or for every individual, a point made with crystal clarity in this story.
The pacing is a bit slower than I usually prefer, but that didn’t detract from the story at all. I am not sure, exactly, how much time (as we know it) actually passes between page 1 of book 1 and the last page of book 3—each chapter starts with a time stamp in station time, which meant nothing to me but was still all kinds of cool—but there is still a constant sense of a ticking clock. The station’s governing body (on the planet below) is unsympathetic to the Vennans’ plight, unlike the station’s on-site director who is working hard to find ways to help them. According to station policy, which must be enforced across the board regardless of mitigating circumstances, the Vennans will be required to leave the station after a certain number of “rotations.” If they can’t find New Venna before that time, they will be forced to depart. With no ships, no world, and nowhere to go, they are trapped between Poe’s pit and pendulum. Even when I should have been doing other essential tasks in my own world, Gredin and her people held me fast in theirs. I could not put these books down.
With its mixture of science, technology, and “magic,” I would classify the Tradepoint Saga as science fantasy, and I loved every minute. I did read this on Kindle Unlimited, but I will probably also purchase copies for my own ebook library. Most definitely recommended.