![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/EmbersOfWar.jpg?resize=328%2C499&ssl=1\")
By Gareth L. Powell\nTitan Books, ISBN: 978-1785655180
\nPaperback, 411 pages. \u00a92018\n
<\/p>By Gareth L. Powell
\nTitan Books, ISBN: 978-1785655180
\nPaperback, 411 pages. \u00a92018\n
Three years have passed since the horrific war crime at Pelepetarn. Seemingly unconnected events draw four individuals\u2014a Reclamation captain with much to lose, a poet with a past, an intelligence agent who wants out, and a warship with a conscience\u2014into a distant, disputed system to rescue possible survivors of a downed ship.<\/p>\n
But things don\u2019t go as planned when the recovery crew discovers a prize everyone would want, and most would kill to control. The problem? Someone else found it first, and they want no witnesses.<\/p>\n
Embers of War is a military sci-fi novel that kept me up past my bedtime every night. I didn\u2019t want to put it down. It\u2019s fast-paced, and filled with tension. But author Gareth Powell also does a masterful job of weaving character development into the action. Bit by bit, we come to know each of the point-of-view characters and, in the process, learn what drives them to their decisions and actions. I found myself rooting for all of them, and even wondering what I would have done in their circumstances.<\/p>\n
Wartime predicaments often leave no \u201cgood\u201d choices. In the aftermath, leaders who give orders\u2014and those who follow them\u2014must learn to live with the consequences. Embers takes us into the minds of ex-soldiers who\u2019ve done and seen things that still haunt their dreams. Even non-military characters have been affected by the past war and, more to the point, the present brewing tensions. As the story progresses, their ever-ready responses in a few scenes exposed as much about their state of mind as did their poignant reflections or their longing to make amends.<\/p>\n
Even though there are five point-of-view characters, the entire book is told in first person, with each chapter named for the character who\u2019s speaking. At first this caught me off-guard, but I adapted quickly, even found it refreshing. I especially enjoyed the chapters with Trouble Dog, the warship with a conscience. Unveiling her personality felt like unwrapping a gift. Each little detail revealed layers to her that felt, well, human to me. Given that her \u201cbrain\u201d came from human and canine stem cells, I fully bought her characterization and was hooked on seeing where the story would carry her.<\/p>\n
None of the characters are stereotypical heroes or villains. Instead, I found Embers peopled by multilayered, complex individuals. Each carried baggage. Each sought to be more now than they were then. Each surprised me at least once. One character, Nod, is completely alien in his speech and appearance, and yet I related to him, to his simplicity. I was able to understand his mindset, and enjoyed his brief interludes.<\/p>\n
The story was complex enough to keep the tension wound tight and to hold my eyes on the pages, though not so much so that I got confused about the details. I read it in a week, but I would have read it faster were it not for other obligations. It was that hard to stop. The second book, Fleet of Knives, is out, and I\u2019ll be reading that as well. The third book, The Light of Impossible Stars, is (I believe) due out in 2020. It\u2019s already on my to-be-read list.<\/p>\n
In Embers of War, Powell has successfully mingled a plot-driven narrative with a character-driven one, and the novel shines for his efforts. I\u2019m looking forward to following Trouble Dog and her crew in the next adventure.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Gareth L. Powell Titan Books, ISBN: 978-1785655180 Paperback, 411 pages. \u00a92018 Three years have passed since the horrific war crime at Pelepetarn. Seemingly unconnected events draw four individuals\u2014a Reclamation captain with much to lose, a poet with a past, an intelligence agent who wants out, and a warship with a conscience\u2014into a distant, disputed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/EmbersOfWar.jpg?fit=328%2C499&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-nt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5338,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/ragged-alice\/","url_meta":{"origin":1455,"position":0},"title":"Ragged Alice","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Gareth Powell \u00a9 4\/23\/2019 by Tordotcom File Size 5324 KB ASIN: B07HF2Q1CV I have read and enjoyed other Gareth Powell books, all of which were science fiction. Ragged Alice is not sci-fi; instead, it\u2019s a paranormal mystery, and it\u2019s every bit as good as I expected from this author.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A pale woman's face emerges from a shadowy background. Across her eyes is a piece of yellow crime tape. Text reads, \"She sees the evil in their souls. Ragged Alice. Gareth L. 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