Reviews with content warning for Child death - The Light Brigade

I had a really tough time with the first half of the book. The hard military stuff was not me at all, but there was a moment where a switch flipped and I was in the world of the book. Last half paid for all.

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nekoshka's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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anxiousnachos's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

3.5

This was a really cool concept: sci-fi war between Mars and corporations on Earth with soldiers who are turned into light to beam them across the galaxy, but sometimes that results in them experiencing the war differently. It raised such interesting questions around culpability in war, power structures, and how people can change cycles of violence. But the writing was a little detached for me and so I didn’t feel very strongly about any of the characters. But very cool premise!

Content warnings: extreme and graphic depictions of war (inc use of both biological and chemical weapons), torture, blood/gore, violence (inc against civilians and children), death

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booknug's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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alina_leonova's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I can't even tell you how big an impression this book made on me! But let's start with the basics, as always.

Characters
The main character is Dietz, and since I wasn't sure about their gender until the end of the book, and I don't know if that was meant this way or I just missed it (i totally could have missed it), I won't reveal it here either, just in case. Dietz enlists in the army after losing their family to the Martian attack. They are a bitter but caring person who wants to protect the people they love. The character arc is very compelling, as the reader gets to observe the gradual change of Dietz's beliefs and goals as they discover more and more information about the war. There are also quite a lot of people they serve with, and sometimes I got lost as to who was who, but the author did a great job keeping track of them, considering the nature of the story.

Plot
The plot is so original and fascinating! It's non-linear, all of the events happen out of order as time travel is involved. It requires a lot of skill to pull off something like that, and Kameron Hurley did it brilliantly.

World-building
The world-building is done just right to be immersive. The world is ruled by six big corporations, and people are divided into a class system: citizens, who have the most privileges, access to health care and best living conditions, residents, who have only some of the privileges and ghouls, who basically have no rights. It's possible but extremely tough to move into a higher class, and joining the army is the only way for ghouls like Dietz. Citizenship is, in fact, belonging to a certain corp, not a country. The corps control access to information and posses advanced technology, the most impressive of which is probably their ability to turn people into light and send them anywhere in the world at the speed of light.

Impressions
I couldn't put the book down! There is so much in it that I liked: the plot twists, the complexity and ingenuity of its structure, the clever observations about human nature, the intimate first person narration, the flawed protagonist who gets a chance to grow, the criticism of some of the real-world issues, the originality. It's a great and well-written story, but what made it stand out most was the way it was told.

The book explores the meaninglessness and cruelty of war, poses the questions about inequality, class system, capitalism, exploitation, manipulation and brainwashing. It's gory, which I think is suitable for a story about war, and at the same time human connection and taking care of each other are a crucial part of it. I really enjoyed the author's style and her unique voice.

You might enjoy the book if you like military and time travel sci-fi, mind-bending thrillers, non-linear stories and don't mind gore / violence / death.

Check out my website about sci-fi by women and non-binary authors for book reviews, lists, interviews, short stories and more.

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hello_cori's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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spoth's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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