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caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexual content
tsunni's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This is like a mix of Cyberpunk, Full Metal Jacket, Old Man's War, and time travel; a deliberately confusing mix of the horrors of war and jumping through time and obedience to too-powerful all-surveilling corporations manufacturing reality for their own gain. Expertly written in easy to read prose and bluntly disturbing imagery, the story viewpoint follows the main character Dietz, a poor nobody subcitizen who enlists in a corporate army for a chance to be a privileged member of society in some impossibly distant timeframe, and we watch her go completely mad (or go completely sane) over the course of the book as it jumps between a discordant number of timeframes, scifi tech horrors, and brutal scenes of war.
I didn't find the jumping and out of order timeframes too confusing to follow, but I also think we're not entirely meant to be able to keep up with it; it's not what the book is about. Instead I was hit harder by how much Dietz's world was an extension of our own, how reality was whatever the powerful wanted it to be, how dehumanized and mindless she was deliberately trained to become, how class warfare and misinformation was weaponized, how people are broken down and seen as disposable by the powerful. I think this story emotionally resounded with me because I see so many parallels with the directions the US and other parts of the western world has been going lately (especially today, a day after the US Supreme Court struck down the Chevron Doctrine).
Unlike Starship Troopers, which is the obvious direct novel comparison and a book I'd never liked, the clear message here in The Light Brigade -- one given in an almost direct author-to-reader plea in a forgivable deus ex machina ending -- is that the power to change all this for the better resides in the people, and reality is what we can make it; if we could scrape together the willpower to do it. Whether that's the right answer or not to our societal woes (and I don't expect Hurley or anyone else to have a simple answer, because there isn't one), I really enjoyed this novel and what it tried to do, and I think it's one I'd reread at some point.
I didn't find the jumping and out of order timeframes too confusing to follow, but I also think we're not entirely meant to be able to keep up with it; it's not what the book is about. Instead I was hit harder by how much Dietz's world was an extension of our own, how reality was whatever the powerful wanted it to be, how dehumanized and mindless she was deliberately trained to become, how class warfare and misinformation was weaponized, how people are broken down and seen as disposable by the powerful. I think this story emotionally resounded with me because I see so many parallels with the directions the US and other parts of the western world has been going lately (especially today, a day after the US Supreme Court struck down the Chevron Doctrine).
Unlike Starship Troopers, which is the obvious direct novel comparison and a book I'd never liked, the clear message here in The Light Brigade -- one given in an almost direct author-to-reader plea in a forgivable deus ex machina ending -- is that the power to change all this for the better resides in the people, and reality is what we can make it; if we could scrape together the willpower to do it. Whether that's the right answer or not to our societal woes (and I don't expect Hurley or anyone else to have a simple answer, because there isn't one), I really enjoyed this novel and what it tried to do, and I think it's one I'd reread at some point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Classism
jclymer's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual content
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Animal death and Torture
abigail_lo's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
it really was a solid 3 or 3.5 until the last few pages. i could feel how meticulously planned this book’s plot was — if anything, it was almost too convoluted to follow. my critique of the first 90% of the book is that i had to spend quite a bit of my brain cells just figuring out the timeline, which means i couldn’t get invested in the characters. but for the last bit, the plot (and specifically the mechanics) just made no sense to me. the book presents itself as a harder sci-fi book, but then it completely glosses over any explanation of the ending? i get the poeticism of it and everything coming full circle, but like — i’m still a bit annoyed that after wracking my brain over this plot for 300+ pages, it doesn’t even make sense in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Police brutality, and War
Moderate: Xenophobia
shellbellbell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Update: Listened to this on audiobook for a reread and it was even better the second time. Cara Gee (actress who played Camina Drummer on The Expanse) does an amazing job as the narrator. There's so much I love about this book: the thrilling pacing, the first person POV, the character stuff, the desperation and trauma and intensity. It is an intense book - I'd put major TWs on it for war violence, death, body horror. But it was thrilling to read the first time and to read again.
Great military sci fi read. Has a thriller mystery vibe with a harsh critique of fascist capitalism along the way. I can't describe it too much more without giving away the plot, but I really liked the ending. Looking forward to exploring more of Kameron Hurley's works.
Great military sci fi read. Has a thriller mystery vibe with a harsh critique of fascist capitalism along the way. I can't describe it too much more without giving away the plot, but I really liked the ending. Looking forward to exploring more of Kameron Hurley's works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and War
tato_gremlin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An absolutely riveting ride - I read this in two sittings, unable to put it down. The time travel timeline broke my brain a bit before I fully grasped what was happening, so I'm hoping to revisit it soon to savor the prose and pick up on details I might have missed.
Hurley's ultra-capitalist dystopia is a terrifying vision of an imagined future, and the novel doesn't flinch away from everything that entails. There's a powerful anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist critique here, and the book is better for it.
Hurley's ultra-capitalist dystopia is a terrifying vision of an imagined future, and the novel doesn't flinch away from everything that entails. There's a powerful anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist critique here, and the book is better for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War
tahnok's review against another edition
3.0
Standard military scifi start, didn't care about the main character for a long time. Ending felt a bit too "power of love"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and War
nittiotvaan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pandemic/Epidemic
nekoshka's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Classism