A review by publius
Invisible Republic, Vol. 1 by Jordan Boyd, Corinna Bechko, Dylan Todd, Gabriel Hardman
2.0
There's something about Invisible Republic that makes me feel like it was produced in the wrong medium. Nominated for a Hugo, it's clearly written with a mind towards more profound depths, but the pacing of the story just hints at the direction and scope before dropping the reader at an unsatisfying cliffhanger.
I wanted very much to like it, but with a pallet that felt arbitrarily limited, a story that felt lacking, and a plot that never really seemed to arrive, I finished Invisible Republic feeling more frustrated than excited. There is potential here--but the potential, even for an installment in a series, is unrealized. Without reason to sympathize with either the characters or place, the reader is left to wonder who they should be cheering, or even mourning. It takes the order to "cut to the chase" and cuts completely past it to the aftermath. Perhaps future installments of the story will pull the threads of story together, but in comparison to past Hugo nominees and winners in this category, Invisible Republic feels like a stunted effort.
I wanted very much to like it, but with a pallet that felt arbitrarily limited, a story that felt lacking, and a plot that never really seemed to arrive, I finished Invisible Republic feeling more frustrated than excited. There is potential here--but the potential, even for an installment in a series, is unrealized. Without reason to sympathize with either the characters or place, the reader is left to wonder who they should be cheering, or even mourning. It takes the order to "cut to the chase" and cuts completely past it to the aftermath. Perhaps future installments of the story will pull the threads of story together, but in comparison to past Hugo nominees and winners in this category, Invisible Republic feels like a stunted effort.