R
Read June 2024
Recommended for fans of exploration sci-fi
★ ★ ★ 1/2
Here we are, merrily running down the road, doing our sci-fi thing and boom! A deer crosses right in front and I have to slam on the brakes. Welcome to my emotional parallel for Lab Rat One, the second book in a previously fascinating story about a woman who is pulled through a wormhole to another planet. As an aside, now that I think about it, it is definitely the sci-fi equivalent to a portal fantasy, which I've seen popping up more and more, which could probably be interpreted a cultural statement for our times.
"And tried not to look at the smooth white scar of the new settlement. I don't like to think too much about the impact I've had on this world."
Which is actually one of the most interesting things about this series to date, the introspection this young person brings to her experiences. It is, I suppose, a coming-of-age story, if in the sense of coming-of-age one means 'wrestle with identity and meaning.' Personally, I did it in my teens, in my twenties, in my forties, and, well, yesterday, so I prefer to thinking of it as 'a thinking person ponders existence.'
At any rate, our Cassandra (oh, yes, no subtlety here) continues to work with the elite squad of psychic Setari, as her own ability is to amplify those talents. The Setari are continuing to worry about the rifts that allow incursions from other places, similar to what Cass herself experienced, only in most cases the creatures are Lovecraftian. At the same time, wider world politics start to come into play as the Tarens (oh, yes!) want to re-open their ancestral planet, Muina, the planet where Cass emerged and they encountered her. As the world-building opens up, we start to discover why the Tarens are so similar to Earth people, and you know, I think it worked for me. Cass speculates about her new world using cultural references and I appreciate the context. A pet peeve of mine is when people in books are discovering the extraordinary and it takes a suspiciously long time, as if they never heard of zombies or wormholes.
"I was already too aware of how little I knew, and particularly worried about mixing up what was history, what was mythology, and what were things I'd seen on Stargate."
So much of the story is actually in the relationship-building, of Cass learning to interact with the highly-skilled, regimented Setari, and them in turn understanding her personhood. Such a good metaphor for life, no? Cass expands her connections in both small and life-threatening ways, and I thought the balance worked very well, both in plotting and in narrative voice. While Cass engages in a lot of self-reflection, she also has humor about her navel-gazing and her role among the Terans.
"I sure as hell don't want to play Helen in a space-aged Trojan War."
What didn't work was the ending. All along, Cass has wrestled with very strong feelings for Ruuel, one of the Setari Squad leaders, but at a low, persistent, one-sided level. It abruptly accelerates from country drive to highway race and while it would make eventual sense, the pace change doesn't.
Or maybe it does; I was eighteen once and made abrupt decisions.
However, the transition was complicated enough that it turned me off reading further, instead investigating what book 3 in the trilogy would look like and electing to stop here for awhile. It's a pity, because Host's writing is very engaging and Cassandra's voice equally so. Nonetheless, I recommend it.
"I guess, in a stressed, periodically lonely and uncertain of the future way, I'm happy here."
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