Well Executed and Entertaining

The message is awfully heavyhanded - humans will destroy any new worlds they explore, and must be stopped. But you know that going in, so you can take that or leave it as you are inclined. The fun here is in the execution. The book is cast as a noir, or a police procedural, so think of it as the first green-noir.

Our main character is Captain Toussaint. There has been a murder at the isolated research station on planet Biotope, and Toussaint and his grumpy team have been dispatched to the planet to investigate. The scientists on site are defensive, hostile, and secretive. The actual murder is more or less beside the point; the investigation is where the story begins. Toussaint is confronted by a variety of types; some are amusing, some are ridiculous, and some are dangerous. What's going on? Well, that's the point.

This is one story arc carried through two volumes, and the reader should commit to both volumes because the first ends in a major cliffhanger, and the most fun is in the second book. SPOILER. It's not giving away much to observe that the first book ends in explosions and violence, and the second book moves beyond the original mystery into more of a survival/eco-philosophical/thriller mode. That was fine by me, and made this much more than a crime drama. Again, it's not much of a spoiler to note that the resolution was, to me, amusing, dry, and satisfying.

In any event, the most fun is in the characters, and in that regard Toussaint performs admirably. Deadpan humor, wry detachment, and a certain world weariness are nicely balanced by Toussaint's maturity and professional pride, and he is a capable character who holds the reader's attention. I enjoyed his company, and I'm not sure you could ask for much more than that from a novel like this.

As to the drawing, I was at first disappointed. The drawing is crisp and clear, with good inking and colors, but it was a little on the cartoony side. As the book developed, though, it became clear that the tale was driven by dialogue and character interaction, and I felt no need for elegant art or fancy splash pages. The art ended up as complementary to the story, and not distracting, and that seemed just right.

So, I enjoyed this, and enjoyed it more and more as it progressed, which I guess is the best thing you could hope for.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)