McDonald, Sandra: The Outback Stars
The Outback Stars
Writer: Sandra McDonald
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 416
Funny but true story: back in June 2006, I was having my mentor meeting with Tobias Buckell and we were discussing books to put on my term reading list. The idea of required reading is to select books that are in some ways similar to what the student is writing and/or does something particularly well that the student has trouble with. At this point, Toby had figured out from my text that I was trying to write science fiction romance, and he started talking about this author he knew that was really good. I suggested we put her work on my list, but he said we couldn't, cause her book hadn't been published yet. I wrote her name down in my notebook for future reference, just in case.
Fast forward to March 2007. I'm reading Best New Paranormal Romance, a short story anthology edited by Paula Guran, and I fall in love with "Fir Na Tine" by Sandra McDonald. And I mean LOVE. I think it was my favorite of the whole anthology. I was so excited by this story that I looked her up online and discovered her debut novel would be hitting the shelves in April.
That novel was The Outback Stars.
And as you may have guessed, Sandra McDonald was that author Toby was singing the praises of back in 2006. I was thoroughly amused when I realized this.
Now, here's where it gets interesting: I bought the book as soon as it was released and . . . didn't read it. Why? I don't know why! No, really, I don't. The only thing I can think of was that I was distracted by OTHER books, including my required reading at the time, and of course, I was trying to finish my own first draft of my thesis novel.
Whatever the reason, I didn't read it, so when it came time to compile my required reading list for this term, The Outback Stars was the first title I stuck on it. After all, I'm making a point to read more SF written by women, and if it's got a romantic subplot, so much the better, cause that's what I'm trying to pull off.
So, without further adieu, my review. Spoilers ahead.
I can't say that I was expecting all that much from this title. I knew there'd be some level of romance, and I knew from several sources that it was a good book. I knew that I really, really, really hoped I'd like it. And I did.
Jodenny Scott is a survivor of the destruction of her previous ship, Yangtze. Theories abound concerning what caused the ship to blow, mostly pointing to terrorism. Jodenny's heroics don't go unnoticed either, and she's able to pull some strings after recovery to get away from pushing paperwork and get another commission on another ship. Despite some misgivings in administration, her prayer is answered, and she's on bound for the Aral Sea. It's an unhappy ship, but she's a good officer. She can handle whatever comes her way. So she thinks.
The Aral Sea is a lot unhappier than she could've ever guessed. Her position in Underway Stores was supposed to go to someone else, and that someone else isn't happy. On top of that, she has a major breakdown during a drill that flashes her back to the tragedy on the Yangtze. Then there's Myell--an officer who was accused of rape, never charged, and attracts bad luck like a magnet.
For what I thought would be a rather simple plot, it's very complex. There's more to this story than Myell, an sargent falsely accused of rape and getting beat up because of it. More to the rather obvious fact that someone's smuggling stuff in and out of Underway Stores, and those same someones are also the people beating the shit out of Myell. There's the fact that the romance between Jodenny and Myell is practically impossible because she's his commanding officer. There's also the tangential mystery about what really made the Yangtze blow up, and it has something to do with a mysterious yet missing alien race that created interstellar travel.
Jodenny is a complex character. Unlike the leading ladies of Asaro's Skolian Empire series and Moon's Vatta's War series, Jodenny is no pampered girl. Orphaned as a child, she never knew her parents and had to work her ass off for everything she's got. Honor and duty's important to her, which is what makes her such a relentless officer when it comes to running a tight ship. Her medals for her heroics embarrass her because she was doing her job and the medals won't bring back the people she lost, namely her best friend and her lover.
Myell is also complex. A victim of an abusive brother, Myell's used to taking a beating lying down and not standing up for himself, even though he can't help but help out people in need. This makes him easy fodder for the on-ship gangs that are in charge of the smuggling ring, and then there's the fact he keeps dreaming of an Aboriginal shaman, a Wirrinun, and the dream imagery is all pointing to his own Australian roots he knows nothing about but feels is connected to the larger mystery of the alien race and transport between the stars.
There's a lot of lovely cultural detail in this book, and we get just enough about Earth to understand that things went terribly, terribly wrong (all the ships in the fleet are named after environmental disasters on Earth), and only now are colonists of all color and ethnicity and class able to travel to the stars. McDonald's own experience in the Navy also shows through quite clearly. While I've never been in the military myself, a very good friend of mine has, and I've heard enough that McDonald's confident detailing of the ship and its crew rang true for me.
It was also quite pleasant to see the romance develop between Jodenny and Myell. Both characters deny their feelings for very obvious reasons, yet they can't help but find themselves working with each other to figure out what's really going on in Underway Stores, as well as the strange alien artifacts that transport people between the stars.
All these plots connect rather well at the end, in a pleasing and surprising manner. In some ways, some of the action lacked causal effect--I wasn't sure why Myell got a fake ID for Jodenny when she was currently on the ship and was pissed at him, and how she was able to coincidentally run into him when she went AWOL herself. But I can forgive that, because once the characters start working together, it's quite enjoyable. Though I will say that toward the end, if felt like their POVs kind of blended together. I wasn't always sure if I was in Myell's or Jodenny's POV, and there were times I got both character's internal thoughts. Oh well. By that point in the book, I can't say I cared.
The book is kind of like a cross between Elizabeth Moon's Trading in Danger and Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire books, but I found Jodenny far more accessible as a character than Kylara Vatta, and the romance in this book is far tamer than Asaro's stuff. The writing is smooth, and McDonald has a great handle on character. And I should really stress that the romance isn't the primary focus of this book. It's an excellent blend of SF with romantic subplot, so it's very accessible. There were some definite twists in this book I didn't see coming, and I'm looking forward to the sequel, The Stars Down Under, which will be released in March.
And I don't think I'll wait quite as long to read that sucker. I can't wait to see what McDonald does in this universe, as well as her romantic leads. It'll be a lot of fun, as well as educational, to see how this relationship develops and grows. I'm hoping to learn something. :)
Next up: Neuromancer by William Gibson and/or The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho