Lisa Henry - Darker Space

Brady Garrett is back on Earth. He’s living with his partner Cam and they’re raising his sister Lucy together. Life is better than some feral reffo from Kopa has any right to hope, and Brady knows it. He’s even grateful for it, most of the time. He loves Cam, even though he’s afraid that he’s not good enough for him, and he’s still having nightmares about the alien Faceless.
Cameron Rushton loved being a pilot once, and he still feels the pull of the starlight. He’s building a life with Brady now, and with Lucy. Life is good, even if it’s not without its complications. Both Brady and Cam are dealing with the endless cycle of interviews, tests, and questions that the military hierarchy hopes will reveal the secrets of the aliens who could very easily destroy humanity. They have each other though, and together they’re making it work.
But from out in the black, Kai-Ren is still watching and everything Brady and Cam think they’ve won, they stand to lose all over again.

Comment: In December I've read the first book in the Dark Space trilogy by Lisa Henry. I had decided then to finish the trilogy, and this is the second installment.

After what happened in the first book, Brady and Cameron are back to Earth to start a life together and, hopefully, out of the attention of the military. However, adapting to life at a slower pace isn't easy and not even having Lucy, Brady's sister, with them is enough to make them forget their recent past. The problem is that they both still have nightmares and Brady in particular struggles to overcome his thoughts and emotions of what went wrong. Still, both have to cope if they want to offer Lucy any kind of stability, but then, seemingly out of nowhere, everything changes again...

This is one of those trilogies that really needs to be read in order. This isn't only due to the fact the main characters are recurrent and we follow them in a continuous progress; the plot is heavily set on previous events and why the guys are now in their current roles. This is to say that, of course, there's structure to the story, but a lot might not make sense if the information from the first book isn't there.

I'll have to say, though, that it feels a little exaggerated that this story was divided into a trilogy, considering the amount of pages and the repetition of some scenes. I understand the idea, that we need to see how much impact everything had on the guys and that it isn't a mere fact; what they went through is cumulative and cannot be put aside easily. But it is fact that this is a short book, and the first wasn't big and I assume the next won't be either... perhaps with a different editing, the overall story could be bigger in page count and not loose the notion the setting changes at times.

The narrator is still Brady, and he remains as daring and loudmouthed as before, which of course hides his more vulnerable side. Brady had dreamed about returning to Earth to take care of his sister and now having Cameron is even better. He also both appreciates and doubts the fact Cameron's parents are there for them and even welcomed him and Lucy do well. He feels this might change if they were to realize how unsuitable he is - or as he feels himself to be - but the worst is really the nightmares. He can't forget about his experience with the aliens.

It's not a surprise this plays such a huge factor in how the story develops, after all the emotional backlash on their minds couldn't simply disappear, but perhaps there was more to it, as we discover. It seems that Cameron and Brady might still be connected somehow, despite what the aliens had done and said when the first book was finished. From this possibility on, the story changes once more, and it goes in a direction that will still involve the aliens.

I cannot say it was such a surprise to see the story line would go back to that point, but it does seem a little too convenient. I won't add spoilers but let if be said there were new adventures in space...

While all this goes on, of course Brady and Cameron remain a couple, continue to trust one another. I like it that the romance carries on, that the new developments didn't change this. I feel the relationship could gain by having both their POVs instead of only Brady's, but Brady is engaging enough to make this a minor complaint.

I will say I was quite taken by what happened, especially from a certain point on, and I'm eager to discover how this story will end. I'll definitely read the third one, but I do think what happens in this second book could have been condensated into one single book, or perhaps a duology as the author has done before.

Grade: 7/10