Cameron Rushton loved the starlight once, but being back on board the Faceless ship forces him to confront the memories of the time he was captured by Kai-Ren, and exactly how much of what was done to him that he can no longer rationalize away. Cam is used to being Brady’s rock, but this time it might be him who needs Brady’s support.
This time Brady is surrounded by the people he loves most in the universe, but that only means their lives are in danger too. And when Kai-Ren’s fascination with humanity threatens the foundations of Faceless society, Brady and Cam and the rest of the team find themselves thrust into a battle that humans have very little hope of winning, let alone surviving.
Comment: This is the third installment in the Dark Space trilogy by author Lisa Henry, which concludes the story of the adventures in space facing some aliens which weren't always bad but certainly never really good.
At the end of the second book, Brady and Cameron along with a few others went on to stay on board of a Faceless space ship, for scientific reasons included in the treaty between humans and the aliens. Adapting hasn't been easy for all the same way but they are all alive and they have been managing. Things change when, seemingly for no reason, another Faceless ship approaches and some of the new aliens decide they want to meet the humans. After that, nothing goes as planned and it even starts to look as if everyone is in danger, included the Faceless in the ship where Brady and others have been staying. Could this be the ships are actually enemies? What will happen to these humans trapped in space in the middle of a conflict?
Once again, this wasn't a very big story but it had enough content to make it seem busier than what it really was. I'd go as far as to say that the first chapters were more about the setting up of things than about real important situations, a trend I've also noticed in the previous books, mostly in the second one, since the first was certainly more planned, I think.
This plot is developed on board of the alien ship and this does seem to limit a little certain possibilities, but I think the author found an interesting way to make this feel less restrictive, mainly by adding a few details about the aliens which allow for a broader perspective. For instance, since the group has been staying in the ship for a long time, the food they took would not last forever and I think the solution for this was quite clever. Of course, it is related to the aliens and this, too, was used to advance the plot because some of the issues faced later on were kind of a consequence of the "help" given to the humans.
I won't spoiler things but the reality is that despite the incompatibility between humans and aliens, there are some elements the aliens can use to help the humans stay healthy without their regular needs such as food and other types of health care. When a new ship appears and other aliens discover the results of this help, everyone is on danger and from this moment on the story really became more alive and with action scenes, and not as much musing or inner thoughts as before, during the beginning of the story.
When the conflict begins, things become really complicated for the group of humans and not only because of uncertainty related to what will happen with the other ship. I think this part of the story was fast paced and much easier to follow, even though it also includes some stressful moments. There is also a very specific element which brings in a whole new perspective on things and that did elevate the story quite a bit. As expected, the biggest issues were solved in a way I was happy with, in the sense that no character I cared about was harmed.
The romance between Brady and Cameron was pretty much just the basics. They are a stable couple, which is wonderful and satisfying to see, but nothing special happened either. I feel happy for them but, like I said in regards to the previous book, since this is an established element, perhaps the overall story didn't have to be divided into three parts...
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