This is the first book written by Kameron Hurley that I have read, which I did because it is nominated for the 2020 Best Novel Hugo Award and 2020 Best Novel Locus Award. I have noticed that most people have a bimodal reaction to her work, i.e. either they love it or hate it. However, that doesn't include me because although I didn't love The Light Brigade I didn't hate it either. To me it is flawed, in that it has one central idea, which it repeats over and over (and over) again. (I myself won't repeat the idea because it would be something of a spoiler.) This repetition becomes a bit tedious for the reader. The Light Brigade is also clearly a military science fiction novel, which is most definitely not my favorite sub-genre of SF.
The book definitely has multiple strengths. I really appreciated the way the gender of the main character is not revealed explicitly until VERY late in the book (I am pleased that I picked the correct one). By constantly referring to the main character as Dietz in a way where the character's gender is unclear, and also providing the inner monologue of Dietz also without referring to their own gender (and having them be attracted to, and couple with, both men and women) is an interesting commentary on gender (and sexuality), especially in the context of a militaristic novel. There are multiple references and descriptions of Dietz's hair but this is not enough to answer the question if they are male, female or non-binary.
Another strength of the book is its commentary on capitalism and citizenship. The central feature of life in the world of The Light Brigade are the corporations (or corps) and citizenship. People are either citizens, residents or "ghouls" (basically stateless non-persons). Dietz is a resident (due to the sacrifices of her parents--she grew up as neither a resident or citizen) and has volunteered for service in order to become a citizen after 10 years of service (although very, very few people survive the war that long!
The war that Dietz is fighting is against Martians--but those "Martians" are humans who have colonized Mars and terraformed it, establishing their own society without the influence of the rapacious corps. The media is completely controlled by the corporations and they do their best to turn Earth's popular opinion against Mars. They claim that recent atrocities (like a portion of the Moon being obliterated in a mysterious explosion and the fact two million squatters near Sao Paulo, including Dietz's own family members, disappeared in a Blink of light several years ago) are the work of Martians. There's no way of visually distinguishing Martians and Earthers but Hurley demonstrates to us through Dietz's thoughts the many ways that war relies on the dehumanization of the Other.
The Light Brigade goes into extensive detail about basic training and describes the process by which Dietz is transformed from a new recruit turns into a fresh-faced soldier and then a jaded survivor. This is nothing one has not read dozens of times before, in the work of Haldeman, Kloos, Clarke, etc although I will note that Hurley does a decent job here, it's not distinguished.
Overall, I am glad that I read this book so I have a first-person impression of Hurley's work. It's important to know what works for one's taste and what does not. I would definitely not vote for it to win the Hugo (my choice would be Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire) but I don't begrudge it's position among the nominees.
Title: The Light Brigade.
Author: Kameron Hurley.
Paperback: 369 pages.
Publisher: Saga Press.
Date Published: March 19, 2019.
Date Read: June 21, 2020.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: B+/B (3.25/4.0).
The book definitely has multiple strengths. I really appreciated the way the gender of the main character is not revealed explicitly until VERY late in the book (I am pleased that I picked the correct one). By constantly referring to the main character as Dietz in a way where the character's gender is unclear, and also providing the inner monologue of Dietz also without referring to their own gender (and having them be attracted to, and couple with, both men and women) is an interesting commentary on gender (and sexuality), especially in the context of a militaristic novel. There are multiple references and descriptions of Dietz's hair but this is not enough to answer the question if they are male, female or non-binary.
Another strength of the book is its commentary on capitalism and citizenship. The central feature of life in the world of The Light Brigade are the corporations (or corps) and citizenship. People are either citizens, residents or "ghouls" (basically stateless non-persons). Dietz is a resident (due to the sacrifices of her parents--she grew up as neither a resident or citizen) and has volunteered for service in order to become a citizen after 10 years of service (although very, very few people survive the war that long!
The war that Dietz is fighting is against Martians--but those "Martians" are humans who have colonized Mars and terraformed it, establishing their own society without the influence of the rapacious corps. The media is completely controlled by the corporations and they do their best to turn Earth's popular opinion against Mars. They claim that recent atrocities (like a portion of the Moon being obliterated in a mysterious explosion and the fact two million squatters near Sao Paulo, including Dietz's own family members, disappeared in a Blink of light several years ago) are the work of Martians. There's no way of visually distinguishing Martians and Earthers but Hurley demonstrates to us through Dietz's thoughts the many ways that war relies on the dehumanization of the Other.
The Light Brigade goes into extensive detail about basic training and describes the process by which Dietz is transformed from a new recruit turns into a fresh-faced soldier and then a jaded survivor. This is nothing one has not read dozens of times before, in the work of Haldeman, Kloos, Clarke, etc although I will note that Hurley does a decent job here, it's not distinguished.
Overall, I am glad that I read this book so I have a first-person impression of Hurley's work. It's important to know what works for one's taste and what does not. I would definitely not vote for it to win the Hugo (my choice would be Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire) but I don't begrudge it's position among the nominees.
Title: The Light Brigade.
Author: Kameron Hurley.
Paperback: 369 pages.
Publisher: Saga Press.
Date Published: March 19, 2019.
Date Read: June 21, 2020.
GOODREADS RATING: ★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0).
OVERALL GRADE: B+/B (3.25/4.0).
PLOT: B+.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: B.
WRITING: B.
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