A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (Alex White)

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe
The Salvagers series, Book 1
Alex White
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: Nilah Brio is at the top of her racing career, within a hairsbreadth of the galactic championship. Then she witnesses an impossible murder on the track, when a stranger literally suspends time to kill a competitor - a stranger she barely escapes. Now on the run and accused of the murder herself, Nilah follows the only clue she has, a name the doomed man uttered before Mother's exoskeleton claws crushed his racing helmet: Elizabeth "Boots" Elsworth.
When the Famine War shook her doomed homeworld Clarkesfall, fighter pilot Boots found herself on the wrong side of history, and - despite a brief bout of fame on a reality show hunting for a missing homeworld relic - she's never recovered. It doesn't help that, unlike nearly everyone else in the galaxy, she lacks the brain structure that gives her a magic talent. She scrapes by selling bogus star charts to legendary finds that may or may not exist, but always with just a kernel of truth at their hearts... such as the map she sold to the purported final resting place of the Harrow, a warship of unimaginable size and magic power. But these aren't the ordinary disgruntled customers coming after her for being sent on a wild goose chase through interstellar space: someone's trying to kill her. Worse, she may have to team back up with Cordell, her former captain from the Famine War, whom she never forgave for deserting after the surrender.
To clear Nilah's name and save Boots's life, the two will have to work together, joining Cordell and his ragtag crew on a hunt for the real resting place of the Harrow. On the way, they'll unearth a conspiracy that could destroy the entire galaxy.

REVIEW: This should've been a fast-paced, intense space fantasy, an adrenaline rush with quirky characters and big twists and magic-powered starflight. Should have... but somehow wasn't, at least not for me.
It starts with some promise: the galaxy is powered as much by magic as tech, with everyone having a "glyph" that enables specific abilities, from casting fire to controlling machinery, even to mind manipulation. As for the cast, Nilah's a talented yet sheltered and spoiled child of privilege whose life revolves around racing stats, while Boots is an embittered "older" woman (young forties is old?) carrying scars from a war much of the galaxy has tried to forget. The two of them could've made for a decent enough team. But then Cordell and the crew of the Capricious come on board, and the story's momentum sputters out as it derails into dithering and backstory and drawn out conversations establishing character and friction and relationship potential - rather forced relationship potential, if I may be honest, given that I never connected with any single cast member of the bunch and thus never felt any real chemistry. I actually came to generally dislike the lot of them by the time the action picked up again. Then things start unfolding in fairly obvious ways, and Mother becomes one of those villains whose powers are apparently omnipotent but who seems incapable of touching the core characters, appearing randomly to cause chaos and (in essence if not fact) sneer and cackle menacingly before disappearing. (Then there's the way Cordell refers to Boots as "girlie" and "sweetheart" and other dismissive sexist terms.) By the time major revelations are unearthed, I felt like I was standing behind a thick pane of glass, watching people react to things without being close enough to feel them myself. It builds to a climax I should've been more invested in, followed by a telegraphed ending.
There are some nice ideas and good moments. As I mentioned, there was plenty of potential to work with, and when things move they generally move fast. Despite the many good reviews and interesting premise, though, I just wasn't feeling the thrills of this magic-tinged space romp.

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