Pax Novis

by Erica Cameron

• ISBN10: 1705676847
• ISBN13: 9781705676844
• Publish Date: 4 November 2019 (first published 2 July 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Independently Published
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 430
• Language: English

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

4.5*

Oh, how I love a space adventure! Even better? A high stakes space adventure, which is exactly what we have here! I am going to get the one thing that I struggled with out of the way so we can move on to the awesome: The world is really interesting, really well-built, but it did take me a little bit to fully grasp what was going on. Luckily, the characters gripped me from the start so my interest level was high enough that I was eager to learn about the world. And when I did, I was super glad because it's really fascinating! I'm going to break down the stuff I loved in three separate groups: Characters, world, and plot!

The Characters:

It's a dual POV story, interwoven with some really great mixed media excerpts that give the reader just enough information about what's happening/did happen outside Pax Novis to get the gist of things. Most of our time is focused on main characters Cira and Riston. Let's start with Cira. She's lived on Pax Novis since forever, and she's the daughter of two very high-ranking officials. This is important for a few reasons, one of which is that Cira puts a lot of pressure on herself to make her moms proud. And proud they are! I loved the relationships Cira had with both of her mothers (each was individually fleshed out really well), and just the family dynamics in general. Often in a fast-paced novel as this, especially with the parent(s) being important themselves, the relationships are pushed to the back burner, but not so here. Cira must grapple with her decision to let Riston and the others onto the ship, especially when the shit hits the fan.

Riston has basically lost everyone and everything ze'd ever loved. Ze is now a (super illegal) stowaway, and faces death if caught. Not only that, but Riston has formed zir own little family with the other stowaways that Cira rescued. Riston is also completely in love with Cira, and would do just about anything to keep her safe, too. Basically, Riston will put zir own life on the line to save any of zir loved ones.

Both characters are extremely likable, flawed in their own ways, and so very easy to root for. The side characters are awesome too- I really grew to care for them, and the author made me understand exactly why these people were so beloved by Cira and/or Riston. They're a diverse group of genuinely decent folks who are just trying to save their home and their loved ones. Who wouldn't cheer for them?

The World:

Ooooh child, this world is bananas, in the best way! See, it's pretty far in the future, which I actually like because it makes it believable that so many different space entities/planetary dwellings exist. But as is always the case with human beings, we don't play nice. Someone is always at war, and someone always thinks they have the ultimate solution. Who's right? Is anyone, actually?

We all know I love a gray morality, and this book has it in spades. There are so many questions that we as the reader need to ask for ourselves: Should Cira have allowed the stowaways? Should Pax be so strict with their rules? Who is actually helping who in this world? And that's just the tip of the iceberg...

The Plot:

Okay, holy high stakes! I mean when ships start full-blown vanishing, you know it's getting bad. And when some sketchy things start happening on the ship that our characters are on... well, get ready to be on the edge of your seat! For so long, our characters' main goal has just been to stay under the radar, to remain undetected until they can plan for the future. But when that goes out the window, what will everyone involved do? Not only that, but it involves lots of other ships and lots of other worlds full of people. So again, the stakes just keep escalating, and I love it!

The ending of the book is quite possibly my favorite part, too. I'll spoil nothing of course, but just know that I have not needed a sequel so desperately in quite some time! Where the author chooses to leave the story... well, it's pretty brilliant.

Bottom Line: Once I got a hang of the world, I was so fully invested in this story that I couldn't stop reading. And when I got to the end, all I craved was more of these fabulous characters in this truly intricate world!

[llamareads]

Content warnings: descriptions of people killed by bombing, description of child abuse, violent death

I’m not really sure how to define this book. The general plot – Pax ships are losing contact, and the Novis may be next – reads like a thriller, but the pacing is very slow. As an example, the book starts out with notes from a board meeting and a few sections from the Pax ship charter. The chapters are told from the point of view of either Cira, an ensign and the daughter of the captain and head of engineering, and Riston, one of the stowaways Cira has brought on to the ship, interspersed with documents like communication transcripts and news articles. Both characters are very introspective – Cira’s constantly conflicted about whether she’s done the right thing by bringing the stowaways on board and risking the lives of the rest of her crewmates, and Riston’s worrying about remaining on the ship and taking care of the younger stowaways – which I think also slowed down the narrative.

“Ze wasn’t losing anything except a safe place to live. Ze’d never had anything else to lose, not here.
Well, ze corrected with a glance at the other four, that isn’t entirely true. There were things to lose here; ze was simply planning on taking most of them with zem.”

Of the two main characters, I liked Riston the best. Though ze struggled at times with being the honory zazi (nonbinary mom/dad) to the other four stowaways, I loved zir relationship with zir found family. Ze was optimistic, but grounded. Though ze understood that becoming an actual crew member on the ship was impossible, ze still wished to stay to be close to Cira. All of the stowaways have suffered various forms of trauma, from seeing their homes and families destroyed in a war to child abuse, but were generally trying to make the best of it on the Pax Novis. In contrast, Cira came off as too idealistic and rigid, despite the fact that she was the one committing treason to harbor the stowaways. Her family and her ship are basically her whole life, and she’s convinced she doesn’t have room for anything else, including her crush on Riston. She was very quick to jump to believing the worst of the stowaways on the most minor of evidence, which left a general bad taste in my mouth. I think she redeemed herself as the book went on, but her initial reaction stuck with me.

The one thing I really loved about the book is that it’s very queer. Riston is nonbinary and uses the ze pronouns, Cira has two moms, and there’s a few other references to non-cishet relationships. It’s considered normal, when introducing yourself, to also give your pronouns. Cira also identifies as asexual, so, as would be expected, there’s very little sexual contact – the most that happens is a few kisses and handholding. There is a bit of romance, but it’s very mild and more of the pining-from-afar sort. Cira also has a cybernetic arm as a result of a birth defect, and while it comes up a few times in the plot, it’s never something that makes her seen as lesser. Another thing I liked about the book was the world building, despite the fact that I think some of the info dumps negatively affected the pacing. I found the idea of the Pax fleet and its humanitarian mission, in direct contrast the rest of the warmongering quadrant, intriguing, but there was a bit too much philosophizing on whether what they were doing was right.

Overall, while I enjoyed the book, the pacing definitely affected my experience, so I’d rate this more of a 3.5 stars. It picked up a bit in the last 100 pages or so, though, so I’m interested enough to probably pick up the next in the series. I would recommend this if you’re looking for a teen scifi book and don’t mind a slower pace.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.