Narrated by Raphael Corkhill
Ocean’s Echo, a sci-fi story with a very slow-burn romantic arc, is the sophomore outing for Everina Maxwell following her highly successful Winter’s Orbit. Although set in the same universe, Ocean’s Echo has no overlapping characters or locations and can be read as a standalone. Readers can expect detailed worldbuilding and a complex, twisty plot mixed with a bit of romance.
In the not too distant past, the Orshan military discovered remnants – very powerful artifacts left by an ancient civilization. They set up a scientific lab in deep space and ran experiments that were not only less than ethical but also illegal. Young soldiers were recruited as volunteers to be enhanced by the remnants, which resulted in new mental powers. The subjects gained the ability to either read or control minds, and were called readers or architects. Then the Reader Rebellion happened. The official story is that the readers rebelled against the architects and in the process, the space lab and the remnants were destroyed. The readers were defeated but the researchers hadn’t realized that the physical alterations were passed down through generations, so new readers were still born to architect parents. In present day Orshan, readers still exist although they try to hide it because of public distrust and discrimination.
Tennalhin Halkana is the nephew of the Legislator, the powerful head of Orshan’s government. Although now a civilian, the Legislator is ex-military and it’s clear the military have a huge influence in the government and in everyday life on the planet. When the book opens, Tennal is hiding from his aunt and the law after recklessly using his reader powers for illegal activities. Tennal is privileged, chaotic and deeply unhappy. He hates his reader abilities and the way they have impacted his life. When a false move lands him in custody, his aunt has a rather drastic solution to end his rebellion: conscript him to the military and have him synced to an architect. Syncing involves an architect bonding with the mind of a reader, and that direct access gives the architect the unlimited ability to control that reader. It’s a permanent situation and is supposed to be limited to readers convicted of a serious crime. Tennal is horrified by the decision, but has no power to stop it. Within hours he’s whisked away to join his unit aboard a military ship.
Lieutenant Surit Yani is the architect chosen to sync with Tennal. Surit has his own reasons for accepting what he suspects is a dodgy assignment. It offers a quick way to get the promotion he needs to restore his surviving parent’s pension. His mother was one of the leaders of the Reader Rebellion who died in battle and was branded a traitor. Because of this, her pension was withheld from her family, but if Surit can get the promotion, he can restore the pension and give his remaining parent a better life. Surit is the opposite of Tennal in every way. He’s a dependable, by-the-book officer and has worked hard to overcome the legacy of his parentage. He is also extremely honorable, and when he finds out Tennal is being illegally coerced into the sync, he refuses to go through with it. However, it becomes clear that if Suit won’t sync Tennal, the authorities are going to find someone who will, so the two come up with the plan to fake the sync until Tennal can escape.
The ship they are assigned to is on a scientific mission retrieving debris from what is called Chaotic Space, an ever changing and dangerous part of space with “storms” that can pull ships apart. Because of his own extensive research, Surit knows they are also very near the scientific lab half destroyed by his mother at the end of the Reader Rebellion. When Surit makes a surprising discovery during a salvage mission in Chaotic Space, it puts them all on a path that could lead to civil war.
The science fiction plot has a military/political theme that is many-layered and well thought out. The story gets off to a bit of a slow start, but once Tennal is forced to join the military, it starts moving along at a decent clip. Hints are cleverly laid early on that lead to unexpected reveals and discoveries, and not everything is as it first seems. While the details do slow the place down a few times, it isn’t too distracting. However, I did feel a few story components were insufficiently explained.
One thing the author does extremely well is character development. While both leads grow and change as individuals over the course of the story, the real joy is watching them grow towards each other. Surit clues in on his emotions sooner than Tennal, realizing early on that he cares deeply what happens to him. Tennal hasn’t let himself care for many people and it takes him longer to realize what Surit is becoming to him. For most of the book, the relationship isn’t a romance so much as a deepening emotional connection that will become a romance. I loved Surit’s respect and care for Tennal even when Tennal seems not to care for himself. Their growing feelings for each other are essential to the plot, but are not the major focus of the book. I would call this sci-fi with romantic elements, and not a sci-fi romance. Still, while I would have loved more, I didn’t feel cheated out of a romance in the end.
I enjoyed Rafael Corkhill’s narration on Ocean’s Echo even more than I did on Winter’s Orbit. He has a pleasing delivery and distinct character voices that he keeps consistent throughout the book. Surit has an accent that sounds vaguely Eastern European, although I’m not an expert on regional accents, so I could be wrong. The accent sets Surit apart from all the other characters in the story, which mirrors the fact that he physically and emotionally keeps himself apart from most people as he tries to overcome the stain of his mother’s legacy. Tennal’s voice has a laid-back quality that conveys his false bravado and his determination to project an uncaring exterior. The variety of accents for secondary characters helps convey the fact that the book is largely set on military ships or bases populated by people from different parts of the Orshan Empire. Mr. Corkhill also does an excellent job conveying the anger, fear, joy and longing in emotional scenes well.
Ocean’s Echo is a complex sci-fi story with a small but satisfying romance arc at its core. While the actual romance is not the main focus, the developing bond between the Surit and Tennal is at the center of the story. They must learn to trust and rely on each other in order to overcome all odds and save Orshan. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and with Rafael Corkhill’s narration I highly recommend getting it on audio.
Carrie
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