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speculativebecky 's review for:
A Legend of the Future
by Agustín de Rojas
LOVED!
Back in September I read Agustín de Rojas’ The Year 200, and discovered part way through that it’s the third book in a “trilogy.” Undaunted, I finished and completely adored The Year 200, and so I was greatly looking forward to approaching the preceding books as “prequels.”
A Legend of the Future is the second book in the series, and I’m happy to report that the term trilogy does appear to be used quite loosely! The technologies of conditioning and the “groups” are familiar from The Year 200, but none of the characters overlap and the story follows a very different trajectory. (The full verdict on the trilogy nomenclature is still out, as the first book, Spiral, is not yet available in English. I’m excited though, because I just discovered there’s now at least an official publication date for the translation - July 2020 let’s go!)
A Legend of the Future follows the surviving crew of a spacecraft after a devastating crash kills half their group and their navigational computer system. The remaining three crew members must work together to repair the ship, cope with their own injuries, and ensure the success of their return trip to Earth in the face of their own deaths. One of the most thrilling aspects of this novel is de Rojas’ deep exploration of the concept of “groups” (which was one of my favorites side notes in The Year 200.) These small groups of people are selected for their compatible psychological profiles and trained as one codependent unit, enabling them to cohabitate and problem-solve successfully while confined together in close quarters for the extended periods required for space travel. The dynamic created by the group training, as well as the psychological conditioning that, once activated, turns one of the characters access to a more robotic/analytical version of herself makes this novel sort of a more-Science-Fiction less-Science-Fact version of The Martian. Rather than exploring the problem solving ability of a single isolated individual however, this novel takes on the relationships and immense bonds between its three characters.
My one squabble with this book is with the disruptive choices in punctuation! Dialogue and characters’ inner thoughts are notated identically with quote marks, often causing confusion over whether a line is being spoken or thought. Other than that though, flawless, exactly my jam novel! An absolutely unforgettable ride, I loved reading this book and was captivated from start to finish. Highly recommend.
Back in September I read Agustín de Rojas’ The Year 200, and discovered part way through that it’s the third book in a “trilogy.” Undaunted, I finished and completely adored The Year 200, and so I was greatly looking forward to approaching the preceding books as “prequels.”
A Legend of the Future is the second book in the series, and I’m happy to report that the term trilogy does appear to be used quite loosely! The technologies of conditioning and the “groups” are familiar from The Year 200, but none of the characters overlap and the story follows a very different trajectory. (The full verdict on the trilogy nomenclature is still out, as the first book, Spiral, is not yet available in English. I’m excited though, because I just discovered there’s now at least an official publication date for the translation - July 2020 let’s go!)
A Legend of the Future follows the surviving crew of a spacecraft after a devastating crash kills half their group and their navigational computer system. The remaining three crew members must work together to repair the ship, cope with their own injuries, and ensure the success of their return trip to Earth in the face of their own deaths. One of the most thrilling aspects of this novel is de Rojas’ deep exploration of the concept of “groups” (which was one of my favorites side notes in The Year 200.) These small groups of people are selected for their compatible psychological profiles and trained as one codependent unit, enabling them to cohabitate and problem-solve successfully while confined together in close quarters for the extended periods required for space travel. The dynamic created by the group training, as well as the psychological conditioning that, once activated, turns one of the characters access to a more robotic/analytical version of herself makes this novel sort of a more-Science-Fiction less-Science-Fact version of The Martian. Rather than exploring the problem solving ability of a single isolated individual however, this novel takes on the relationships and immense bonds between its three characters.
My one squabble with this book is with the disruptive choices in punctuation! Dialogue and characters’ inner thoughts are notated identically with quote marks, often causing confusion over whether a line is being spoken or thought. Other than that though, flawless, exactly my jam novel! An absolutely unforgettable ride, I loved reading this book and was captivated from start to finish. Highly recommend.