Review: A Dirge For Cascius by Calum Lott

Blurb:

Chaos seeps into the Valsollas Galaxy.

Cascius Carcyde is on the brink of letting his addiction to reliving his sorrows claim his mind. When the Sages demand he take a new partner, Cascius must forfeit his old ways in order to solve the twisted Red Hand murders.

To unravel an interstellar mystery and stop the Red Hand, Cascius must pull himself from the very depths of despair and learn to change before the entire Velutra falls into oblivion.

Stare too long into the abyss, and the abyss peers back.

True Detective meets Hyperion in this epic space opera debut. The first part of a duology, this tale is full of inner struggle, fellowship, mystery, futuristic technology, and a galaxy brimming with different races. Some rage against the unstoppable decay of the cosmos, whilst others stoke the ire of Chaos to bring about the corruption and end of everything.

Review:

This was probably my most anticipated release of the year (okay, maybe a three-way tie with the God Eater Saga, and Wind and Truth). I started getting hyped for A Dirge for Cascius after reading the first two short stories, and my excitement kept rising with each new short. You can really see the efforts Lott has put in to build his world of Valsollas. 

But, how does the novel fair before the massive hype that his shorts have built? Read on! 

What I liked:

I’ll admit, I’ve been following Lott’s Tales of Valsollas right from the first story onwards. Not only are they a testament to the author’s versatility, but also serve as bite-sized tasters for the massive epic of Valsollas that he is working on. So, you can imagine my excitement going into the first full-length novel set in this world. 

The prologue opens with an action-packed, emotion-driven sequence that’s reminiscent of Jor-El attempting to send Kal-El out of Krypton. I won’t go into what exactly happens, but it was handled so well that I wanted to scream at Zikirin for what he was doing. To jump from that adrenaline-heavy scene to a mellow, emotion-driven character-centric chapter 1 was equal parts jarring and awesome. I say jarring because my rushing adrenaline suddenly hit a dead end, and I was left crawling at a snail’s pace, trying to absorb the absurdly realized world of Valsollas through the lens of our hero, Cascius. 

Lott takes his time to introduce Cascius. Getting to know him is a slow burn that can be annoying at its worst and heartbreaking at its best. It’s a trope, a protagonist with a dark and troubled past. But done right, and it makes for a compelling read. And that’s one of the primary reasons why I loved this book. The character’s pathos bleeds through each scene, and continues to influence every decision he takes. And masterfully, Lott takes these very elements that make Cascius who he is, and blends them with the narrative to make for a mind-blowing experience. 

[SPOILERS]

The parallels between Cascius-Alosil and Jarril-Malaren, the starkly different personalities that regret and suffering shape out of Cascius and Kirella, the motivations behind the Red Hand Murder, Zikirin’s genocides and Cascius’ own afflictions, the list is long, but you get the point. What starts out as an intimidating world full of original concepts, terms, and technologies, with its rich history that at first glance seems like a world-builder showing off slowly reveals itself as a complex, realized and meaningful mix of stories that come together to form an epic. Well, part 1 of a duology that’s in turn a part of a larger epic (Calum, my guy, you have my support and admiration for this herculean undertaking).

While the story itself is very straightforward, this interweaving of plots and character arcs makes it an equally intimidating and cathartic experience. I loved seeing the pieces fall into place. Also, I absolutely loved how every single short story found a place in this book, no matter how small. More importantly, I loved how Lott took all of these many elements and molded not just an epic story but an epic experience out of them. 

A Dirge for Cascius is a real experience. While the world-building is intensely detailed, the world itself is visually striking beyond what I had anticipated. Imagine if Alejandro Jodorowsky were to remake Blade Runner, and that’s what this book read like to me. Every sceluspace, every setting, every memory came with its unique visual aesthetic that makes me crave for animators to acquire this book’s rights and make artful short films so this world can come alive. And this visual splendor gets cranked to eleven in the action scenes. I won’t go into spoilers, but that last 20-30% was pure art. Un-put-downable.

Lastly, and this is something I will also cover in the next section, is the narrative itself. It is an excruciatingly slow burn at first. In fact, the story didn’t really pick up for me for the first 20% or so. Up until then, I was only rooting for the character and relishing the rich world-building. The narrative was slower than I expected, and there was a lot of world-building and telling that happened pretty much throughout. But then again, this was a mystery being uncovered, so it made complete sense. Besides, the complex narrative becomes clearer and clearer as we get to the end, and watching everything fall into place was caosi satisfying. Given that, the telling felt justified. 

What I didn’t like:

I won’t do the author a disservice by saying “everything was perfect”, because there were a few things about the book that I felt could have been handled better. However—and let me get this out of the way before I list my criticisms—the climax and ending of the book more than made up for the shortcomings. 

[SPOILERS IN THIS FULL SECTION]

For starters, the first 20% or so of the book was a tedious read. Lott dumps you in the middle of Valsollas, a fully realized, complex and original world that is chockfull of new terms, technologies, concepts, and world-building ammunition that overpowers the story and characters to an extent. As much as I was in awe of the world-building, I felt the need to take a breather quite a few times because keeping up with this barrage of original terms was a little hard. However, once I climbed up this very steep learning curve, the rest of the book was a crazy emotional ride to the end. If you’re one to get deterred by the world-building, all I’ll say is that keep pushing, because it’ll be worth it. 

Another issue I found with the story itself was the character of Cursaren. Conceptually, I loved this inclusion. I even loved the way Lott handled it, and what it meant for Cascius and the narrative as a whole. However, I wish she wasn’t introduced so late in the book. Instead, that moment could have served as a more cathartic moment for a different character (you’ll know who I’m talking about if you read the book). I guess I need to remind myself that this is just Part 1 of the duology, and maybe in the context of the two books, this moment fits better. But by itself, it kinda felt off. 

Lastly, and this is something I mentioned in the “I liked” portion of my review: There is a lot of telling. Especially in the first half. If that’s something you aren’t a fan of, you might want to brace yourself. While it works for the most part given the context of Cascius’ objectives, it can make the complex story seem a bit more intimidating than it is. 

Conclusion:

A Dirge for Cascius is a piece of art masquerading as a sci-fi book. Its action pieces are vivid tableaus of absurdism. It’s world itself is a unique blend of surreal dreamlike visuals. Its characters, complex yet believably real. 

Part 1 was a fine book, and the way Lott ties everything together in that ending has me super hyped for book 2. 

TL;DR:

WHAT I LIKED: Complex narrative, interweaving of themes and character arcs, the protagonist, world-building and visual treatment of each setting, the ending.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: a tedious read in the first 20%, the introduction of one character, and some portions of the telling parts.