SPSFC4 Review: The City That Disappeared by Cheryl Peña
Blurb:
For the past ten years, the city of Khonsu, built on the foreign planet Reiddo, has sent a daily transmission home to Earth. Then one day, the transmissions stopped coming.
Rebecca Vance fears that something disastrous has happened to Khonsu. She and her friend Mark Wu, the nearest thing there is to an expert on Reiddo, convince the leadership at the AAIR (the American Agency for Interplanetary Relations) to investigate the city’s strange disappearance, eventually making their way to the site of the lost city itself. From the beginning, the expedition is plagued by problems. The city isn't where it's supposed to be. There are mysterious deaths among the team members. Rebecca has never trusted easily, but she must put aside her fears and doubts in a frantic attempt to find survivors before they are lost forever. The natives are friendly and seem anxious to help, but they aren’t alone. A deadly secret puts her own life at risk and possibly the lives of the members of her team. It may even spell doom for the entire planet she calls home.
Review:
What a ride from this novel for SPSFC! I was granted some good books for my run and this was certainly one of them. Two researchers are left to figure out what’s happening when suddenly transmissions stop, confusing everyone and putting them into a bit of a panic. But they come together to solve the mystery, in a plot both eeries and thrilling.
Characters
Rebecca Vance and her counterpart Mark Wu compliment eachother. With a depth of character growth, the move from being a bit more reserved at the beginning to something blossoming comes in waves. They are researchers when suddenly transmissions from Khonsu cease and the burden of figuring it all out falls on their shoulders, problems and all.
Atmosphere/Plot
Earth is far more advanced and has definitively discovered other-wordly life, including massive advances in space travel and interstellar communication which brings the vast universe down to a size. What was once felt unconquerable is now accessible. This was a great read for those who like a bit of a space opera feel. The ending leaves room for future installments that I am eager to read, most certainly. At times this felt like it would tip into horror or something akin to Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (which still haunts me dreams to this day) when they explore abandoned sectors and I was fully expecting a jump scare, since there are some similarities in the sense there is an out-of-control lifeforms plaguing the area.
Writing Style
I do like Peña’s writing style. In an almost 400-page book there are bound to be some slower moments but I don’t think they took away from the overall story. There are mixed genres, and did sometimes feel like a “genre dump” where the author wanted to fit in as many tropes as they could, but again, I don’t think it took away from the mystery.
Logic
I liked how Rebecca and mark worked so well together, and I also think for the most part the story is logical. Where it could fall of the rails for some is the genre dumping, as mentioned before, where we go from something similar to a space research team to full blown space opera in the middle, on top of the added layer of spooky mystery that brings the whole thing together. The world-building is the real glue that kept me turning pages and enjoying the story.
Excitement
The real question everyone is asking is: Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, and I hope it makes it to the Quarterfinals for our team. I think it’s a great setup for future installments and a good read for anyone who likes a little genre blending within the sci-fi realm.
