Kanti Cycle was my introduction to the rich universe shared by Gre7G Luterman and Rick Griffin, and I don’t think it could have left a better first impression. I have read the book before enjoying the audiobook, and it loses nothing, and gains some surprises and clever foreshadowing on a second pass, especially with the lower-effort of having it read to me!
The worldbuilding is exquisite, and the generational gateship/explorer White Flower II is truly a character on its own. As a fairly basic introduction to the world and characters, Skeleton Crew treads some familiar ground, but still manages to throw in twists and plot beats that all but demand a reaction, even knowing that it was coming. Gre7g excels at character inter-relationships and building a story that keeps the intensity at a high level. The quieter moments are a welcome and necessary respite from the terrible difficulties faced by the protagonists. Balancing an epic setting with a very personal struggle is hard, and Gre7g seems to consistently deliver in this respect. Kanti starts as a pitiable character, with next to nothing, and is forced to make some very hard decisions as events that can change the lives of everyone on the ship spiral around him. Everyone has believable and consistent reasons for doing what they do, no unforced idiot balls in this story!
Skeleton Crew is fairly short for a novel, but in this case it just means that little is wasted. The pacing is tight and pulls you along. When I first read this novel, I stayed up way too late to finish it in one sitting.
Piers Ryman’s narration is exceptional and was for me reminiscent of Peter Kenny’s performances of Banks’ Culture novels, quite the high bar! Piers is a talented reader, and Luterman and Griffin have done well to retain him for their continued works in this setting. Though some of the accents are not what I imagined (Sarsuk especially) they are all fitting and Piers is easy to listen to, and he is good at lending the proper weight to his narration. He’s obviously a fan of the series, and I’m sure that helps!