My Five Word TL:DR Review: Very clever, but, takes time

Okay, so I’ve read and enjoyed a good number of MR Carey’s books (with the odd one or two being misses) and so I’m always eager when I see a new one on the horizon. To be honest, science fiction doesn’t always work for me but Carey seems to cross over between fantasy and sci fi with ease and so I feel more confident picking up his books – even if they veer out of my comfort zone. Basically, he’s a fine author but when I saw Outlaw Planet I literally thought ‘no, this is too much, this looks hardcore sci-fi’ and it scared me a little, but I also wanted the gunslinging outlaw. I was equally daunted and desperate so when I picked it up, at least 50% (maybe 60%, maths isn’t my strong point either) of me expected to really struggle! I’m not even joking. As it happens, there was no need to fear. Trust in Carey. Yes, this takes its time a little, but for goodness sake, when did we all become so impatient. Give the story a chance to develop and I guarantee you this will hook you, line and sinker. There were even tears. Who even am I?

Firstly, I’m not going to attempt to outline the plot, this review is a little late, there are so many great reviews out there and I usually keep plot descriptions to the minimum, but those are not the reasons. This book is some kind of gender mash up, there’s the western, gunslinging outlaw, this whole other planet, multiverse ‘thing’ and of course this kind of military feel also going on so, you better believe I’m going to make a mess of giving you the description so here it is:

“This is the story of Bess – or Dog-Bitch Bess as she came to be known. It’s the story of the gun she carried, whose name was Wakeful Slim. It’s the story of the dead man who carried that gun before her and left a piece of himself inside it. And it’s the tale of how she turned from teacher, to renegade, and ultimately to hero.

This is also the tale of the last violent engagements in an inter-dimensional war – one of the most brutal the multiverse had ever seen.

This is how Bess learned the truth about her world. Came to it the hard way, through pain and loss and the reckless spilling of blood, and carried it with her like a brand on her soul. And once she knew it – knew for sure how badly she’d been used – she had no option but to do something about it.”

Now, I can move on to what I liked.

I will start actually by giving you my one slight downer – this is a slow build. But, trust the author. He has people to see and places to go that require the backstory. Take Bess, you need to know why she became an outlaw, she had a beautiful life.. no read it for yourself and find out. And, Bess isn’t the only backstory, we have these soldiers (I confess it took me a little time to really get into this storyline but then – wow, it all comes together in such a perfect way), the planet also has a backstory and a twist in the tale that I didn’t see coming.

I loved, absolutely loved, the idea of Wakeful Slim. A sentient gun. Slim is next level.

On top of this we have other standout characters and I loved the little crew that Bess eventually found herself surrounded by.

Anyway, I’m probably making a bit of a pig’s ear out of this review but the long and the short of it is I really enjoyed it. It took me a little while to get into and for part of that time I really didn’t know where the author was going but then he brings it all together in such a fantastic fashion. Heartfelt. Bittersweet. Emotionally satisfying.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The Above is my own opiniion.

My rating 4.5 of 5 stars