BORN OF SILENCE

Remember how Darth Vader was a good guy, sort of? Keep that in mind as Kenyon’s latest space oater in The League series unfolds.

The Ichidian universe is Blackwater’s dream: It’s a place where assassins call the shots, beg pardon, and in that setting, even the purest body of space ninjas are not incorruptible. Readers of the series, and they are many, will doubtless recall that the last volume, Born of Shadows (2012; all titles in the series are called Born of Something or Another, though so far none has been called Born of Two Loving Parents in a Stable Environment), featured a whole lot of smooching and swordplay on the part of MacGyver (or maybe, depending on who’s cast for the part, McLovin) type Caillen Dagan, whose spirit looms large on the very first page of the latest: “You have got to be the biggest manwhore in the entire universe. What are you trying to do? Tie Caillen for the record on how many people you can sleep with in a single month?” So Maris Sulle badgers Darling Cruel—sorry, that’s his name—at the outset of a tome that will find him beaming back and forth across the universe in his own person and that of his alter ego, who, naturally, is trying to undo all the good he’s done and kill all his pals while he’s at it. Who will win in this Manichean struggle between lightsaber and dark helmet? Maybe Zarya, the space vixen and fearless freedom fighter whose brief it is to prowl the galaxies looking for the man who did in her family. It’s good to know that in these weird quarters, where people have funny handles and even the butchest of them is “dressed in a long flowing cloak over a black battlesuit,” someone has the sensible name Arturo. Suffice it to say that Caillen cavorts, Zarya’s breasts spill over the top of her battlesuit (“Yeah, he’d much rather be naked with her in his bed than deal with a bunch of egotistical assholes”), and the universe is made safe for a sequel.

In space, no one can hear you scream. That’s a good thing for those who love a well-written story and are trapped reading this one instead.