Gyorgy Boda's Reviews > The Saints of Salvation

PFH is by far my favourite sci-fi writer. Actually, cannot even name who would be the distant second (maybe Vernon Vinge). However, I am not an unconditional fanboy: I hated Misspent Youth and - much to my shame - never finished Night's Dawn, gave up during the last book.

Now - somewhat unexpectedly - I find myself in a tough spot: I promised a honest review easily as it never occured to me there is any chance to give anything less than 5 stars. However, having finished Saints of Salvation, I walked away with the impression that, while the book provides a real good closure to the main story and a few twists along the way, it falls a bit short of the masterpiece status I expected. Simply put, PFH has raised the bar so high with his own books - including the first two in this very series - that cannot be always surpassed. There is still a very strong finish, but those who have read the Void & Fallers series, know that he can bring his amazing ideas to even more amazing conclusions.

So what do I think exactly? Let's find out.

Spoiler-free summary

The present time plot picks up two years after the events of the second volume. The humans and the the assessment team are preparing for the ultra-secret mission outlined in Salvation Lost. We get nail-biting thrills and terrific battles both on Earth and in space, superb stuff, really. We also continue following story of Horatio and Ollie: their viewpoints keep the story grounded, providing a welcome view into the life of besieged London. I have always loved the Earth chapters, as they ground the story in a world, that has been so vividly realized in the first book.

Then, we have the far-future storyline, where Yirella and Ainsley are the lead characters now, Dellian is relegated to the background. They are recovering from their harsh awakening at Vayan and now trying come up with new schemes against the - even more powerful - Olyix. In this storyline Yirella and Ainsley bonds together and takes matters into their own hands in an unexpected way. I touch on this part more in the spoilery part of the book.

Later the focus shrinks down to the remaining two plotline: the Saints and Yirella & Co. From this point forward the book is entirely focused on taking the fight the Olyix enclave's doorstep. It is a more straightforward story, grander in scope, having plenty of battles of both ships and wits, with the Olyix fighting back, of course. Without going into specifics, there is a retaliation which displays nicely how the fate of a person may carry more emotional impact than the destruction of a planet (this is just a metaphor, no planets get destroyed, ...or yes...who knows?:).

This being the last book of the trilogy, we get a closure to the Olyix storyline in a way that is sort of expected. At the same time, several aspects remain wide open. I was surprised, as PFH have always closed his series completely so far. That's not the case here. Reading the last few chapters, it is very clear he is not done yet with Olyixverse .

Overall, I believe this is a fantastic series. It is not a character-driven story: we get glimpses of decent characters (Callum, Gwendoline, Horatio), but there is no Edeard (Void) or Angela (Great North Road) level of characterization in there. Plot dominates this trilogy from start to finish. That's fine. I personally loved the first book the most, with its elaborate world-building, the criminal investigations and wonderfully executed 'wolf in the fold' concept, with perhaps the most shocking cliffhanger I have ever read. However, I acknowledge others may feel differently, and for some the first book may have been too slow and they may prefer the more action-packed volumes. That being said, the whole trilogy is excellent, so grab it and start reading. Still 5 stars :)

Further thoughts with mild spoilers

At one point in the book Yirella goes rouge, and together with Ainsley, she guerrilla-starts a new human civilization, hoping this new society can bootstrap itself up to a level where they have a chance against Olyix. Sure, I get how very special circumstances they had, considering its special location; the best human technology available as a starting base; the presence and cooperation of Ainsley (a super-advanced entity) and time pressure to advance. But, still, in earlier books it was stated several times, that humans have plateaued. And then, all of a sudden they cracked a lot of magical technology, that brought them up to be a real challenger. Yes, PFH does his best to elaborate how the unusual circumstances made this possible, but after spending several books being afraid how superior and invincible the Olyix were, it was a very sudden change to have something that actually kicks Olyix ass fairly easily. I understand this was necessary to be able to to close the trilogy with a win. Still, I guess your enjoyment of the final book will be down to this single plot element, how well it resonates with you.

The other aspect I have been slightly disappointed about is the role of the assessment team. Yes, they go on their mission, and it is engaging to follow them on their once-in-the-history roadtrip to the other side of the galaxy, but ultimately I was hoping that their arc factors more heavily into the endgame. This is acknowledged even by themselves at the end of story when they discuss how the humans managed to find another way. So they provide an interesting viewpoint, but in fact are not contributing that much to the final outcome. I have not expected this considering how well PFH weaves his threads together in a natural and satisfactory way in his other books.

Finally, as I said earlier, it is obvious that PFH will return to this universe and he is holding back stuff. We are teased about the message from the future - which has been first mentioned in Salvation Lost. We have an old-new plot seed about seeking the Sanctuary. We still don't know much about Neana, Angelis and Katos races including how the Factory was coming together, and how it dissolved. We are also very mildly teased that Jessica may have some additional hidden purpose after all. So, a lot of plot hooks left open on purpose. For all these reasons, it is hard to view the last book as a complete closure: it ends the Olyix conflict, but at the same time it is a new beginning for a galaxy we still barely know. Naturally, I am looking forward to have more books in this universe, but at the same time I was expecting few more answers at the end of the series.

A really minor note is there are some editing inconsistencies: in second book the portal missiles are called "callumites", while in the last book they are "calmissiles". In the last book there is a single occurence of Olyix "Redemption" ship, but they are never referred again, so I guess they should be "Resolution" ships. I indicated this to publishers, hopefully gets fixed in the print edition.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of my most anticipated release of the year in exchange for a honest review. Thank you from here as well to Mr. Hamilton's awesome PR represenative (his name is secret, identity protection and all, you see)