Review: The Icarus Plot by Timothy Zahn

Science Fiction Mission Impossible, with more twists than a slinky

Trailblazing doesn’t pay as well as bounty hunting, but at least you are less likely to get shot on the job. Former bounty hunters Gregory Roarke and Selene find it preferable for this reason – even if it leaves them borderline broke most of the time.

When the two are approached with an offer they can’t refuse, however, it’s not the money that makes Roarke accept the proposition. It’s the promise of payback on the person who nearly killed his partner.

The story

Working at Caleb’s Drinkhouse on Xathru to make ends meet, Gregory Roarke is fired after a minor altercation with some customers. He heads back to his ship, the Ruth, and his Kadolian partner Selene. Roarke doesn’t even get inside before a man who followed him from the Drinkhouse asks to speak with him.

Introducing himself as Geri, the man explains he needs a system of planets checked to see if it can be colonized. Geri claims to be working for an up-and-coming company, but given how much money he has and the way he carries himself, Roarke suspects there’s more to the story. However, he and Selene can’t afford to say no.

Once in space, Geri reveals his real agenda: He doesn’t need Trailblazers, but bounty hunters. With Selene’s and Roarke’s skills confirmed, he and his employer want them to hunt down a human woman named Tera C. She worked on something called the Icarus Project, and Geri and his people want the Project for themselves. Tera will lead them to it.

Roarke is torn. On the one hand, going into bounty hunting carries risk he hoped to avoid as a Trailblazer, to say nothing of the or else Geri and his associates employ to hold him to this bargain. He and Selene pursued a bounty on a different member of the Icarus Project six years ago, a man named Jordan McKell. When they cornered him, the man blasted Roarke’s arm off and nearly killed Selene. This is the reason why, although he’s not happy to be forced into the job, part of Roarke wants it. He wants to kill the man who nearly killed Selene.

But things are seldom what they seem, and soon, both Roarke and Selene are up to their necks in a confusing race to an unknown destination. Just what is Project Icarus? Why does everyone seem to want it – or to hide it? What is so valuable that people would be willing to kill to get it?

Most importantly, how are they going to get out of this mess alive?

The characters

Roarke is a practical man with a wry sense of humor. Quoting his father’s words of wisdom regularly throughout the story, one has to wonder if he does it to keep himself calm as much as to keep himself focused. Despite his best attempts to present himself as a devil-may-care nobody, Roarke clearly isn’t cut out for a life on the shady margins of society. His sense of right and wrong is too strong for him to take the easy way out, even when doing so would save him and Selene an entire universe of trouble.

Selene is even less able to hide behind a façade of unconcern when dealing with shady characters to survive on the fringes. A stoic counterbalance to Roarke, she plays his conscience without realizing that his works just fine, and he’s only trying to quiet it to protect her. Calm, cool, and collected, Selene offsets Roarke’s abrasive humor and keeps him on an even keel, so much so that even when she isn’t in the heart of the action her presence is still felt by both Roarke and the reader.

The world

Imagine Firefly crossed with Leverage and you will have a good idea of the world in The Icarus Plot. Companies vie with one another to be the first to develop a stardrive that will allow one or more species’ economic and military dominance over the known (and, possibly, unknown) galaxy. At the same time, organized crime and petty criminals steal from and backstab one another in an effort to remain on top. It is a world in flux, a galaxy where one can make a quick buck and still end up dead if one isn’t careful.

The politics

No politics – at least, none from the real world.

Content warning

The Icarus Plot earns the equivalent of a PG-13 rating. This a good book for all ages.

Who is it for?

Those who loved Firefly and Leverage will enjoy The Icarus Project, both for the characters and the plots within plots. Half the fun is trying, along with Roarke and Selene, to puzzle out just what is going on. At the same time, the interplay among the characters as the tale progresses will give readers looking for a new hero to cheer on exactly what they want. There are no shades of gray in the protagonists’ morality, only confusion as to who is on which side of the conflict between good and evil. Anyone looking for a solid tale of heroism will enjoy this adventure immensely.

Why read it?

It is Timothy Zahn at his best and most wily. What reason does one need besides that?

And if you don’t believe this review, check out Declan’s.