I have doubts as to whether I want to read on in the series.

In fact, it is not even obvious that Shaw had planned further volumes at the time of this writing. Additionally, the story ends satisfactorily without a good hook to make the reader want to read on to the other two volumes in the series. Because Shaw was so selective in what he tinkered with in his world, he does tend to adopt certain tropes as backdrop these sometimes diminished the originality of the tale. More color, components, observations, musings, interactions there were opportunities for more emotional and fantastical climaxes.

There were several scenes, characters, technologies, and places that would have been brought to fullness with only a little bit more. There were times that the sparseness tended to paucity. When the reader is not unraveling the mysteries of the created world, they are enmeshed in the tensions of conflict, when they are not being led to implicitly make comparisons between the real and the fantastic, they are shown the inner thoughts of relatable characters, and when they are not struck with the breadth of vision, they are busied with the steps taken to achieve goals. Because of all these components, the story is engaging from beginning to end. These have the potential to do to the planet and their civilization what science fiction stories do for Earth: introduce radical change. This is a fantasy story, but because of the level of development at which the author’s world resides there are opportunities for technological discovery and innovation. With form and sparseness Shaw again draws more with less. Differences from our own world, both small and large, are introduced early on, fostering an awareness of possibility. The story occurs on a different planet, perhaps even within a different universe. These small accentuations suggested a fullness to the characters that other books fail to achieve with more words and effort. The characters were drawn well enough to serve their roles in the tale, but then each was given a single, or perhaps a few, moments in which to vividly bring out their inner selves. Rarely embellished, mostly utilitarian, it also seldom provided anything unnecessarily, focusing rather on the basics: relating the emotion, encountering the unknown, instilling the excitement. There was something sparsely effective about the writing. “Clean” as in free from extraneous matter. Shaw’s tactic was to promise very little and overdeliver. The distance between one’s ambitions and one’s actual achievements with the story can very easily turn into a measure of success, so there is risk in aiming too high. Not every story needs grand ambitions in order to be enjoyable.

The ragged astronauts