A slow burn ... But this is to the book’s credit. Through Oliva’s skillful character development, the novel’s grounded, human story is just as engrossing as the mysteries swirling in outer space ... Against the backdrop of unprecedented scientific discovery, this fraught mother-daughter relationship becomes the heart of the book ... Bittersweet.
An inventive, moving family drama set against the backdrop of a wondrous but plausible development, Oliva’s third outing will delight readers who appreciate psychologically nuanced, character-driven, speculative fiction.
Tender, thought-provoking, and quietly luminous, The Radiant Dark asks how we relate to our fellow beings (interstellar or otherwise) and highlights the ways the past echoes through the present and shapes the future.
The novel’s duality in scope is fascinating; within the intimate family story, characters discuss humanity’s place in the universe, its insignificance in the scope of space and time. And though the human history of the Girards is small in the scheme of things, it is told beautifully, in emotionally complex and heartfelt storytelling. A dollop of SF enlivens this thought-provoking family saga.
