The Injustice Gamer reviews Praxis, the blue collar workers in SPACE! novel by my friend and editing client Justin Knight.
First, our warehouse workers are fairly realistic. Not all are smart, but they aren’t a homogeneous group by any means. There are characters with family, devoted couples, and people just dealing with the daily struggle. The equipment junkie attitude of them being “toys” is pretty accurate from my experience.
Second, we have a redemption arc within the story. I won’t go into details, per my general spoiler policy. But the fact that someone can be stuck for a long time, and come to a point where they wish to repent and change and actively do, especially after paying a price. Whereas the SocJus crowd is far more likely to simply excuse behavior and deny evil, unless of course it’s in recognizing truth.
Third, there’s a story of alien cops and pirates. While this may not be a SocJus trigger, the fact that the lawmen are good guys is.
Fourth, Mr. Knight gives us glimpses of family life and devotion. Not only is it respected, but aspired to by other characters.
As a former warehouse worker himself, Alfred passes along some fair inside baseball-style criticism:
A little bit of real criticism here: I kind of wanted to see more on adjustments to equipment required for zero and low gravity. It would be a real concern, and is almost always ignored by authors. Now, there is some mention of future equipment, as well as a little extrapolation from existing safety/security measures.
Damaged product also gets mentioned, but I saw nothing on inventory integrity. Both of these issues would be HUGE in space. Is it glamourous? Nope. Necessity rarely is. I also know that too much would get boring quick for almost all readers. How many times do you have to count to a thousand?
In the final analysis, the Injustice Gamer awards Praxis by Justin Knight 8 out of 10 fell deeds. Congratulations, Justin; and thanks to Alfred Genesson for his review.
In Ophian Rising news, the finish line is in sight! Newsletter subscribers should be receiving a special message within minutes of this posting. This one’s gonna be big!
The Ophian Rising, Soul Cycle Book IV is set to launch next month. If you’re not up to speed on the previous three books, there’s still time to get up to speed for the final volume’s release.
