Novella Review: This Night so Dark by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: This Night So Dark
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Series: Starbound
Book #: 1.5
Pages: 109
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.92
Published: Oct. 7th 2014

Tarver still has nightmares about the night, six months before the Icarus crash, when he rescued civilian researchers held hostage by brutal mercenaries. Now he and Lilac reconcile his memories of that night with the truth uncovered after the crash.

Short connects first two novels. Includes preview chapter from This Shattered World.

Taschima's POV:

This novella was short and sweet, if by "sweet" I mean it was incredibly violent and it packed a punch. When I read These Broken Stars the only thing that nagged at me was Tarver's past. How did such a young man get decorated so much? What did he do to rise in the military ranks so quickly? Why did people admire him so? In These Broken Stars you got the sense Traver must have done something truly heroic to be so young and respected so much, but they never actually came right out and discussed why that was. Until now.

Traver is stationed in what seems to be a very peaceful planet, practically past it's rebellious phase. After being stationed in the planet Avon for long enough (too long and people start going crazy and killing each other) they re assign him to a more peaceful setting. One day while coming from a patrol with a fellow soldier Traver gets some report that one of their facilities isn't acting normal; the fellow soldier believes it is a glitch of the computer but Traver is more cautious.  What they come to find out is that the facility which they are supposed to be protecting has been infiltrated by contracted mercenaries. Who hired them? What are they after? How far will they go to get it? So it is up to Traver to save the remaining people inside the facility and find out the mercenaries purpose.

Traver is a bad ass, he has always been. This story didn't transform him from a weakling to a bad ass, it just shows us why he got the fame he has in These Broken Stars. I enjoyed the short story. It is similar to These Broken Stars in format. The chapters that are based in the past are separated with a conversation between Traver and Lilac happening in the present. Lilac listens to Traver as he tells her the story that still haunts him and wakes him up at night. While doing so Lilac and Traver manage to figure out some things that might be crucial for future books in the series, so I would definitely recommend this read if you want to be in the know. Not to mention it helps fill out some of the blanks These broken Stars might have left behind.

I really hope Lilac and Trevor get another story in the future, I love these two. Until then I shall read every other story written by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, starting with This Shattered World.