Fortune's Favor (Breach of Faith Book 6)
By Daniel Gibbs and Gary Stevens
A quick disclaimer, I know Mr. Stevens and consider him a friend of mine. While everything in this review is my honest opinion, I feel that I would be remiss not to state that upfront. (Same for me.)
Once again we return to Mr. Gibbs's universe through the lens of Mr. Stevens. A science fiction universe originally structured around a confrontation between the (idealized)Capitalist, Democratic, and mostly Religious forces of the Terran Coalition and the (strawman)Communist, Totalitarian, and enforced Atheism of the League of Sol. (Sometimes I think the John Birch Society had a hand in the raising of Mr. Gibbs) Mr. Stevens's books however branch away from that conflict to take a look at what is going on in the neutral corners of human space and what other hostile forces may be lurking in the fringes of the known galaxy. Looking at the universe through the eyes of a crew of a small interstellar starship that is often swept up in historical events that will have an impact long after they are gone. For further details, I'm going to encourage you to look at past reviews of books in the series that I will link to below.
This book focuses on the crew of the Venture Star as they are asked by their former Captain (now Admiral) James Henry to commit a daring act of espionage. It's a necessary act of espionage as an alien empire known as the Jalm'tar have been using a highly addictive drug known as Curall to spread their influence and outright control over the human population of neutral space. Curall is marketed as a miracle medicine capable of curing almost any disease and at the very least is an incredibly effective painkiller. I do mean incredible here, as fighters can use it to basically shrug off a bullet in the gut or keep fighting with broken limbs or worse. In reality, it's incredibly addictive and only masks the symptoms of the diseases it's taken to “cure.” A single dose is enough to addict you, as it takes over neutral transmission functions in your body and withdrawal is 100% deadly (Gonna be honest here. Spreading that drug into a population is a straight-up act of war.).
For the Jalm'tar the plan is simple, spread their miracle drug far and wide at a ridiculously low price and then slowly racket up the price by claiming that demand is outstripping the supply. While this is going on large parts of your population now hopelessly addicted and dependent on Curall will get... Rowdy. Even if they are not prone to rowdiness, don't worry! The Jalm'tar have helpfully seeded your world with agents to encourage... Rowdiness. Of course, it doesn't need to come to that. The Jalm'tar aren't heartless, they have nothing but compassion for the suffering and downtrodden of all worlds! Which is why demand is outstripping supply but... If you just sign a little treaty of association with the Jalm'tar, well then you would be moved to the head of the line. After all, people willing to align with the empire should be considered more than mere customers right? (Yyyyeeeeaaaah, this is when you do the security crackdown. This is in fact what a state security apparatus is for.{What happens when half your security force has family members taking the drug?} Not against the users. The sellers and enemy agents. {Which would cut off those family members from the drug, killing them})
As for the treaty, it's nothing major. Just granting the Jalm'tar control over your foreign policy and preferential trade rights. Also some extraterritorial enclaves for the Jalm'tar on your world and some minor basing rights. Plus immunity from your legal system to all Jalm'tar while on your world as well. Sure some alarmists would call this a virtual annexation but don't you feel that? That burning feeling in your veins? That shaky weakness in your limbs? The increasing struggle to take a deep breath? Shouldn't you focus a bit better on the clear and obvious benefits this treaty provided, like complete free access to the Jalm'tar market and all the Curall you need? By now, you all need it don't you? (I read this in the voice of Weyoun. {Thank you!})
Because while the crew of the Venture Star under Captain Miriam Gaon managed to bring back a sample of the Curall and prove that it's not medicine, just a super addictive pain-killer (I feel like there should be an FDA for this? {there are several agencies and no planet’s/governments FDA has approved this but the drug keeps getting smuggled in and people decry their FDAs as just propping up corporate profits. It doesn’t help that there are government officials singing the same tune.}). Many disbelieve the announcement considering it pure corporate propaganda trying to keep them from their miracle cure (That tracks, given various antiparasitics since 2020. {Before 2020 I would have been doubtful of this plot point}). They decry any effort to stop their access as mere actions to protect the medical industry's profits at the cost of the lives of the poor and ill. Even those who believe that Curall is just a drug are willing to fight for it, however, because they know without it, anyone who uses it will die in terrible agony if the drug stops coming. When the choice is to fight for a drug or watch your children scream themselves to death... Most people will fight tooth and nail for the drug and I can't even blame them for it.
That said, here is some good news, given that intact samples of Curall were recovered, humanity now knows the chemical makeup of Curall. This leads the scientists and doctors of humanity to the certainty that there is a cure for this addiction. However, figuring out what that cure is from just Curall could take years. Years where the Jalm'tar will be taking over neutral space one planet at a time. So there's only one way to keep the new and relativity fragile union of the neutral worlds intact. Someone has to go to Jalm'tar space to find and steal a cure for Curall addiction. This is going to be a problem since the Jalm'tar keeps much of their space closed to outsiders but they do keep one world open for aliens to come and trade.
Unfortunately, the Independent Systems Federation as a government system is more like the Articles of the Confederation than anything else, so there's not much of a budget for a spy service (This is one reason why I’m not an anarchist. Loose confederations like this cannot function. {Their new central government doesn’t have the ability to levy taxes just put the cherry on top, that’s a lethal problem for a government} Marx Preserve Us). Fortunately, they have Captain Miriam Gaon, a former spy of the Coalition and a woman desperate to appease her own guilt over actions she took as a spy in conquered Coalition territory during the war. So once again she will walk into the lion's den to do a good and necessary deed in the murky shadows of espionage with a rag-tag crew of maniacs, who have become frighteningly experienced in these kinds of do-or-die missions. They're going to need every bit of skill and luck they can muster for this.
This isn't the only reason she and the crew will take the job. Bridget, a former citizen of the League who escaped, is savagely devoted to maintaining not just her freedom but the freedom of others. New crew member Janet has lived under brutal totalitarian systems before and will do whatever she reasonably can to prevent a new one from rising. Even Piper the reluctant first mate, is willing to take the job out of a combination of loyalty to Admiral Henry and horror at the effects of Curall. Each crew member has their own reason for being willing to risk their life and freedom in this effort and they're all rather believable with varying intensities and levels of personal commitment. This is one of Mr. Stevens's strengths, as he can juggle a rather wide cast without having them blend together.
To do that he does have to have characters take a back seat in some stories. Samina the engineer's mate and Pieter the chief engineer, for example, aren't as prominent in this book as they were in the last one. On the positive side, Admiral Henry also takes up less of the book, taking more of a mentorship and patron role. I'm a fan of this since as I mentioned in my last review I really feel that his arc has reached its completion. We do see new characters on his side introduced, most notably Mei-Ling Lou, who serves as a staff officer for Admiral Henry and provides us a viewpoint of the neutral world of Ubana, a human world where the secondary plot plays out.
Mr. Stevens also shows his ability to create somewhat sympathetic antagonists in the form of the Chancellor of Ubana, Olivia Lilley. Chancellor Lilley is a champion of Curall, fiercely attacking any critics as corporate shills for big Pharma and decrying the Independent Systems Federations for feeling out an alliance with the Terran Coalition. Her solution is to sign a Treaty of Association with the Jalm'tar to protect Ubana from being enslaved by the Coalition. As her motivations for doing this become clear, it's hard not to understand why she would do this. I won't say anymore because I want to avoid spoilers but it's because of Lilley that you find yourself thinking that even if the crew of the Venture Star pulls this off. It's not going to be an entirely happy ending.
Which is a good thing, because it adds complexity to the plot that makes it feel all the more real. Yes, the people who decide to believe in Curall instead of their own doctors and scientists are throwing reason and caution to the winds but the suffering that Curall abates is just as real. The underlying resentment of corporations that profit from medical treatments and products is also real. If you don't feel that resentment, I'll encourage you to speak to someone in your life who is dependent on insulin and take a look at what they're being charged for it. I'll admit that's an American-centric example but according to my data, a vast majority of my readers are either American or very aware of our current system. Because of things like this and other fairly recent events, the book plays out with a good deal of sub-text that provides food for thought. I don't know if Mr. Stevens intended that but it's hard not to see it in the book. (He’s very intentional in his writing. {I do think even a socialist medical system would experience issues vs Curall but bluntly I think the issue would be easier to deal with than in a for-profit medical system. At the very least you can’t scream about corporate profits if medical treatment is kept low-cost and easily accessed by the government})
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did the last one and found myself provoked to stop and think more about it as well. On top of that, I really enjoyed the peek at the completely alien and different worldview of the Jalm'tar. Mr. Stevens was able to bring that to life in the story, even in causal conversations between humans and Jalm'tar. I'll be discussing that more in a companion video that I'll be linking below. Fortune's Favor is getting a B+ from me. This is my last review of the year but I'll be back in January and hopefully, y'all will join me then. What we’ll be looking at is up to my ever-wise patrons, who you can join here https://www.patreon.com/frigidreads for as little as a dollar a month. Whether you join or not my readers and friends, let me say Happy Holidays, I hope you have a wonderful time with your families and friends, you stay safe, and of course, that You Keep Reading.
Red text is your editor Dr. Ben Allen
Black text is your reviewer Garvin
