Goodbye to the Sun

Wind Tide #1

by Jonathan Nevair

A daring rebel pilot and a war-torn diplomat are thrown together as reluctant companions in this action-packed tale of perseverance, sacrifice, and hard-won hope.

Hidden in Kol-2’s remote dunes, the desert-dwelling Motes are on the brink. Razor, a bold resistance fighter, leads a last-ditch gambit against her people’s oppressors. The plan: abduct visiting ambassador Keen Draden and use him as a bargaining chip to restore Mote independence. But when the operation unravels, she’s forced to renegotiate terms with the arrogant diplomat.

Battling raging wind tides and pursuit by an infamous bounty hunter, the mismatched companions struggle to maintain their fragile pact. That’s when an eccentric smuggler with a knack for exposing cracks in people’s pride offers their assistance. Before long, Keen’s dubious past rises and Razor’s resolve falters. Opportunity and obligation clash, binding their futures together more tragically than they ever thought possible.

The Wind Tide series: epic space opera where interstellar colonization and vivid world building form the backdrop for moral struggle and character-driven adventure.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction

290 pages, Unknown Binding

First published May 18, 2021

About the author

Jonathan Nevair is an author and educator originally from Long Island, NY. After two decades in the classroom, he finally got up the nerve to write fiction.

His spy-fi adventures and character-driven space operas have won numerous awards, including the National Fantasy Fan Federation Award (Neffy) for Best Novel (To Spy a Star, 2024), second place in the 2024 Valorious Awards (Stellar Instinct), and runner-up in the 2022 Indie Ink Awards under the category Writing the Future We Need (Jati’s Wager).

Jonathan lives in southeastern PA with his wife and rambunctious mountain feist, Cricket. When not writing and teaching, he spends his time chasing his dog through the woods and stargazing with dreams of walking in space.

Reviews

[Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance · Rating 4 out of 5]

“How ironic you are, truth. You’re a shapeshifter who swindles knowledge. But I’m wise to you.”

Goodbye to the Sun is a character-driven sci-fi novel inspired by the Greek tragedy, Antigone by Sophocles. Set in the galactic area called the Sagittarius Arm, wind is a prized commodity in terms of power and spiritual worship. Terraforming technology and the harnessing of energy have turned necessity to greed and domination in three spans in some parts of the arm, while in others, a rebellious resistance is on the rise.

This space opera is told in changing pov’s by Razor’s personal narrative, currently in Targite City Prison, about the events that lead her to this fate, and Keen Draden’s view of events during their time together while he was the Kol 2 Ambassador.

Razor is a pilot for the resistance and in her effort to abduct Keen on route to a diplomatic council meeting to use him as a bargaining tool, things go wrong, and they find themselves in a dire situation. To escape, they will have to work together and negotiate terms that seem the most mutually beneficial to Razor’s cause, but also to allow for Keen’s very personal objective. After all, this was his last Ambassador run before he’d retire rich.

While the narrative slows down some in terms of character conversations/development, we learn of something in Keen’s life from the past, that plays an important part in the outcome of his actions. Both Razor and Keen shift in their initial stance to one another just a smidgen. What begins as complete detestation, garners some insight into their motivations. Keen is working through his memories of the wars and exploring his past relationships while Razor is making peace with what she has left behind. As it turns out, both Razor and Keen are played as pawns in a much larger game of politics.

“The daily readings became his nourishment. He grew eager, waiting with anticipation for the creak of the cantinool door and the old priest’s feet shuffling down the corridor. Each day the priest read to him, another year of wasted time in his life was bled from his veins. The bucket of immoral excess and the decadent distraction emptied into a drain of regret.”

Much will happen in this fast-changing and intriguing story in which the baton is handed off between different players and nations in turn, while the reader is trying to keep track of who is the ally, who will betray the other, and who has the upper hand ultimately in the war between the oppressor and the oppressed.

This space opera is brimming with action but also serves well in showing the tragedy of monopolistic power over societies. Nevair beautifully crafted human insight and moral food for thought into his writing, without weighing down the overall story and action. The changing pov’s views served well as a tool to understand the thoughts of two people with polar opposite views and backgrounds.

Initially, it took me a little while to understand that duality in writing and keeping things separate. I think it makes the story more interesting in the aftermath and worth rereading as it was done so well, but it resides outside of what my usual reading is like. The story was told after the fact, in Razor’s narration, focusing on her thoughts for Keen, while the actions are taking place and Keen’s own reflections and happen in real-time. This also made it a little harder to feel and root for a character at first, but again, it all fell into place by the midpoint and became even better by the end.

What I really enjoyed was Nevair’s amazing writing style. His voice shows such range in vocabulary and intellect, it garnered more focused reading on my part, which I can appreciate, but wasn’t expecting when I started reading. His descriptive writing of landscapes was also quite striking at different places in the novel.

“Deep in the desert on Kol 2, remote sand belts exist where only the Dune Eagle flies. Undulating blue hills pass in unbroken rhythm under its sharp eyes, except for the occasional shadow cast by an unmoving desert hermit. Lone and defiant against the harsh winds and hands of time, the Recluse tree’s roots grasp the planet’s inner rock fast and defy the world above ground. It appears no more than a bony skeleton under Altiron’s blazing light. But deep in the subterranean silence, its roots inhabit cracks and fissures in the dark, coveting the paltry moisture that sustains us.”

For an even better example, check out the author’s reading HERE on his site during the interview with Space Cowboy Books.
One thing I did not mention yet was Nevair’s placement of pronouns in a unique way…a sort of adaptation of what some languages do today in changing letters to make a word male or female as a base. A progressive forward look at a way it could be done and understood unanimously through all languages.

Goodbye to the Sun was a unique space opera with a touch of humanitarian/socio-economic insight and a great start to a trilogy. I look forward to reading more stories taking place in the Sagittarius Arm.

I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.
All opinions are my own.
Thank you!

More of my reviews here:
Through Novel Time & Distance

[P.L. Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read a lot of Sci-Fi in 2022, but boy, what I did read was outstanding! The sci-fi book that impacted me the most, that I finished in the waning days of the year, was the space opera, "Goodbye to the Sun", Book One of "Wind Tide" by Jonathan Nevair.

Had I not already resolved my "book of the year" lists for 2022, this magnificent book would surely have been in contention for my ultimate favs - I loved it THAT much. As such, to pay tribute to the awesomeness of this novel, and in the interests of fairness, I'm putting it forward for consideration in my 2023 "book of the year" evaluations.

Nevair's novel takes us to the Sagittarius Arm, a galactic system where trouble lurks, with the avarice and cruelty of the dominant powers, who have monopolized resources, and essentially subjugated other factions, having stirred the fever of rebellion against them.

The book centres on two main characters. One is Keen Draden, an ambassador from the influential Council domains of the planetary system, with a very influential father. Arrogant, cynical, tortured, aging and out-of-shape, Keen still has the political acumen, background as a warrior, intellect, and connections to be a formidable player in galactic affairs.

The other primary character is Razor, a fierce warrior from a tribal group - known as Motes - inhabiting the isolated sands of the planet Kol 2. Passionate, cunning, loyal to her people, with nerves of steel, Razor is going to do whatever it takes to do her part to save the Mote.

Razor, an elite pilot, and her Mote compatriots, are desperate to throw off the yolk of the powerful Targitians, who have revised Razor's planet of resources, turning it from once green and lush into a wasteland. In a last-resort effort, Razor decides to kidnap Keen, to use him as a political pawn in the Mote rebellion against the Targitians.

Beyond that, another uprising is underway, involving an old war comrade of Keen's, a charismatic mercenary named Jati, who is tied to an important person in Keen's life, from whom he is estranged.

Unsurprisingly, things go horribly wrong with Razor's plan, and the two nominal adversaries must form a fragile alliance, when facing common threats. Plotlines converge, action explodes, and tragedy strikes in this incredibly written, plaintive, and haunting novel.

This character-driven book is absolutely phenomenal in terms of how it crafts its main and auxiliary players. Instead of speaking about how these characters are drawn, as I typically do in reviews, I want to address the distinctive ways used by the author through POV to convey the characters to the reader.

The author notes that "Goodbye to the Sun", is inspired by the play "Antigone", written by famous Greek tragedian, Sophocles. The eponymous Antigone, daughter of King Oedipus of Thebes, (he who of legend, killed his father and married his mother) is that play's protagonist.

In "Antigone", after Oedipus becomes an exile following his parricide and incest, his sons Eteocles and Polynices fight each other for the kingdom of Thebes, and both perish. Then Creon, brother-in-law to Oedipus and successful King of Thebes after the conflict, honours Eteocles, but disparages Polynices as a traitor.

The play focuses on Antigone attempting to bury her brother Polynices despite the edict of Creon that Polynices is beneath contempt, and should be denied a decent burial.

Since "Antigone" engendered "Goodbye to the Sun", the reader will be treated to muted allusions to "Antigone", in terms of themes, and in particular the flair of the narrative. The POVs in "Goodbye to the Sun" are done in a very interesting and somewhat peculiar fashion. The book alternates between 3rd, and first person, and the mood and feel of these different perspectives also shifts as the point of view changes. Razor is allotted the 1st person, speaking about the past, from a place of incarceration. Meanwhile Keen gets the 3rd person, where the readers sees more of the present action.

The effect? We learn more about Razor's intimate thoughts, feelings, and aspirations, especially about Keen, and thus for me her tale becomes one of KEEN, even more than about herself, and her people. Meanwhile, Keen's POV reflects a lot of his backstory, past, in particular his time as a military man, what haunts him, his dysfunctional relationship with his parent, and more.

With this 3rd person POV, and what it revealed about the ambassador, I found myself feeling a lot of empathy for Keen, more so than Razor, especially with all the foreshadowing about the fates of both main characters. It served to make the denouement much more impactful, poignant, and lamentable, and was indeed very reminiscent of my favourite Greek tragedies.

In terms of themes, there are a plethora of fascinating and compelling ones to be found in the novel. Rebellion, found family, socio-economic and geopolitical tensions, diplomacy, etiquette, biological warfare, monopolization of resources and technology, colonialism, subjugation and dictatorships, grief, loss, manipulation, PTSD, addiction, greed, fanaticism, rebellion, clashing of cultures, and so much more gave me food for thought in this incredibly deep and philosophical book. Nevair is definitely a highly cerebral writer, and I adored that aspect of his writing.

One thing I need to mention in terms of writing is how Nevair progressively utilizes gender pronouns. In the world of Sagittarius Arm, words are altered to define people based on gender / non-gender identity.

There are plenty of thrilling action scenes, aerial battles, hand-to-hand combat, and pulse-pounding moments of betrayal, surprise twists, among all quieter, reflective and introspective moments.

Now comes perhaps the best element of a great book with tons of amazing elements: the prose. Eloquent, striking, descriptive, sometimes poetic, I ate the prose up in this book.

I submit an early favourite passage here:

"The shuttle completed its turn and five long, sleek building intruded on the emptiness out the portal. Their geometrically precise forms ran along the planet's sands like stealthy aquatic creatures breaking an ocean's surface. Inside each, a hidden cornucopia of biodiversity and affluent human culture countered the harsh outside realities of the isolate planet. Soothe by the quicksilver, Keen's attention shifted from the uncouth exterior to thoughts of upcoming delights at Targite's sheltered oasis. he edged up in his seat, eyes following the slender, mirrored structures as they ran into the distance. The legendary Fins. Miles back at their terminuses, colossal circular capture tubes curved upward and forward to face the barrage of raging air during the Wind Tides, channeling the wayward currents to power the city."

Engaging, exciting, intellectual, superlatively written, an inventive space opera that will linger in the reader's mind long after the last page is turned, I'd give "Goodbye to the Sun" more than five stars if allowed. This is absolutely a series I will be completing, and I can't wait for the next installment. A stupendous achievement by Jonathan Nevair.

[Michael Mammay]

I try to read a few indie published SF books a year. If you're looking to try something from a small press, this is a really good one. GOODBYE TO THE SUN is an excellent debut novel set in a unique, compelling universe filled with complex politics and relationships.

I'd probably call it space opera, though it lacks the majestic space scenes that often define that sub genre. But the politics are excellent, mirroring some of the themes of empire seen in the work of Arkady Martine. The world building is exceptional and imaginative, and the action scenes explode off the page. There were times when I didn't want to put it down.

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a story of a rebel trying to save her people, an ex soldier turned diplomat who is carrying around unresolved PTSD and war trauma, and a bunch of other interesting characters.  I loved the characters and you never know what you’re going to get from their arcs.

One of my favorite tropes and one that Nevair did execute well, was bringing a place into play as a character itself.  Heroon is a tropical rainforest planet in danger, with beautiful insects and trees and a true spirit of its own. In a way, Kol-2, the other main setting, also had a life of its own with blue sands and wind tides used for energy production.

I also liked the family vs honor vs loyalty vs duty themes.  Who is deluded, who is willing to make what level of sacrifice, what motivates these characters at the end … All of these things play into the plot and add depth.  As far as the science itself, I needed a little more about how the wind was used in these monopolies, is it stored, shared, transferred, how is the energy even stolen during raids? There was plenty of sci-fi though!

I did think there were too many planets and people and names thrown out at first, some of the politics were lost on me but at the end most of it came together.  I think scope wise it’s a fairly solid space opera.

So now we are at the point where I talk about the things that drove me nuts. I hate feeling lectured by books, and there’s no way around the fact that the book spends an inordinate amount of time lecturing about gender politics. In the middle of a terse situation. It’s not normalizing something if there are multiple lectures involved and I think it went beyond a normal amount of topic exploration. Even in the middle of a heated exchange of rifle fire these characters are hand signing their genders to each other.  I’m all for normalizing but not if it comes at the cost of a lecture.  Also I had a hard time with the points of view – Razor was used in the present tense to summarize the action and give more insight into Keen, who then covered the “action” chapters that occured in the past.  I think I wanted Razor to have a little more agency in the past tense chapters because she would have been interesting on her own, not just as a frame for Keen and other challenges of morality.

In closing, I can’t recommend the audio.  I did absolutely love the settings and plot and moral conflicts. Nevair also nailed the action scenes when he didn’t slow them down with lecture or diatribe, which is just a huge pet peeve of mine.  I think if you like sci-fi with a strong ethical base and plenty of twists, turns, and betrayal, check this one out!

[Isabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodbye to the Sun // by Jonathan Nevair // 3.5 stars

I’m going to be honest here: I’ve been hesitating writing this review due to my mixed feelings about the book. I have been very much anticipating this and I really like the author, he is such a cool and nice guy, so I really wanted to write a raving review about his book — but while it still exceeded my expectations in some areas, it also fell a little short in others.

The action starts as soon as you open the book. The author throws you right into the middle of it and, much like Keen Draden, you have to have a keen mind to be able to keep up. Nevair has dreamed up an incredible universe with a diverse set of characters, worlds, and cultures. I could spend hours just learning more about the intricate politics between the planets or even just the different factions on each specific planet. It is obvious that he has a whole lot of details thought up way beyond those which he has presented us with. This really only scrapes the surface it seems. This is at once both intimidating but also really cool. I wish he would’ve included a little bit more in the actual book though because sometimes it feels as if it is assumed that we know more than we are given. While I enjoy having shorter books (for the SFF genre) like this mixed into my usual mix of giant books, I do think that this would’ve been a great candidate for a longer book as it feels too intricate and detail-dependent to be this length.

Another area that I have opposing views about is focused on the characters. I love how the two points of views are so entirely distinct from each other. Despite there not being a header for each chapter telling you which POV is next, the style of narration easily helps make the distinction. Razor’s chapters are very character-focused, making feelings and opinions the focal point of the narration. Keen’s chapters on the other hand are more plot-driven, showing both what’s happening in the current time-line as well as giving flashbacks to the war that made him into the person he is now, deep beneath the mask that he shows everyone. The PTSD flashbacks felt so realistic and were well-placed in the storyline. As part of getting to know the characters, we get to learn about the cultures relevant to the story through Razor introducing Keen to her world as well as through Keen’s eyes as an ambassador. While the idea behind this is good, the execution felt a little unpolished here and there with the occasional awkward dialogue and clumsily placed cultural lesson. I absolutely love the focus on identity and having it as a well-integrated part of society, but at times it did feel like we were being knocked on the head a little with the explanations. It didn’t feel as natural as I would’ve liked it to for it to be such a normal part of their culture. It was almost as if Keen had to keep reminding himself of the history and importance of it – more than a well-experienced ambassador should need to.

Overall though, I am really happy I got to spend time in this universe. Nevair managed to tell a story on both the big scale with system-wide corruption and intrigue as well as on the (relatively) small scale on specific planets with clashes between factions and individual characters. The conflicts were palpable not only between strangers but also between blood and found family, battle buddies, and nemeses. Nevair doesn’t shy away from difficult topics, like trauma, death, and abuse but does so in a sensible way that isn’t simply there for shock factor. He’s also not above a little tragedy, the kind of heartbreak that will leave you breathless but at the same time also brings the realities of war to the foreground in a way the reader can’t pretend they aren’t there. A reminder of the real world and that not everybody’s story has a happy ending. So this reader, despite being heart-broken and a little confused while somehow also celebrating, is definitely looking forward to the next book in the Wind Tide series.

Thank you to the author for the free book in exchange for an honest review.

[DEGEN Psychonaut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only was this a very satisfying scifi/Space Opera novel, but there were some real highlights for me that really sealed my high opinion of Goodbye To The Sun. If you’ve read the blurb, then you probably have an idea, so you could feel free to skip the next paragraph, but don’t, I kinda like my intro to the story:

The story begins with an older ambassador about to land on a planet that has been eco-terraformed in order to capitalize on the extreme winds and atmospheric currents that develop and are literally like Jaws (big wave surf spot) times a hundred but made of hot air that smash down onto the surface of a planet. In the book, they are referred to as the “wind-tide”. The population has been split by this technology as its left a portion of people out in the sand and dunes, with a major grudge, and rightfully so. They hope to do what’s required to grab some power and help lift the injustice their people, and planet have suffered using the ambassador as part of a bigger plan.

When things don’t go as planned, an already tense atmosphere hits the ceiling and it stays there for the most part, along with some great action, incredibly realistic character growth, and a politically charged sun sized mess the main characters will have to paddle through.

The main character, Keen, is who I personally connected with, (the ambassador I mentioned earlier) is years out of touch with the struggle of daily life. That includes his old life in the Legion, and how difficult life is for those that are oppressed in his part of the spiral arm. As he experiences the secretive life of those on Kol – 2, the planet where everything gets rolling, he starts to remember who he is, and that person is painfully pulled back into focus and gives him the courage and strength to do what needs to be done.


For the Scifi lover, there is a ton to enjoy. The Wind Tide on Kol 2, and the hidden places the sand dwellers live were enough to blow me away, and fill me with surging imagination. There is FTL, a villian out of a nightmare and a name that came out of the nightmare with it.

Back to Keen though, Jonathan did an incredible job in describing and writing the experience he goes through in trying to stop drinking and to me, was a fine example of someone who was willing to write in a very personal way that really connected with me. As someone who has gone through that, and survived, it is harrowing and so hard to explain, but Jonathan really excelled. I got the impression that he is an incrediblly intelligent person who put more thought into this book than maybe an editor would’ve asked. So realistic and forward thinking was the inclusion of referring to a person’s gender that he should be congratulated for going the extra mile and bringing the future back into the now.

I loved the story and not only would re-read it when my life is a little less chaotic, but am excited for the series to continue and to see what ideas and story lines we see from Jonathan in the future.

[T.A. Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intricate adventure spanning multiple worlds.

Jonathan Nevair has created a powerhouse debut novel. Goodbye to the Sun is a complex, tragic tale about overcoming hardships and coming to acceptance after a horrific trauma. Characters are intensely driven and deep in their construction. I found myself both hating and loving Keen Draden, and I believe that was fully intended. Razor is a strong character who wants to save her people, the Motes of Kol 2, and I admired her dedication and was entranced by her culture. Jati is a fantastic secondary character who quickly became one of my favorites, I was always put at a sense of ease whenever they showed up. The worlds in Goodbye to the Sun are unique and detailed, and the language used throughout the novel is beautiful and organic. There are times where it becomes a little confusing in its complexity, but overall I found it easy enough to follow along. I enjoyed the story throughout its pages, but the ending really solidified it as a solid 5-star. I will be eagerly awaiting more adventures in the universe Nevair has crafted.

[Alex (Spells & Spaceships) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodbye to the Sun is a fresh new sci-fi for the modern audience that does everything it sets out to do so well.

The Sagittarius Arm (The Sag Arm or simply The Arm for short) is a well realised planetary system with factions, rebellions, ambitious individuals, powerful monopolies and hegemonies, religious fanatics and people fighting to preserve their culture. This gives it such a rich, in depth feel I really appreciated.

This might of course require extra concentration for some readers to keep track of! As well as this, the writing style is very respectful of the reader’s intelligence – by this I mean at times the prose can border on more of an academic structure, but not overwhelmingly so. It just (at times) might require a little more focus or a re-reading of a paragraph if you’re one of those readers who switches onto autopilot now and again.


It’s never pretentious so I didn’t find this off-putting; personally I prefer the way it’s written as it exudes a really professional command of the storytelling. It doesn’t hold your hand too much and this for me adds to the overall enjoyment.

While on the topic of style, Nevair invokes some really beautiful imagery that perfectly captures the biospheres and locations of the story, from spaceships to the rainforest planet of Heroon, to the deadly winds of Kol 2, its picturesque blue sands a facade for the death they can bring. The author is equally adept with observations on the human condition and the way of the world. There are several instances of this which are just a delight to read and leave you smiling in appreciation.

There’s also much to admire in the way everything just fits together. Especially with a debut, it’s great how seamlessly the varying acts of the story transition and blend together to form the overall narrative.

'Human technology creates artificial intelligence. And it comes back to bite us. My old friend, Mr. Irony… with impeccable timing, as always."


I don’t know how the author approaches writing a book, but I suspect there is a large degree of planning and mapping out the story beforehand as it is smooth and slick. In the later chapters I felt like Nevair always knew where he was going with the story and the characters and how events would lead up to and impact those that came afterwards. It’s not just a series of circumstances that happen but rather a jigsaw carefully pieced together.

Diplomacy and etiquette on the centre stage
Diplomacy plays a massive part throughout the book, in a number of forms. For a start, one of the two main characters is a diplomat. Keen is in some respects a sort of Han Solo figure, although there are many differences in his character. He’s been sent on a diplomatic mission when he’s captured by our other main protagonist, Razor. She is a Mote, belonging to a people whose culture is at threat of extinction and is hoping to use Keen as a bargaining chip to gain more of a voice.

The understanding (and lack of) between these two characters is an interesting dynamic to follow, with a culture clash between the two and many others in the story being a predominant theme. It’s something that affects not just them but millions of others, and ideology, fanaticism and rebellion are big underlying currents of the plot. Some understanding of real life political history can help to appreciate how the author approaches these issues but isn’t essential to understand them in the context of the story.


Tarkassi 9 was a really interesting facility to read about which showed the after effects of biological warfare. Way out in the Outer Rim some of the survivors of past biological counter strikes live with already struggling lungs in a low O2 atmopshere. Every day is a struggle just to survive. War is not portrayed as glorious.

Whilst cultural, ideological and diplomatic challenges are presented on a bigger scale, social etiquette is also addressed and given a pretty significant role throughout the book. This is mainly in the form of gender expression and the progressive normality of everyday life in comparison to our world, in this respect.

Nevair creates an inventive way to express ones gender, one that if I may boldly add, feels more straightforward and seamless than the beginnings of our own expression of personal pronouns within society.

Keen Draden, who identifies as male, introduces himself, or is introduced to strangers, as Draden-ti. The ti signifies his personal gender identification which is also expressed through hand signals in some circumstances. In rarer instances in which people can’t communicate easily, they display identity marks for this purpose.

At first before re-evaluating, I thought the implementation could be labelled a little idealistic. For example, some bad guys refer to Razor as ‘she’ – to which Keen observes “So, they know each other.”

I initially found it difficult to reason that everyone regardless of moral compass would choose to respect others’ pronouns, or that parents would treat their children as gender neutral up until they decide for themselves. However, I read this book seated firmly in the present, looking through a 2021 lens based on the society I live in. It is implied the cultures in this book are centuries ahead of us. Our society today is poles apart even from the ones the previous generation grew up in.


This aspect nevertheless plays a large role in the social interactions in the book, being so different to where we currently sit, so it’s impossible not to dissect how it works in the context of the story and apply it to today. That’s a positive thing. If a book sparks inner reflection and presents something thought provoking and worthy of consideration it’s a force for good.

This is something you’ll feel about various aspects of the book – Nevair-ti has really put thought into everything he writes. Topics are approached delicately, passionately and imaginatively and I really enjoyed reading something that made my brain work (in a good way!) and employ little critical thinking debates in my own head. I’m no expert on gender issues but I enjoyed thinking about how this could be applied to the modern (by our standards) world.

That’s the thing I’ve learned about justice. It doesn’t abate. It might ebb and flow, but like water caught by the tide it keeps moving, and so did we.

Razor and Keen are really interesting characters and I enjoyed the way their stories are told. Razor starts her story at the end of her own journey and we then go right back to when she first meets Keen, which is where his story kicks off. Keen has a past that is revisited, and it’s interesting to learn small amounts of information every now and then which helps to explain his current situation and add to his overall character arc as the story progresses.


All the while, every event is building towards an epic and spine tingling conclusion. I’m not familiar with the Greek tragedy Antigone this tale is inspired by so I can’t comment on the parallels but I imagine based on everything else it’s done very cleverly.

Keen and Razor were really interesting people in the story. Pox, too – a relentless bounty hunter on Keen’s trail, guaranteed to ruin the day.

"Jati didn’t walk around things. They walked through them. You either moved out of their way or got run over."

The main draw and big fave for me though is Jati. Their lavender mohawked, steel jawed presence always feels so reassuring, and I have trouble explaining why exactly. It just feels like they have a control and a humour that calms difficult situations, no matter what the stakes are. Even in a situation of tragedy their presence is so comforting. I like the enigmatic, mysterious nature to their character through much of the book and how this is slowly peeled away as you get to know them more.

I just love all of the moments they’re on the page! Certain people can be described in life as lighting up the room, just by their general aura and presence. Jati has the same effect on the page.

If Jati is by your side, you know everything is going to be ok, even when things are very much not going to be ok.

Overall, Goodbye to the Sun is an excellent space opera with its own unique flavour, filled to the brim with passion and personality. That it’s a debut makes this all the more impressive and I can see big things are coming from Jonathan Nevair.

This is Windtide book one, but it also works perfectly as a standalone with its own full story arc. If you’re looking for a new series or a standalone, rest assured it satisfies both needs

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! What a ride this book has been! It's simply Sci- Fi done right! Wonderful world building, an amazing story with characters driving the plot! Check out my full review on my blog which will be part of the SOT tour coming up soon.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodbye to the Sun is a space opera which will immediately fool you in to believing in its world and its politics. Unlike some stories, it's not flat and only relying on what's on the page before you. It feel as though there is so much more that you can almost see beyond what is written as this intergalactic civilisation is so similar to our own despite the vast differences that also exist.

It's a book that has grown on me ever since I finished reading it. The more I consider its story, the issues it tackles, the conflicts it captures and everything else about it, the more I find myself wanting to go back.

It wasn't without fault but it's a very good debut and promises a lot for the rest of its series.

The first chapter drew me in to Goodbye to the Sun as much as any book ever has. True it seems a little bit cliché in some ways but that didn't bother me.

In its chapters, Goodbye to the Sun switches between two perspectives. The first is Razor's. She is an indigenous inhabitant of Kol 2 who is recalling her experiences and struggles by the side of Keen Draden. These are first person accounts and I liked the use of dramatic irony here and the critical eye with which Razor is able to reassess her own decisions in the past and all that transpired.

The second set of chapters follow Keen Draden directly. These are told as if they are in the present but Razor has often alluded to significant moments in her own accounts which builds the anticipation of reading Keen's chapters. Keen has been sent as an ambassador to Kol 2 on behalf of the Council but this is merely a formality to appear as though they have attempted every diplomatic course of action before relying on a more direct enforcement of their will.

I must confess here to not being in the right head space and not paying enough attention in the early chapters to the politics at play. I was assuming that this was a case of the Council versus the Targitians on Kol 2 but this book is much more complex. There are constant waves of rebellion. The Targitians oppose the energy demands of the Council. The Motes oppose the Targitians as they have driven them from their natural home and corrupted the landscape. Beyond Kol 2 there are even more isolated cases of rebellion against oppression.

Fair to say there are far more layers to this story than I had anticipated so I was playing catch up throughout a lot of the book but it was worth the effort. There are many different causes being fought for here and each of them seemed justified in their dispute.

This is where Goodbye to the Sun becomes a tale of compromise.

Allegiances are fluid and there are many instances in this book of having to surrender certain hopes in pursuit of a greater good. No one wants to turn their back on their morals but there has to be a plausible course of action to follow towards that end and sometimes a step in the right direction is better than nothing at all.

So the politics are complicated, layered and very well done (if, unlike me, you are paying enough attention at the start and keeping up with the new sides and opinions being introduced) but there are many other aspects to this book.

Nevair's writing is consistently poetic. One quote that stuck with me from the very beginning was when he talks about the relationship between the Motes and the land they live in. Razor says,

"The desert wind blew through my blood. From an expanse of dunes, I learned to speak arid words."

and it was something I kept thinking about. This is a book about liberation from foreign oppressors and I like that this quote stuck with me almost as a reason behind the struggle and as a constant reminder of Razor's character.

I felt perhaps that the first few chapters were too fast, jumping from one scenario to the next in a chaotic set of skirmishes and while this may be the reality of war, it didn't seem as though therer was enough of a chance to get to know the characters in these earliest chapters. However, Nevair seemed to settle into his writing and I couldn't fault the progression in the second half of the book. Once the pace calmed, I felt the relationship between Razor and Keen was much more satisfying to watch unfold. It was always going to be turbulent but I still enjoyed experiencing the highs knowing that there would be lows yet to come.

Another minor issue I had was Keen's flexibility. I liked that he was a character open to change and growth but felt that this was perhaps overdone. Unless the book took place over a longer span of time than I had realised while reading, I felt that Keen was too quick to change sides. There were points were you could see him doubting his current position but when the changes came they were sudden and complete whereas Razor seemed to be much more stubborn in her ambition and perhaps more believable for it.

But overall these were details that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story as a whole. I loved the conflict between family and state, the monopolistic system set up and the imagination that Nevair pours into every page. I was worried when a sandy planet appeared at the start that it was set to be another Arrakis or Tatooine (from Dune and Star Wars) but Nevair made it his own. With lines like

The voice of Kol 2 whispered, fluttering the white fabric in the silent desert evening'

he gives the sand a life of its own but also doesn't become so attached to this location that he is unwilling to leave and introduce the reader to new planets and new star systems.

This more than anything else gives me a great deal of hope for this series. Goodbye to the Sun was a great story of two warriors each fighting for different but equally personal causes but it only felt like it scratched the surface of this setting. What comes next? I really couldn't guess but if it's more of the same following the wave of political change spreading throughout the Sagittarius Arm, I'm on board!

So to leave with a quote that captures the overall ambition of the series (as far as I understand it from this first entry),

'The more time I spent with Keen and Jati, the more I understood the complicated nature of our world. Of how one small isolated planet's problems couldn't be separated from the rest of the Arm.'

[S. Bavey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn’t read any Sci-Fi books for many years until the start of 2021 (although I never stopped watching Sci-Fi movies and TV shows) and this is the third I have read recently that I have really enjoyed. I’m so glad I started reading the genre again!

Goodbye to the Sun is a debut novel and the first of Jonathan Nevair’s Wind Tide series. Knowing that the story was inspired by a Greek tragedy (Antigone), I was prepared for a tragic plotline and I was not disappointed! The action revolves around two emotionally damaged main characters from the beginning, with a third added in further along the journey.

It is the story of Razor’s fight for the survival of her family and the Mote race against the political machinations of a galaxy where entire planets are made into energy providers. This is the fate of Razor’s planet, KOL-2 and her children have been taken from her by the planet’s oppressors, the Targitians. Caught up in this ecological battle on KOL-2 she longs for support in her people’s fight against the Targitians. She has never been off planet until she goes to pick up Ambassador Keen Draden and take him hostage for her cause – an event which is the first in a chain which sees her traveling light years through space in the hope of finding support for her people’s cause. Their destinies become entangled when she takes him hostage in the pod at the beginning of the story. The action level of this kidnapping is dialed right up almost immediately and draws in the reader right away. Razor is full of sarcastic wit which appealed to me, yet at the same time the chapters written in her voice are poetic – full of emotion and tragedy. In fighting for her people’s cause she has also discovered she is an excellent pilot and clearly relishes this new skill:

“I soared without the pull of gravity, turning and moving at speed. And I showed the Hamuts, and Keen, what it meant to give chase to a Dune Eagle set free from terrestrial bonds.”

The book is also the story of Keen’s tragic family circumstances. Keen is something of a hasbeen and a drunk. His days as a heroic Legion soldier are long gone and along with them his muscular body and fitness. Unable to recover emotionally from the death of his sibling, Reardon, during the Patent War, he finds solace in whatever alcohol is on offer. He eventually makes a conscious decision to stop drinking and embark on some self-improvement when he realizes he will get to meet the daughter he only recently discovered he has – Reynaria, the leader of the resistance on planet Heroon:

“He was returning to a former self while slipping into the abyss of personal trauma that came with it.”

Unfortunately Keen is no longer worth as much as he thinks he is and the Targitians don’t really care that he has been kidnapped by Razor. However someone does care about his whereabouts. A relentless, sadistic bounty hunter and past torturer of Keen, named Pox, arrives on KOL-2 with an aim to reacquaint herself with Keen and his weaknesses. There is an extremely exciting, edge-of-the-seat chase sequence through the Wind Tide where Razor attempts to pilot Keen to safety while being chased by Pox.

Jati is a fun, brave and heroic non-binary character. Their lavender mohawk, playful jibes, and obvious fondness for Keen allow for some light relief from the tragic circumstances Keen and Razor find themselves in. Jati is Keen’s old war Legion comrade turned gunrunner, who is able to fill in the details for Keen about Reynaria and the Resistance on planet Heroon. They are the closest thing to a friend and a comfort that Keen has and soon become friends with Razor as well, united by their shared cause. With the addition of Jati, the action moves into space, away from KOL-2 and towards Heroon, a planet which is going to be eco-shaped into a desert for wind energy – just like KOL-2 was:

“This isn’t a historical transformation. It’s mass murder. Of both humanity and a planet. And for what? Profit.”

The world building in Sci Fi novels needs to be extensive since we know nothing of these new planets, their inhabitants, or their political systems. As such, it can often feel a bit like an info dump, but in the case of this novel I did not feel that. The politics are fairly involved but the cause is clear:

Razor: “Most hated by me were my local oppressors, the Targitians. Those spiritual zealots used nothing more than a bogus prophecy to justify their strict control and prudent distribution of the highest, advanced form of energy known to human civilization.”

The descriptive prose and metaphor within the worldbuilding are really well done, making it very easy to visualise the terrain:

“Deep in the desert on Kol 2, remote sand belts exist where only the Dune Eagle flies. Undulating blue hills pass in unbroken rhythm under its sharp eyes, except for the occasional shadow cast by an unmoving desert hermit. Lone and defiant against the harsh winds and hands of time, the Recluse tree’s roots grasp the planet’s inner rock fast and defy the world above ground. It appears no more than a bony skeleton under Altiron’s blazing light. But deep in the subterranean silence, its roots inhabit cracks and fissures in the dark, coveting the paltry moisture that sustains it.”

The story begins on KOL-2, a planet whose once lush, fertile surface has been ravaged by Targitian energy providers whose wind turbines have transformed the planet into a desert of blue sand. The Motes are an indigenous race on KOL-2 and have been forced underground to live in caverns and tunnels away from the Wind Tides which rage over the surface every 54 hours.

The Motes are understandably unhappy with these circumstances, and the loss of their once lush green planet, and are at war with the Targitians.

Ambassador Keen’s chapters are presented in third person perspective, whereas Razor’s chapters are presented in first person perspective in the form of a “personal narrative” being told from inside the Targite City Prison, looking back on the events that have already transpired with Keen. I found the alternating chapters and switch from first to third person perspective to be an interesting and engaging device, which drew me in right away.

Within the story there are strong themes of diplomacy, ethics, ecological issues on a galactic level, the tragedy of war and the loss of family members, and the importance of respecting someone’s gender. The theme of gender comes up often. Whenever someone new is introduced, they either introduce themselves using a naming convention that includes gender, they use hand signs to confirm their gender or have an identity mark, if unable to express themselves in other ways. Using the wrong pronoun or not enquiring after someone’s gender is highly insulting:

“But for over a millennium now, since the mid-Second Span, humans had conquered a longstanding prejudice and come to understand that one’s gender self-expression (and sexuality, for that matter) was a right of all, not a privilege of the few.”

On Heroon I was right there with Keen as he experiences horror when he realizes he is back at the site of his previous torture by Pox. How could his fragile mind survive being tortured all over again? There are a number of flashback style dream sequences in Keen’s sections (particularly while he is imprisoned) which, while a useful device to tell us what happened in the past, I found a little difficult to distinguish from the real time sequences until something/somebody woke up Keen. This led to a little confusion at times over what was happening now and what had gone before, particularly since Keen’s prison cell was the same as he was in during the Patent War. His desperation to have an opportunity to do right by his abandoned child has led him, so utterly broken, to this tragic circumstance:

“a siblingless, widowed, absent parent with nothing left but a child.”

It’s impossible not to empathise with him. It’s also impossible not to empathise with Razor and the plight of her people and Jati, the action hero of the story.

I am sorry to be leaving these characters who I became fond of during the story and am looking forward to the sequel, Jati’s Wager, out in August!! Highly recommend this book to all lovers of SciFi!

[Jamedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Full review link: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
Q&A with Jonathan Nevair: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...

Goodbye to the Sun is the initial book in the Wind Tide series, a space opera by Jonathan Nevair. It brings a really interesting proposal, taking the Greek tragedy Antigone and using it as the base for the themes and the structure in this space opera. As somebody who has been in love with classical culture since I was young, and on the other side, a lover of space operas, this seemed like the perfect mix of both passions.

We are transported to the Saggitarius Arm, a galactic area where the wind is, at the same time, an important commodity; and also worshiped as a superior power. The particularities of how some of these planets have been terraformed and the competition for energy have made a dictatorial sort of government arise, meanwhile some rebellion focuses are starting to ignite.

About the story, we are thrown in the middle of an action sequence, and in the same way Keen Darden is forced to keep up with what is happening around him, the reader has to be really attentive to not miss any detail that later will be important in the novel. An important detail that soon will be in our eyes is how this book is rather unusual: it is narrated using a dual view of point, alternating between a 3rd person and a 1st person. And it's not only the person which changes between these two points of view, but also the general tone, as the 3rd person chapters are more centered on Keen Darden, and how he is trying to cope with the situation that has arisen after being kidnapped by the Motes, his own personal struggles and the evolution during all the process; the 1st person ones are much more intimate, being narrated by Razor, full of opinion and sentiments. While the general pace can suffer a little bit from this particular resource, it's true that helped so much in building part of the emotional investment you have when you end reading GttS; and I would be lying if I said that without this base, the climax would feel the same.

Another detail I want to stop in is how PTSD is treated in this book, as they are well-placed in the story, and feel realistic; something that is one of the main challenges when writing about this condition. Flashbacks also help us to know more about Keen, one of our main characters; while also contributing to worldbuilding. Talking about worldbuilding, while I enjoyed it, and Nevair did a great job avoiding info dumping, I feel it could have benefited by adding some more pages to the book (GttS is kinda short in comparison with the standard in the genre).

I don't want to end the review without saying that personally the aspect I most enjoyed about GttS, apart from the subtle references to Antigone using themes, allegories, and narration style, is the building of characters. In the end, GttS is a character-driven story, and probably is the aspect where Nevair totally hit the nails' head. Keen and Razor are magnifically written, partly helped by using this hybrid POV, and you can actually feel invested in them. Jatti joins later this crew, and even having less character development, it grows into you, and again, all this previous work makes the climax more impacting.

In summary, GttS is an excellent character-driven space opera. While I feel there are some aspects that could have been improved, the final result lands as one of my favourites in the genre. Totally recommended for soft sci-fi fans, and for people who love character-based stories.

[Jake is Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nevair states that Goodbye to the Sun is loosely based on Sophocles’ Antigone and that while familiarity with the play is not required, it could lead you to some tasty easter eggs. I’m only familiar with Antigone from an opera I saw years ago, and–as is the case with most operas I’ve seen–I didn’t follow much of the story other than something to do with a soldier’s burial rights. Being that he is a Professor of Art History, I’m more than happy to take Nevair’s word for it. I will say that he does an excellent job of creating the sense of foreboding and impending disaster that tragedies evoke, and the ending was truly epic.

My absolute favourite thing about Goodbye to the Sun is the captivating setting of Kol 2. The landscape, the politics, and even the weather are fascinating: rather than stormy seas, Kol 2 features vast, blue sand deserts that are ravaged by the Wind Tide, a wave-like cyclical storm that can be deadly to Kol 2’s inhabitants. As well as providing stunning imagery set against Kol 2’s rose-tinted sky, this becomes even more intriguing as you learn about Kol 2’s history and the energy economy that dictates political power across the Arm.

The story alternates between Razor and Draden’s perspectives and is written in first and third person respectively. This is really effective as it frames Razor as the narrator, which ties in nicely with the plot and its basis in classical tragedy. It also provides insight into sometimes difficult to like characters from a second character’s perspective (I went from disliking Keen to quite liking him and then back several times).

Goodbye to the Sun’s focus on strained family dynamics, abstract theology, journeys of personal discovery, and tense politics centred on natural resources reminded me a little of Dune and Hyperion. However, it’s a unique sci-fi reading experience that I think you can only get from the likes of an independent publisher like Shadow Spark.

I’m excited to see what Nevair does next in the Wind Tide trilogy, which will be composed of three standalone stories set in the same universe. The second book Jati’s Wager is a heist story inspired by the Trojan War and will be published later this month.

Thanks to the author for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

Trigger warnings: Addiction/alcoholism, death of family, PTSD/trauma, torture

[Cassidee Lanstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

First things, first: a big thank you to Jonathan Nevair for a copy of Goodbye to the Sun in exchange for an honest review. Despite being someone who loves fantasy, I am not a huge reader of the Sci-Fi genre. I thought this sounded really interesting and liked that it has ties to the Greek tragedy Antigone, so I decided to give it a whirl.

I really enjoyed the start to this book. Nevair pulls us in with a lot of intrigue regarding Keen and his story. Immediately, I had to know his journey. I enjoy the device that Nevair uses, where authors give you a hint of the ending for a character’s story right off the bat but make you work to get there. I think it’s so fun and automatically will make you want to know more. It was really well done in this case, too.

If you like character driven stories, this will satisfy your needs. It also has some really cool world building for those that need more visual descriptions to get sucked into a novel. Nevair definitely knows how to involve his readers in his book. I’m a huge fan of books that are character driven, so even though Sci-Fi isn’t my usual genre, I was very invested in Goodbye to the Sun.

Our two main characters, Razor and Keen, have these voices that play off each other very well. Razor’s role as a kidnapper was essential to the story and she provides much needed insight to the political climate. Keen is such a multi-faceted character and it was interesting to see his opinion of himself in contrast to the way other people view him. I found this to be very realistically written and it added a lot of nuance to the book. I really enjoy seeing different perspectives and the way they shape our own perception, especially when those characters represent conflicting motives.

In Goodbye to the Sun, Nevair writes an engaging, smart, fast-paced space opera with brilliant character development. I can confidently say that seasoned Sci-Fi readers will enjoy this even more than I did. This novel is sure to be a treasure within the indie SFF community.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s a complicated and costly endeavor, seeking retribution. When I think back on those who didn’t make it through our struggle, I’m reminded of the way the credits roll at the end of a beautiful tragedy. The nostalgic music makes it all seem worth it…. That every life lost was given so that the way things ended made up for it.” Razor (J. Nevair, Goodbye to the Sun)

In his debut novel, Goodbye to the Sun, Jonathan Nevair creates a world of science fiction that encompasses brilliantly developed characters in a story of love, loss, deception and tragedy. Keen Draden, ambassador and veteran of the Energy Patent War on the planet Heroon, is now a selfish, drunk, arrogant, broken man suffering from severe trauma and guilt of his service. Razor, a resistance fighter on her home planet of Kol 2, carries her own suffering from losing her partner and imprisonment of her children. She crosses paths with Keen when they plan to abduct him to gain access to resources and representation. Jati is Keen’s friend and veteran of the Patent War. While they also suffer from PTSD, they have channeled it into selling merchandise, some of which is illegal and supplied to resistance fighters. LGBTQ+ representation is added into the genre by including gender fluidity and a non-binary character. At a certain age, everyone, no matter where they are from, either chooses a gender or does not. It is highly disrespectful for anyone not to inquire what another’s gender is upon meeting them.

The story is first told from Razor in the first-person perspective. Subsequent chapters switch from her to the third person perspective of Keen. Razor’s narrative throughout the book tells of the events as she lived them and only adds to the emotional impact. From the outset, the reader knows how the book will end. As the three characters travel together, ultimately going to Heroon, the past trauma begins to unravel as we learn more about them. Keen is one of the most complex characters that I’ve encountered. His guilt and pain are overwhelming and the wall he has built to hide it begins to crumble. I felt both anger and compassion for him as his story arc was revealed. Razor was also compelling in her narrative as we know her suffering and what she feels she must do for those she loves. This book was a gut-wrenching emotional ride from the start, that ultimately left me in tears. It is beautifully written and I highly recommend it.

I am very impressed with Jonathan Nevair’s debut science fiction novel, Goodbye to the Sun. The idea to use Anitgone as base material made for a beautiful, tragic story against the backdrop of scientific technology. Keen, Razor and Jati were deeply flawed and troubled. Their story arcs were complete, they developed throughout the book, and ultimately came to terms with the demons that haunted them and faced the consequences of their actions. Gender fluidity included in this novel was not forced, it was simply part of the overall culture of the entire system they lived in. The terraforming planets into desert wastelands to harvest wind energy drives much of the narrative of the Patent War and rebellions. While this is novel is an emotional ride from start to finish, I highly recommend it for everyone, not just fans of science fiction. I look forward to the next book.

Please see the full review with character, science fiction and plot analysis on my website: https://bookandnatureprofessor.com/20...

[Marian Thorpe]

An aging, alcoholic diplomat with memories he cannot face, filled with cynicism and guilt in equal measures, is taken hostage by freedom fighters seeking to use him as a pawn in negotiations. But the worlds of the known and inhabited galaxy have been the sites of many battles for power and dominance, and no one can be trusted. Nor, perhaps, can trust be given to memory, love, or family.
Keen is the diplomat, seeking in his chosen second career to forget the people he loved and could not – or did not – save, and the approval of his father, who makes no secret of his disdain for his son. Razor is the freedom fighter, raised in the harsh deserts that are all that left of her once-verdant planet, before the winds were captured for energy, and the ecosystems destroyed by the ruling Targitians. Together they are played by the ruling powers, buffeted by factions as politically strong, and as deadly, as the Wind Tides of Kol 2, Razor’s home planet.
Goodbye to the Sun is packed with action and political intrigue, but it is also a deeply philosophical novel. Echoing themes (and perhaps structure) from Antigone but addressing issues of privilege, gender identity and climate change within the greater questions of the tension between love of family and love of an ideal, it contains some of the most elegant and provocative writing I’ve come across in some time. It made me think, but at the same time was a fast-paced, intelligent space opera with characters I card about: a hard balance to create and maintain, but debut author Jonathan Nevair has done it.
Goodbye to the Sun is the first of a planned trilogy, I believe. I look forward to the next book immensely.

[Rowena Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Space Opera that takes best of that form, a large-scale, multi-layered universe, with events happening across that spectrum and nothing happening in isolation, but combining that with a narrower, character-driven focus to give you the best of both worlds. Goodbye to the Sun treads that line beautifully, giving us that sense of scale without it being overwhelming, and employing one of my favourite approaches to worldbuilding, wherein the breadth and depth of the world is revealed and built up alongside the story and characters, with everything progressing as the book progresses. It’s an approach that works particularly well here because of how layered the world is, and gives us the wonderful feeling that we’re uncovering the secrets of the universe (without revealing everything!).

The world-building is beautifully done, but complex. There is a lot going on in this book, and even though it unfolds along with the story, you need to get your head around the technology, the environment (both in the sense of location and how it was being utilised), cultural practices and politics on multiple scales and between different people. It’s worth the work. The detail and richness really brings this universe to life and adds multiple dimensions to the stories of our two main characters Razor and Keen. I want to come back to the environmental aspect, as it plays into the series name, but also feels incredibly relevant in a time where renewables such as wind energy are becoming so important (I’m a geographer, don’t mind me…) but taken to the extreme? Or perhaps the wrong direction would be more accurate, with the focus on capitalising and even consuming the environment to focus on that – a good thing taken too far. Also, the wind tides are such a wonderful image, and somewhat terrifying.

Another aspect of the worldbuilding that I really appreciated was how Nevair explored the idea of gender in this future universe. In Goodbye to the Sun, gender is something that is never assumed upon meeting – something we could do with a lot more of in our time – but instead is an integral part of even the most basic introductions and exchange of information. It is so built-in, that the context of the meeting does not offer a reason to avoid this step, so even in the case of a hostage situation it is an expected exchange between hostage and captor – and this is the norm on a galactic scale. Gender can either be hand-signed or signalled via suffixes attached to the name, and this includes being able to indicate if this and the associated pronouns are fixed or fluid and may change in the future. It’s a fascinating experiment in what could be possible, and I love that it was just part of this universe and the people inhabiting it.

Within the sheer scope of this world though, the story itself is intensely character-driven, through the POVs of Razor and Keen, who offer us very different perspectives on what is happening and what has happened. Razor is both our gateway to the Motes – one of the people and factions on KO2, and part of the immediate conflict – but also offers us a retrospective viewpoint on the events, and on Keen. This created an unusual effect, wherein in places we almost knew the outcome of the chapter that would follow from Keen’s present tense POV, but simultaneously gave us a different view and interpretation of what was happening. It felt fitting for a story that is built on different cultures and peoples colliding, that we would get to see different viewpoints and I felt that it worked well. The two POV characters have unique voices and experiences, shaping their interactions with one another and the situation around them, and as their actions drove the story forward, we can see them growing and developing in response and it felt much as though we were on the journey with them.

Goodbye to the Sun is a fantastic multi-faceted book, with layers within layers in both the characters and the worldbuilding and action. The various aspects all felt very integrated and organic, with how the different moving parts come together or influence one another, and it was through this in particular that you get the feeling of the space opera shining through because nothing was happening in isolation. A strong debut, and a great start to a new series that I will be following with interest…plus it has a stunning cover, what more could you want or need to add this book to your shelf?

[Douglas Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodbye to the Sun is an ambitious novel that introduces a fresh take on the scifi genre. Inspired by the theme of traditional duty toward family vs. duty to state from Antigone, Nevair has successfully captured the melodrama and moral discourse of Greek tragedy and transposed it to the grand stage of space opera. The characters in this play/drama/novel are both human and larger than life. Razor is the idealistic rebel, Keen the broken man, and Jati the last best hope, but all are relatable people who have been shaped by their individual histories. Keen is the most complex of the three: struggling to find a reason to go on after losing both love and purpose, so malleable that he rushes from kidnap victim to Stockholm Syndrome without passing go, and, in the end... well, no spoilers except to say that Sophocles would have understood.

But enough of the highfalutin literary analysis: Goodbye to the Sun plunges the reader into the action from the opening pages and never lets go. It will grab hold of you, keep you turning those pages, make you laugh and make you cry, and leave you wanting more. It's everything speculative fiction should be.

[Bryan Glosemeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you prefer character-driven or plot-driven novels? I say, why not both? Apparently, Jonathan Nevair does too.

He’s been getting a lot of notice and praise in the world of indie sci-fi, lately. And for good reason. His first book, Goodbye to the Sun (Wide Tide 1), has a lot to offer. Deep history and world building that doesn’t overwhelm the reader. Characters with rich inner lives and powerful motivations. Plot twists and turns. And don’t forget the tragic ending! Nevair is very clear that Goodbye to the Sun is a space opera inspired by the Greek tragedy, Antigone. So don’t go into this sci-fi adventure expecting medal ceremonies and cheers for the good guys. Don’t even expect to be completely clear on who the good guys are, and what morality means in a galaxy controlled by religious zealots, monopolistic interstellar corporations, and freedom fighters with questionable ideas about what freedom means.

If you like space opera that’s rich with characters, worlds, and plot, then pick up Goodbye to the Sun.

[Heath Mensher · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Goodbye to the Sun” is an epic sci-fi book that threads the needle of smart and fast. I don’t have a lot of patience. Or time. I will start books, get 100 pages in, and give up. THIS book kept me reading - I needed to know what happened next, and I was off-balance the whole time. I needed a good post-quarantine ride, and this was SO good - can’t wait ‘til the sequel!

[Mark G Milone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodbye to the Sun was a thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi read. A fresh perspective on timeless issues, it reexamines interstellar political drama and military theory against the backdrop of a character-driven heroes journey. Think Dune meets Ender’s Game with a splash of Star Wars.

[R.W.W. Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burned through @JNevair's "Goodbye to the Sun" over the last couple of days. Really interesting protagonists, in-depth world building, wicked hard to put down ... I'm looking forward to more!

[Westveil Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

I was granted complimentary access to Goodbye to the Sun as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Storytellers on Tour. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity, and to Jonathan Nevair specifically for being so kind and involved with all tour participants. Participating in your cover reveal was such a pleasure I just had to ensure I would be on the review tour as well! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Goodbye to the Sun is space opera done right, plain and simple! The characters are well developed and compelling, the plot is suitably character-driven and easy to follow without being too simple, and the universe is amazing. I love the settings! The races, the cultures, the planets, all so well done.

I admit I'm not overly familiar with the inspiration material, Antigone, so I can't comment on how recognizable it is in this new story.

I did enjoy both of the novel's POVs, Razor and Keen, and the narrative voices for these characters are suitably distinct. It's easy to tell we've switched characters even if you're not watching for names and markers. With that said, I'm not sure how I feel about the proportions of POV splitting at the beginning of the novel. Razor brings us in, telling us how we got to her later timeline present, and then we jump to the start of that story but from Keen's POV. At the very beginning, this was a little jarring. I felt like that intro was so brief we didn't really have a feel for Razor yet and then suddenly we're in Keen's head and it took a good page or two to adjust, but there's also important information to pay attention to, which resulted in a slightly rocky start.

The political intrigue is so detailed I can tell Jonathan must have way more details figured out and filed away somewhere (even if only in his head) than what we ended up reading on the page. That makes me so excited to read more in this universe! Between the great characters and the clear evidence that the author knows so much more than we know, it's clear this book has only scratched the surface and we've got a lot more to look forward to.

Now, I do have one small and possibly petty critique point that I find myself giving to many American science fiction authors, and that's the very USA-centric view of the world that has made it into this book in ways that made me, a non-American reader, stop and wonder how likely certain details are. Last year I critiqued Paolini for the very US Marine Corps terminology for everything for a future of humanity with a unified solar system government situation that would have formed from other world power leaders as well. In Goodbye to the Sun, the first moment that gave me the same pause was when Keen notes his ship's speed in mph. Not only is the USA one of the last holdouts for the Imperial system, it's specifically a civilian holdout. NASA and all USA military branches use metric. You're telling me that when humanity as a whole reaches faster-than-lightspeed travel and lives on multiple planets in a galaxy far away we're going to go with imperial measurements in day-to-day life? I have doubts.

Overall this is an excellent debut and a great start to a series I look forward to continuing. If you love space opera, read Goodbye to the Sun and keep your eyes open for more from this author!

[Hobart]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S GOODBYE TO THE SUN ABOUT?
Several years ago, Keen Draden served as a Legion soldier on Heroon. He left the planet a changed man, a damaged man who found the numbing he needed to get by in a bottle. Now a diplomat, he finds himself on a different planet—one with some parallels to Heroon, however. While in transit on the planet, his transport is attacked and he's taken hostage by the losing side in a civil war in a truly desperate move.

When this scheme doesn't work the way they expected, Razor (his captor) comes up with a new plan to get some value from Draden. He sees this as an opportunity to do some good, and achieve some personal goals (the latter are far more important to him than the good). The two leave the planet and begin traveling with Jati, another former Legion soldier—one who isn't quite as far gone as Draden.

Jati has business that takes him to Heroon, Draden's personal affairs take him there—and he needs to confront some ghosts from his past, as well; and Razor hopes—almost against hope—that Heroon holds the key for her people's survival.

SURE, BUT WHAT'S IT REALLY ABOUT?
So that's the plot—at least the beginning of it—but the novel is ultimately the story of someone (or multiple someones) rebuilding themselves. Not by casting aside the mistakes and tragedies of the past, but by absorbing the lessons learned from calamity, embracing what they meant, and doing when they could to turn the hardships into something for the greater good.

When the novels leans into that, it's at its best and is the kind of thing I relish and enjoy pressing others to read. I'm not sure it stays that kind of novel long enough to justify enthusiasm, however—but I'll get into that later.

In addition to that, this book is about family—natural as well as found family. Religion. Power. The obligation of the power to act on behalf of the powerless.

WORLDBUILDING
This is one of those SFF novels that makes it obvious and plain that there was a lot of detailed worldbuilding done before the book really even started being written (or so it seems). THere's a complex history behind Draden's time on Heroon, there are elaborate cultural practices, expansive technology, and layers of political realities and bodies.

You don't have to read much of the novel to get an idea about the detailed nature of the worldbuilding—and it's one of those aspects that's in your face at every step, and you're still learning about the world as the novel ends—with more that needs understanding. THere's something very attractive about that.

There's something maddening about it, too—there are so many, many things I just don't understand about this fictional world. While I don't need to have an exhaustive knowledge of everything mentioned in the novel, I also shouldn't have to shrug my shoulders and move on when I have no idea exactly what's being talked about and am pretty sure I'll never get an explanation for it.

For example, I have a very clear and detailed understanding of the dominant culture's protocols to communicating gender identification when meeting someone by different means (there were frequent mentions of it), but I'm not sure if Draden was actually drinking mercury, or if Quicksilver was a brand name, a category of potent potables, or what. It's a somewhat unimportant example, but it's illustrative. (I could've used military, political or religious examples there, but this is the most concise and easily explained one).

ANTIGONE
The novel is described as "a space opera inspired by the Greek tragedy, Antigone." I read the Sophocles play back in High School and in College—I remember it being one of my favorites, and so I was excited to see how Nevair tackled it.

Sadly, it turns out I remember practically nothing about the play, much to my chagrin (I really thought I did), so I can't comment on how the novel reflects the play. But I thought I'd mention it for those who read this blog and might be interested by the notion.

PLOTTING AND PROSE
When an author is painstakingly careful with every word, every phrase in his prose it takes two forms (broadly speaking, at least): the first is that it comes across as fantastically smooth, and feels effortless (think Eames or David). The other form almost seems to boast in the care used, the text beats you over the head with the amount of care exercised in selecting each word (think Jemisen or Rothfuss).

His book seems to fall into the latter category. I, obviously, can't describe the amount of labor Nevair poured into the text, but it feels like each word in the final version was the result of rewrite after rewrite after rewrite to get it precisely the way that Nevair wanted it. This amount of care draws attention to itself in much the same way as the worldbuilding in this novel does.

Despite the clear labor over the words, it really seems (stress on "seems") that the same level of planning wasn't used for the story—it feels like there were multiple novels started in this book, and after a few false starts, the book finally had an arc that it stuck with through to the end. I didn't get the sense that we're going to take these two (and eventually three) characters on a journey from A to B via C, D, and E. It felt more like a journey from A to B via C—well, no, maybe D? On second thought, E.

I know that's not how Nevair actually approached this. It just felt that way to me. I'd also say that story and character took a back seat to the themes Nevair wanted to explore and the worldbuilding. I'm all for expansive worldbuilding and overarching themes, but not at the expense of characters or plot.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT GOODBYE TO THE SUN?
I don't know. I respect and admire the obvious craft and care seen in these pages, I think most of what he tried to accomplish is well-worth exploring. I just think it could've been more effective. I think the care undercut itself.

But I don't really want to say anything negative about the book because there were so many technical aspects, so much technique displayed, and all of that is commendable and well done. But I can't bring myself to be entirely positive, either.

In the end, I think I'd encourage people to try it for the experience, but to go into it with the right perspective. And then I'd ask people to come back and talk about it. Maybe you can convince me one way or another.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Bory · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

This was a big disappointment. First and foremost, it's a pet peeve of mine when an author is so in love with his own prose that his writing comes off not only as mastubatory, but pretentious and nonsensical. There's a place for flowery prose and pseudo philosophical babbling, but it's not when you're trying to build this politically complex landscape with shifting perspectives and evolving character motivations. The whole thing becomes muddled, and hard to follow.

Further, the prompt makes it seem like the book has two principle protagonists - Keen and Razor. And, I guess, in a strictly literal way it does. Razor's POVs, though, are much shorter than Keen's and their sole purpose is so that she can talk about Keen. In other words, Razor is not a character. Not really. She's narrative device to gives us more information on Keen. And it doesn't work for me.

Now, Keen is a good character. I enjoyed his complexity and growth. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the trauma he suffered due to his time in the Legion. But I needed more. And I don't mean more exposition of gender pronouns and how, even in a firefight, people's first priority is to make sure others know what gender they identify as, of which there is a plenty.

Also, the ending is very unsatisfactory. I get that this is based on a tragedy, but it's so bleak and devote of humor that it was a slog to get through. At the end, I was left with a general feeling of "well, this sucked for everyone, including me".

To be fair, though, I only read this because I'm interested in the second book in the series - Jati's Wager. I know it can, supposedly, be read as a standalone but I hate jumping in mid-series. Hopefully that will be better.

[Caitlin G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ambassador Keen Draden is on a simple diplomatic pit stop; show up, shake some hands, move on. But before he even touches down on the planet of Kol 2, he finds himself kidnapped by a pilot named Razor. A member of the resistance group known as Motes, Razor and her comrades hope to leverage Keen as a hostage in exchange for concessions from the planet’s government. But some players in galactic politics find Keen more useful dead than alive, and Razor finds she doesn’t have a simple bargaining chip like she hoped. Keen makes a deal with Razor: get him to the planet Heroon, and he’ll find weapons for her resistance. But while Razor hopes to find a future for her people on Heroon, Keen soon finds his past catching up with him.

GOODBYE TO THE SUN is a space opera that has some interesting world-building and great action sequences, but ultimately fell a bit short of winning me over. I really enjoyed the world the author created, where people casually reform the environments of entire planets in order to capitalize on the profits that can be made from harvesting wind energy. The idea of wind storms that circle the planet is terrifying, to the point where they were almost another antagonist in the book. A ship chase that occurred on the crest of one of these wind tides was one of the highlights of the book. Indeed, the action itself was fairly solid, and I found myself looking forward to those sequences.

The author was also very interested in how the idea of gender could be approached in the future, creating a galactic culture where gender is never assumed, but is considered part of basic information exchanged between people, even if one is a captive and other a hostage-taker. In this universe, genders can be either hand-signed or declared via suffixes attached to a name during introduction, declaring which set of pronouns a person will be using and if they are fluid in their use and subject to change. The idea of a commonly accepted set of gender suffixes is an intriguing one, and one I’d be interested in seeing adapted to make the exchange of pronouns in our own culture less of an awkward affair.

Where the story fell flat for me was unfortunately in the character work. The book suffered a bit from telling instead of showing, so I found myself not connecting with their arcs. And these characters do go through some substantial arcs. Keen in particular suffers from PTSD from a war he fought decades ago, one that filled him with a self-loathing he’s never quite escaped. Keen learns to begin making amends with his past but his shift in character felt off. Part of it was hampered by short chapters from Razor’s POV in the future, where she’s reflecting on events. These interludes frequently tell us with what the arc is going to be, making Keen’s growth feel like it was hitting checkmarks that had been laid out rather than a natural evolution. Keen still gets some good beats, like when an old friend confronts him about whether he’s going to spend the rest of his life staring into a void or finally try to confront the things in his past he hates; but there were also moments I didn’t quite understand the directions his character arc was going..

I did also occasionally find the writing overly academic at times, which hindered my understanding of galactic politics and therefore the stakes. I knew there was a rebellion afoot, but wasn’t always clear who the players were and who was on who’s side. This isn’t necessarily critical knowledge for the book, since it is clearly meant to be a much more personal story, but it comes up just enough to make me wish I’d been steeped in the big picture a little more.

GOODBYE TO THE SUN is a read that fell juuust short for me, largely because I couldn’t quite connect with the characters. But those looking for adventure or a new sci-fi world to explore may find this up their alley!

Final Review: 2.75/5 Stars

Note: I was provided a free copy by the author in exchange for my fair and honest review.

[katherine durant · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is hard to settle on the one point that pulled me in to this novel - it is a toss up between the world building and the characters I would say. Arguably the two most important aspects of any sci-fi novel - Nevair uses these aspects in perfect tandem to create a sprawling narrative, with seemingly larger-than-life consequences that all rest on the shoulders of our duo-protagonists, Keen and Razor, who start on opposite sides of the same political coin and eventually come to tense understanding and mutual respect.

Let's touch on world building first. From the start, it is rock solid and deeply engaging. The history of this distantly familiar galaxy is something of a mirror of our own hyper-capitalist Earth, expanded and billowing in a way that makes one stop in their tracks to reflect upon ourselves. I personally have always enjoyed when sci-fi takes this reflective approach - many series do, but they don't all hit the mark. Thankfully, Nevair doesn't shy away from using these themes. They do not hit the readers over the head in a way some may describe (for better or worse) as trying to push an agenda. The thematic veins of oppression and control stand on their own through the whole novel, and add to the story as a whole, giving purpose to everything.

As for characters, the poet in me immediately loved the call-and-response format of each chapter. The voices of the characters come out loud and clear through not only their words, but the physical page count attributed to each. Where Keen tends toward self-persuasion and aggrandizement, Razor is sharp. Cut and dry in all aspects. The chapter lengths reflect this, and it creates a steady wave pattern of reading that is really quite a treat to experience. It's hard to describe in words, but it is certainly no mistake on the author's part. Physicality of the book aside, the histories of the characters, not just our protagonists, but all characters, build upon themselves naturally. There is only rarely an excess of exposition - I appreciate a book that allows me to piece together my own conclusions.

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I sit here singing its praises, yet only four stars? As far as I am concerned, this is a triumph for the author's first novel publication. Looking ahead, I seek more room to breath. Goodbye to the Sun does not fool readers into thinking the path will be easy going - the back cover states plainly that this is "a nonstop thrill ride." I finished my time with the novel wishing there was more.

At the risk of sounding hypocritical (see my point above of enjoying coming to my own conclusions with a book) what we learned of the characters was enticing, but left me wanting to get in their heads just a little more. This became especially apparent by the third act. An unclear, but extended amount of time passes, and the reader comes to understand that this time is part and parcel to why Keen chooses his final path, and how Razor manages the feats she does. Where we have spent so much time in previous acts understanding the thoughts, emotions, and growth of each character through explicit actions, the final chapters feel too fast to soak in. I wanted to relish in the character arcs more than I had the choice to.

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When all is said and done, I am happy to house this book on my shelf alongside my copy of Dune, and various Star Wars memorabilia. However, it currently sits beside Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind hardcover set - which I find to be more fitting than the rest, at least symbolically.

Wind and nature, death and life, are powerful things after all.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair review!

A lot goes on in this terse political sci-fi and I’m going to try to say what I enjoyed about it without going into spoilers, as a great deal of what I liked happened in the second half!

Basically, we have the two perspectives in the novel, Razor and Keen, and both dislike one another from the outset. Yet, having to work together, they soon soften somewhat towards one another, but this is not a found family or friendship-based book. It’s more two people from disparate worlds coming together for a common cause, or perhaps taking what help they can get. They do have some fun exchanges, but the way they reveal their pasts and personalities to both each other and the reader at the same time is very well done. I will say though, it did take me until a good third of the book to really care about Razor. I just found that her initial chapters were sort of rehashing what we already learned in the Keen chapters, so for a while, the deepest aspects of her personality weren’t really formed.

The settings are very cool. The initial planet is interesting, as it’s beset by windstorms, and the other is a tropical rainforest sort of place with interesting creatures and plants. The difference between the two in climate yet similar political strife was an interesting juxtaposition.

One of the great things about the novel is the balance between action and the overall political tension. We have a ton of fun action fights which occurred at intervals that made sense to keep the story exciting but not too many that the plot felt thin, and a very complex but not complicated dialogue about monopolies, government, and colonialism. It’s about inherited subjugation and cultural genocide, but also about what happens when you realize your people are just as persecuted as others in a completely different place. It has a sort of futility to it that makes Razor’s efforts all the more laudable.

(The story is also based on Antigone by Sophocles, but you don’t need to know that story to read this.)

The one thing that was a little odd to me was that people were constantly telling their pronouns, but at the weirdest times. Like when you’re getting shot at, is that a good time to be like, “I go by she/her?” I mean, I’ll all for inclusivity but I was like, maybe do it later? It wasn’t like an issue with the book, just something I found a but funny.

What wasn’t funny was Nevair’s writing, which is so elegantly crafted. His prose in his spy-fi Stellar Instinct is light and fun, but this book is serious but also eloquent and deeply intelligent. If you like sci-fi that has something to say, strike up a dialogue with “Goodbye to the Sun.”

[Paul Cochrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodbye to the Sun is scifi poker match between two excellent competitors.

My Take: There are so many thing that I liked about this novel… but I’m going to boil it down to three aspects that kept me reading.

1. The Battle of Wits: Razor and the Motes vs. Keen. Each has a number of motivators and hidden agendas that keeps the clash hot. There’s the external factors of survival and politics and the internal egos and history that binds these foes together. No hands will be tipped and the wild cards unknown. It’s a fascinating back and forth between two strong personalities.

2. The Setting: Nevair’s descriptions of space and ships and the natural elements is tangible from the start. The vacuum of space and the roaring engines of a ship in combat. The blowing sands and the whipping storms that create the divide between the rebels and the Targitians. (The tech is fun too. Great imaginative writing all around.)

3. Cultural Etiquette: An ambassador with secrets is kidnapped and demands are made. There is still etiquette that is required: from gender acknowledgment to the actual terms to be dealt. The reader is allowed into each POV, but from different parts of the timeline. This is not jarring or difficult to follow, but this shift creates a very satisfying mystery of animosity and rivalry.

I felt a little Star Trek flavor in the presentation of this book. The politics and the focus on the past conflicts created an excellent opportunity for me to feel both the immediate concerns of the characters as well as the big-picture forces weighing on the universe.

4 1/2 stars out of 5

For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog/

[K. Pimpinella · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say that hasn't already been said? A smart, intelligently written and plotted book with world building so deep one might believe it actually exists.

FYI- anyone possibly shying away from starting this book due to its use of both first person and third personal narration ... Don't! It works superbly! The first person narration is like a framing device for the story and adds so much flavour and texture to the story and characters, the story wouldn't be the same without it.

Over the course the story the reader is taken on a journey- literally. From dune planets to jungle planets and through space! All the technology and themes scifi readers want in their scifi is there. A strong plot with twists and mystery is there. Characters you want to both slap and hug at the same time are there. This book has everything. And it's so intelligently written I feel smarter for having read it.

This book, for me, was not just an easy, breeze through it kind of read. It made me think. Think more Westworld than Marvel, although there were excellent action sequences that kept the story moving at a good pace. Nevair has blended both worlds of scifi in this book, from cerebral to action, and that's hard to do. He seemed to accomplish this effortlessly.

As for the main characters ... Keen and Razor. What a journey! Their ups and downs, flaws and attributes, mistakes and achievements, take you on the real journey.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in any form of scifi.