Inversion Point (Chaos Station 4), by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen

[Ulysses]

Inversion Point (Chaos Station Book four)
By Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen
Carina Press, 2016
Five stars

“Fluffy yellow partner-unit.”

This series (I’m on the fourth of five books) just gets better—or at least stays as good as it’s been since “Chaos Station,” book one. Felix Ingesson, known as Fix or Fixer to his crew, but as Flick to Zed—Zander Anatolius, his lover and best friend—is back. He is as annoying as ever, but happy to be on the road (or however one describes that in space—“in the black” I guess) with his teammates on the Chaos. But once more their comfortable, profitable life as small-scale cargo and retrieval guys serving the Milky Way is interrupted. And this time it’s for a good reason.

A new species has appeared from a distant part of their galaxy. That makes four, if you don’t count the Guardians. We have the humans, the ashushk, the stin, and this new one. Apparently, Zed is the only one who can head up the team of galactic ambassadors to greet the new players in their galactic sandbox. If you want to know why, read book 3.

Burke and Jensen have built this fascinating, seamless world of humanity in the twenty-third century. Their excellent writing and judicious use of humor makes this book fun to read, even when it’s harrowing (and it is). The familiar characters (and I cannot say how much I love Qek, the ashushk second mate of the Chaos) are expanded by several new players in this drama. This includes an old boyfriend and classmate of Flick’s, which causes all sorts of lovely anxiety in Zed’s gentle heart. Of course, for all the action and all the great sci-fi geekiness, the tumultuous love between Zed and Flick is the hub around which this series turns. Two good, smart, gentle men, all but destroyed by the war between the insect-like stin and humanity, brought back together by a coincidence that seems more and more to be something more…fated. They are outlaws because they have rebelled openly against the unthinking bureaucracy of the military and galactic politics. But they are also heroes, and become the focus of the entire galaxy’s attention as they are poised to greet the unknown in peace and friendship.

I just love these books. Most of all, I love the visibility I feel because of Flick and Zed. The truth remains that the fact that the central characters in this superb sci-fi adventure are a gay couple will automatically limit its audience, because prejudice still runs deep in our galaxy way back here in the early 21st century. Their loss is all I can say.

[Richard]

Ulysses wrote: "The truth remains that the fact that the central characters in this superb sci-fi adventure are a gay couple will automatically limit its audience, because prejudice still runs deep in our galaxy way back here in the early 21st century. Their loss is all I can say."

Completely agreed.

[Ulysses]

Sigh. It's sad, because there's such a lot of great fiction with gay characters, by gay men and by straight women. Lots of gay men won't read gay fiction, for whatever reason. But straight men really don't want to read about gay men. The world of sci-fi and paranormal fiction isn't really any different...

[Ulysses]

Ulysses wrote: "Sigh. It's sad, because there's such a lot of great fiction with gay characters, by gay men and by straight women.= ACK! How could I have messed up--because Harper Fox, my most favorite, is a lesbian. Basically everyone but straight men writes books with strong gay couples. :)