A Review of White Scar Across the Firmament
Before I begin, I feel it necessary to mention that Andrew Milne is a friend of mine, or at the very least an acquaintance with which I share online space(we have even been guests on the same podcast). I don’t believe this relationship impacted my enjoyment of the book much, and I’m not writing this review out of any friendly obligation(I didn’t even tell him I was reading his book until I was about halfway done). Still, it’s undeniable that my fondness for the book’s author biases me to appreciate his writing, even if only slightly, so I thought it necessary to let you, the reader, know that this review is not written in a vacuum.
Several years ago, I watched a (since-deleted) YouTube video titled something along the lines of “Humanity: The Good Ending”. It suggested, in the fashion of a futurist or science fiction writer, a sequence of events that might unfold, should humanity continue in its technological spiral forward. About halfway through the video, it proclaimed that humanity would begin to collectivize its consciousness for the sake of deeper empathy and a shared intelligence that is greater than the sum of its parts. The conclusion of this video prophesied an ever-expanding, galaxy-spanning hivemind, a bright eternal future for the human race. Despite the title of the video, I found its conclusion to be deeply disturbing. Humanity might eschew individuality? The very fundamental concept of human existence? It’s a gross idea, and to me, this would be the opposite of a ‘good ending’. After all, what is my life – what is anybody’s life – but an individual effort to make a lasting, positive impact on the world we all share? At the same time, though, I can’t deny the appeal of the idea of my thoughts being perfectly understood by those around me. Humanity’s problems, at least the man-made ones, can mostly be boiled down to a lack of understanding, and a perfect sense of empathy might mean an end to violent conflict. It’s in this tension between the human need for individuality and the societal drive for cohesion that White Scar Across the Firmament stakes its claim.
White Scar (as I’ll be referring to it henceforth) can be summarized as a narrative about the first and last days of humanity’s conflict with the enigmatic Collective. The presentation of this story is perhaps the novel’s most identifiable feature – rather than in a linear fashion, Milne opts to tell the story in two overlapping narratives, bouncing between them to seamlessly explain the conflict even as the characters seek to resolve it. It’s a bold choice – especially for a debut novel – and anything less than a meticulous hand at planning would leave the story feeling disjointed and unsatisfying. Milne wonderfully toes this line, and, rather than a series of jagged turns as it jumps between timelines, the plot unfolds with smooth curves, answering questions as naturally as they arise. Of course, that doesn’t mean it lacks twists. In fact, Milne managed to repeatedly surprise me as the story unfolded, though never enough to break my immersion and investment.
Of the characters, I don’t have too much to say. They’re competently written, consistent in their behavior and with enough variance that I never got confused about who was who. They are not tropey, nor are they particularly unfamiliar. As with many plot-forward sci-fi stories, some of their depth is left to vague gestures that there is something there, even if the page doesn’t allow the space to explain every detail. Thankfully, these gestures are deft enough that I never had a problem engaging with and believing the characters as they were portrayed in the narrative. If I had to pick a favorite of the bunch, I’d probably pick Jean, but there was no character I truly disliked (save, perhaps, the ones I was supposed to… and maybe Alyssa).
Thematically speaking, White Scar manages to be thoughtful and convincing, though I would call its conclusions intimate more than profound. It pokes and prods at the questions of humanity and individuality, evaluating their worth on the backdrop of a centuries-long war’s trauma and tragedy. It questions whether individuality, and indeed humanity, is worth all this suffering, or if perfect empathy and a cession of the privacy of our minds might be a better alternative. It’s not dismissive of either side of the conflict, instead leaving its characters to speak on their fervent devotion to one cause or the other and allowing the reader to come to their own decision. Even the ending leaves its impact up to interpretation. Certainly, the characters voice their own choices, but I found myself curious as to what I might do in the same scenario(and I thankfully did not feel squeamish, unlike with the would-be future presented in the aforementioned YouTube video).
Milne’s prose gives service to all this. Aesthetically, he channels his influences while avoiding their pitfalls. The anime charm and accessibility are there without its camp; the pondering nature of classic sci-fi is also present, though Milne avoids excessive philosophizing and naval-gazing; deep-dives into the harder bits of the so-called ‘hard’ sci-fi are eschewed in favor of compelling hints that allow the imagination of the reader to populate the details. Stripped of these foibles, the writing is left feeling dense without being opaque, thoughtfully human, and easy-to-comprehend. As an author myself, I envy the utility with which Milne wields a pen and how he was able to cram so much into a single (admittedly epic) volume.
In case it is not clear, I thoroughly enjoyed White Scar and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys sci-fi. Still, there are some bits of the book I might quibble on if forced to. (Some of these comments might stray into spoilers, and none of them sapped my enjoyment of the book, so if you want to avoid all spoilers, I’d skip to the next paragraph.) Personally, I can sometimes struggle to follow the details of fight scenes(in general, not just in this book), and occasionally I got lost in the dogfight maneuvers of White Scar’s action(especially that first fight in the prologue). Additionally, I personally would have liked to see more of the Insurrection’s side of things – we got a good look at the Collective, but we barely saw the other side beyond the front lines(I kept wondering, for example, where they got the manpower and resources for all the research and development discussed, and I had trouble internalizing the exact size of the resisting forces). Also, while satisfying, I thought the ending could have been foreshadowed a little more. As it is, it strayed towards deus ex machina. Finally, though I found the plot and characters compelling, I think a few elements could have been given a little more room to breathe. Little time is spent considering the fact that the war has been going on for two hundred years, and similarly, the length of Jonah’s journey – the sheer mundanity of two hundred years of space travel and how close he ought to be with every single one of the settlers(two hundred years!) – is barely developed. As I said though, those are quibbles and I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite them (or perhaps because of them. I could be convinced that slowing down the pace to explore what I wanted to learn about may have been a disservice to the overall product).
I found White Scar Across the Firmament to be a fantastic science fiction novel, especially as a single volume epic, and especially as a debut. The plot had an insistent forward motion to it, and I never had to force myself to continue; the characters, themes, and setting were all believable and consistent; the prose was smart and purposeful, and I never felt like my time was being wasted. I enjoyed it from start to finish and am looking forward to whatever Milne writes next.
