Book Review - 'A Night on Isvalar' by C. Litka

‘A Night on Isvalar’ by C. Litka

This is a novella, my first experience of this author’s works, my interest piqued after reading Berthold Gambrel’s review.

‘It was supposed to be a quiet night. It was anything but.
Riel Dunbar grew up on the little moon of Isvalar, the interstellar port of Aeroday, and sailed out of it for many years. But the restless life of a starfarer took him away for decades. Chance had now brought him home along with a promised long leave ashore. But it was not to be. He was left with only a few free hours to spend on Isvalar.
His plan was simple. He’d dine at an old haunt of his youth, and then after a brief nap, he’d visit the starfarer dives of Isvalar for a real spree before sailing. But Riel hadn’t counted on crossing orbits with Cera Marn, the power mate of a rival ship. Somehow, he found himself entangled in her plans – plans that included not paying a gambling debt to a very persistent bookie and his hired thugs. Riel’s night on Isvalar turned into a hectic chase and escape across the little moon…’

The story is told in first person by Riel Dunbar, and he introduces himself as the ‘second mate of the interstellar freighter, Tarina… a starfer, or starfarer…’ a job he’s been doing for about 37 years.

He’s done a lot of travelling, not only around the ‘Aeroday Star Cluster…’ but also ‘its fringe worlds, since the Tarina has been tramping the backwater worlds of the Aeroday Cluster.’

Dunbar is clearly fond of the ship and respects her abilities. Although built for speed, she ‘fell on hard times and has… been tramping for two decades.’

But her current owner has plans to return the Tarina to her former glory.

And it’s those plans that see the Tarina and her crew returning to Aeroday, specifically the small moon of Isvalar, Dunbar’s birthplace, and Aeroday’s interstellar port, where the ship will undergo an extensive refit.

As they get closer to their destination, Dunbar reminisces about his early days on Aeroday when he’d first started as an apprentice before becoming a pilot and finally leaving.

Once the ship is docked and the cargo unloaded, Dunbar remains on board as the watch, waiting for when he can finally begin his extended leave.

But when the captain returns, Dunbar isn’t pleased to hear that the plans have been changed, and they’ll be leaving sooner than intended, which means he has to forgo his leave.

However, the captain does allow Dunbar off the ship to pursue his own plans in the 43 hours before the Tarina is due to sail.

While enjoying a quiet dinner, Dunbar overhears a verbal exchange about non-payment of a gambling debt.

The bookie’s collector, Baxter, has come to collect from someone called Cera, but she refuses to pay, claiming the game had been rigged.

Although threats are exchanged, the owner of establishment ensures no physical violence takes place.

As Dunbar is about to leave, he almost bumps into Cera…
‘I was not surprised to find Cera to be a starfer as well, from her uniform. I was, however, surprised to find Cera was a very attractive female starfer – jet black hair, dark grey eyes, high cheekbones, and a wide mouth in a trim package.’

They have a polite little exchange before Dunbar leaves.

And so, the stage is set with our main players before all kinds of mayhem ensues. There is one more character, but he comes along later.

It didn’t take me long to read this as it’s a novella. It’s more sci-fi than what I’m used to, in that there are fair amounts of science-type descriptions and terminology, but it didn’t detract from the story.

The story itself, when you take out the sci-fi elements, is a madcap chase story, with twists and narrow escapes.

I like Riel Dunbar. Even though this is sci-fi, he sort of reminded me of a 1940s character, almost like Philip Marlowe, but a gentler version… there was just something about his ‘voice’.

Maybe it’s because I’m female, but, after a while, I found Cera a tad annoying, which is unfortunate as I liked her to begin with, and she is the driving force behind the story. I won’t go into the reason why as that will most definitely stray into ‘spoiler’ territory. Besides which, I’m sure others will find her a likeable character.

The action, once it starts, moves at a cracking pace and, although it required a little more effort on my part, I could follow what was happening.

My only quibble – some of the explanations, mainly to do with the setting, put a dampener on the pace of the action.

Actually, I do have another quibble – for a novella, there are a lot of characters and names and the majority of them are either only present for one scene or appear briefly.

Now, on to what I loved about this story – the descriptions.

Although a natural moon, Isvalar was remade so it could serve as Aeroday’s interstellar starport. Its ‘hollow inner core was developed into a… system of factories, shipyards, wharves and warehouses… with a livable atmosphere… this hollow core…’ is called the ‘Gut’.

We experience the descent of the Tarina into the Gut through Dunbar’s observation…
‘… we were at ground level, and then into the ever-night of the Gut… Curving around us were the lights that etched out of the blackness, a pattern of wharves, warehouses, trading houses, shops, dives, and the residences of the dockland workers… In the space around us, a stream of great and little ships, lights flashing, was in constant motion. The Gut was like a black river.’

Litka’s description of the Gut makes it easy to imagine yourself in it.
‘… the Gut stretched away in every direction, a dwindling, fading grid of lit streets, wharf towers, offices and shambling residences… The mild air was fragrant, and familiar, smelling of hot oil and metal, the cuisine of a thousand worlds, and the imported spices, exotic woods, and crops. Plus, it hummed and thumped, whistled and whispered, ceaselessly. The Gut has an intensiveness, restless drive that you can feel.’

While enjoying his dinner, Dunbar loses himself in his memories…
‘… I stared unseeingly into the dark shadows across the table and drifted off into a deep reverie, getting lost in the twisting overgrown memories… Faces of old shipmates and scenes from my youth came back to me. I recalled all the little dramas that I played a part in, and all the good times downside, as well as the tense watches as Captain DiTim drove her ship along at the edge of disaster to win the Gilded Comet once again. All of which was distilled into the smooth, melancholy flavor of romance, the spicy tang of adventure, and the haunting bouquet of remembered youth.’

I think that’s my favourite passage in the whole novella.

‘A Night on Isvalar’ is a fun little read. There are a few typos, but nothing that jolted me out of the story.

Litka has an easy style; the writing flows and carries you along, comfortably settling you into the story.

The only thing is, I wasn’t expecting it to end at the point it did.

Instead of a definite ‘end’, it’s left open-ended.

I don’t know if the author is planning on writing a follow-up…

If he does, I’m definitely ready to read all about what Riel Dunbar does next.