The Keiko is a ship of smugglers, soldiers of fortune, and adventurers travelling Earth’s colony planets searching for the next job. And they never talk about their past—until now.
Captain Ichabod Drift is being blackmailed. He has to deliver a special cargo to Earth, and no one can know they’re there. It’s what they call a dark run…And it may be their last.
Ah, the lovable band of miscreants in space. Is there a better trope in sci-fi? I’m not sure there is! There’s just something about that found family vibe…a group of people risking their necks for each other, traveling the galaxy, getting shot at & nearly killed. Good times, good times.
I had been planning to start Mike Brooks’s KEIKO trilogy quite awhile ago, but, well…you know… *gestures at everything* I did have the chance to meet the crew of the Keiko in a short story in the KNEE-DEEP IN GRIT collection, so I had some idea of what to expect heading into the first book of this trilogy.
I wanted to write this review without mentioning Firefly, for a couple reasons (that I won’t dive into here), but mostly I’m just trying to steer clear of comparing This Book to That Book or That Movie… I mean, I think sometimes these comparisons are helpful in getting someone’s attention about a particular book, but yeah… I’m trying to do less & less of it. That said, there certainly seems to be at least a touch of influence here, and while I failed to make a note of it, I think there may have even been a direct nod or two to Firefly/Serenity.
There aren’t a lot of rules aboard the Keiko. Captain Ichabod Drift runs a relatively tight ship, albeit one crewed by all kinds of rascals. The one rule they all try to live by is to never reveal anything about their pasts.
They take the work as it comes, and do whatever they need to do to survive & keep the Keiko full of fuel. It isn’t glamorous, but it’s a living. Some of the crew have been with Drift longer than others, and some seem a lot more loyal than others.
I’m not going to highlight each member of the crew, but I do want to mention a couple favorites.
Tamara Rourke is kind of the de-facto second in command, and she’s a total boss. She’s direct, she gets shit done, and she keeps Ichabod’s feet on the ground, at least metaphorically.
Jenna is the newest member of the Keiko’s crew, and very clearly on the run from something. She’s the ship’s slicer, and a damn good one. Her POV sections were some of my favorite & I think she’ll have a really big impact on the story moving into book two.
Apirana is sort of the muscle of the crew, being an incredibly large man of Māori descent. And while he’s the kind of guy who can and will break someone in half, he’s also really thoughtful & considerate. In particular, it’s his interactions with Jenna as she acclimates to her new life that really worked for me.
The plot of this one keeps sprawling further & further outward, but the long and short of it is, Ichabod gets strong-armed into hauling some mysterious cargo to a precise destination, at a precise time. The consequences of failure will be dire. The reward for success is significant. Without a lot of options, they take the job.
And then shit escalates.
This was a blast to read. The story moves along at a really brisk pace, and Brooks creates an altered, futuristic version of the galaxy that occasionally toes the line between cyberpunk(y) and dystopian. We do get a sense of the galactic politics at play, while the overall bones of the story is much more character driven & fun & spacey-shooty hijinks galore.
Yeah, this is good stuff…looking forward to catching up with the crew of the Keiko again soon!
Grimdark Dad 