(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Alien Bugs and Cats and Baby Starships, Oh My: A Short Review of the Infinity Archive [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-07-17
Should I Read This: Absolutely.
Book Seller Link (non-affiliate, but I do know the owner): Infinity Archive
Author’s Website: Mur Lafferty
This book is so much fun. Infinity Archive is the third book in the Midsolar Murders series and, like each of the preceding two, well worth the read. It is ostensibly a murder mystery, but while the mystery is satisfying, the real joy is in the characters. The are weird, alien, fun, human, and engaging even when they are being stupid, infuriating, and petty. Fortunately, they are also kind, charming, and exasperated as well. They are the kinds of characters you come back for.
Mallory Viridian has been followed by murder her entire life, so much so that she fled to an alien space station to avoid contact with other humans. Unfortunately, humans inevitably follow and thus so does murder. It turns out that Mallory is not a Jessica Fletcher style serial killer (look, like ten people live in that town. She definitely lures the victims there and then “solves” their murders. I will hear no argument on this subject.) nor the cause of all that death. She is merely hyper aware of her surroundings due to an accidental bonding with an alien species of bugs. Turns out that all the other races in the galaxy have a symbiotic relationship with another— except humans. Mallory’s connection to these bug aliens makes her more aware of her surroundings and thus really good at solving murders. She makes her living writing about the murders she solves.
The world building is one of the stars here. There are tons of aliens, from the afore-mentioned bugs to sentient almost immortal rocks, to sentient spaceships that bond with other races, to aliens with camouflage so good they might as well be invisible. Each has a distinct culture, even if the main representatives do not act so inscrutably that their motives and personalities are not understandable to readers. Think Star Trek with more murder and less Spock.
The murder in this book is one of the better ones. The solution should feel like. deus ex machina but really doesn’t given how subtly Lafferty builds the world. The motive feels both incredibly petty and completely understandable, which is the best kind of motive in my opinion, and the solution is reasonably in doubt until near the end. It is satisfying if not particularly “wow”. Which is fine, because the rest of the book has enough wow to keep you reading.
As mentioned, the world building is fantastic. This book takes place mostly on a starship that has decided to turn the internet into a physical reality. That is as over the top and fun as it sounds, with the cat room being a particular favorite. Lafferty does a great job blending the world building into the story and the book never bogs down over the exposition. She builds a messed up but understandable stage for her characters to play upon. And her characters are the real fun.
All of the characters, from the protagonist to the side characters, human or alien, feel like fleshed out people. They are all given space to breathe, and they run the gamut from not entirely comic relief robot death machine Queen of a prison planet with the mentality of a twelve-year-old to deadly serious and overly pompous ex-ambassadors. Each one feels like a real person and none of them are cardboard cut outs. They all act as you would believe them to act based on their personalities, even, especially, when they do something you do not expect. It is fun to watch them struggle to be both people, dealing with bad literary agents for example, trying to not find a murder, and dealing with solving a murder while parenting a baby spaceship (and it is as adorable as it sounds, but also its own personality). I finished the book in a day not because of the mystery but because it was fun to hang out with these people again.
Lafferty also treats the characters like adults, so there are subtle comments on how to handle power, what to do when someone who has power should not have it, and how to, well, all get along when you have little to nothing in common. There is also a commentary on the limits of tolerance as well that is probably needed as a reminder in this day and age.
That might be the only downside to coming into the series now. The only place that the books do slow a bit is in the beginning where Lafferty has to re-establish the bits that came before but are important to this story. It is a minor issue, but it is there.
That is a picky nit, however. Overall, this is a fun, fantastic read with more depth than might be apparent at first blush and a cast of characters worth spending your time with.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/17/2333653/-Alien-Bugs-and-Cats-and-Baby-Starships-Oh-My-A-Short-Review-of-the-Infinity-Archive?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
