REVIEW: DOWN BELOW BEYOND

Seeking The Beyond...

After winning an Audible code for this in a Discord Giveaway, I was immediately excited to jump in since I'd heard so many nice things about this book.

HOW I RATED IT 

3/5 This science fiction action romp is filled with fascinating planets and strange alien species. I wasn't really able to feel emotionally invested in anyone or anything in particular, but I still had a really good time just being taken along for this crazy ride. 

CHARACTERS

Levort Aatra serves as our main protagonist. He's not the most unique hero, but he has an interesting enough backstory and his pure-hearted motivations make him easy to root for. Because I'm not really sure how to spell the names for anyone else (his was the only one listed in the book's description), I won't me mentioning them by name. I will say that it took me longer than it probably should have to memorize what everyone was called and even as I neared the story's end, there were still some characters that had me going, "wait, who was that again?" This wasn't necessarily because any of these characters are bad. I think instead, it had more to do with a combination of me just not feeling much of an emotional connection to any of them and there being a very large cast for such a quick adventure. Some of the ones that came through clearest for me were Levort's best friend turned enemy, one of the "Beyonders," a plant lady, a three eyed creature, and a big brutish fellow who I wasn't really sure I was able to clearly picture accurately. Even though I'm not sure this was the intent, I found myself picturing them all as animated characters like something from TREASURE PLANET or TITAN A.E. I don't think this is an inherently negative thing, but it did throw me off somewhat because the cover didn't really give me that type of expectation. They're all also quite quirky and charming in the way that a cartoon character might be. I'd argue that none of them are especially complex, though I wouldn't necessarily say they were one-dimensional either. 

PLOT/TONE

There's a sort of lighthearted air to this novel that might feel reminiscent of adventure stories from one's childhood. On one hand, that can be a rather fun and perhaps even nostalgic trip to take. On the other, I think it really through me off as that is not at all what I thought this was going to be. Personally, I would have liked to have felt more invested in either the characters or the story being told. I loved the parts where the book took me to a new world and/or introduced a new alien species, but didn't feel especially hooked in the events playing out around all that. The conflict between Levort and his best friend was handled well enough, but I think there were some emotional moments between them that were supposed to hit me a lot harder than they did. I think this is partly due to how the story really prioritizes the adventure. I loved the forward momentum that drives the narrative forward, I just thought that we could have paused a little longer to more deeply explore a character's inner feelings, a more complex idea, or even the background for a specific world or people. There were some truly compelling topics that the novel touches upon like the distinction between a cult and a community or what it means to be party to a toxic friendship where someone always has to have the upper hand in order for the relationship to work. Instead, these concepts are mostly skimmed over at surface level and characters seem to bounce back quickly from the more traumatic moments. I felt like that was a little bit of a shame, but I think the main point of this story is really to be fun rather than to serve as something that hits readers with intense emotions. I definitely feel like this story succeeds in delivering ample amounts of fun. It's a sort of joyride and a relatively clean one at that, which is always nice. I could see this being perfect for someone who's looking for something quick and light after finishing something denser and/or more emotionally taxing. Yes, I was expecting something a little bit deeper and a little more gripping, but I think what I got out of this was perfectly worthwhile in it's own way too. 

SETTING/WORLD

If I've been a little harsh on the book so far, this is one area that I want to make it clear that I was quite impressed with. Bruno has a real talent for imagining vibrant alien worlds and the exotic peoples that live within them. For such a relatively short book, I was amazed at how many of each we got to see. There's just a ton of creativity on display here and it's impossible not to appreciate the love and care that Bruno has put into developing this universe. The technologies used were also quite fun. From starships to little handheld portal devices, there's a ton of mobility that this sci-fi setting has to offer and that really opened things up when it came to the possibilities for exploration. I liked that there were still some limits around how characters could move around though and how those restrictions gave the tech almost the same feel as a magic system. Equally enjoyable is the subtle bits of lore that are sprinkled throughout the story. There are elements of a dystopia present which I usually enjoy and while they weren't particularly deep, I felt as though the politics of this universe were perfectly compelling and believable. I enjoyed the backstory of the Beyonders and I found myself wanting to know more about them. I also thought it was pretty interesting that humans aren't as common here as they typically are in other science fiction universes and I appreciated the book's commitment to delivering such a diverse array of alien species. I think Bruno has a real gift for crafting interesting settings, so I hope he continues to dream up more fantastical worlds and universes for readers to explore. 

AUDIOBOOK

In terms of overall production quality, this is a perfectly solid eBook. The narrator does a fantastic job of giving funny, but fitting voices to all the different characters and is largely able to keep everyone consistent. There are one or two moments where I felt like Lavort and his best friend sounded too much alike, but they were typically distinct from one another and mostly only blended together during an argument. As colorful as the voicework was though, the recitation of the book's prose felt jarringly flat. It's not necessarily bad, just a little lacking in intonation changes, especially between action scenes and quiet moments which made the action a little tough to stay engaged with and sometimes hard to follow. I do think that this may have detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story somewhat and I have to wonder if my experience with the story itself would have been different had I read it visually. I also wonder if some of the scene changes would have felt less abrupt if I was seeing them split up by paragraph on a page. They all just kind of bled together in the audio version, which made me feel a little disoriented at times with what was going on. 

My last gripe has to do with the book's cover. While I am a massive fan of both the cover art and the book title, I think the artwork actually set me off on the wrong foot with the story because it seemed to indicate a much more serious and intense story than what I felt we ultimately got. To me, something more whimsical and cartoonish would have been more fitting, but I understand that probably would not have been as eye catching to as many people. 

CONCLUSION

If you're coming hot off the heels from a really dense or heavy read, then this might serve as the perfect pallet cleanser. It's not the most compelling book I've read all year, but I did ultimately have a good time just going along for this wild ride. I'm also curious to try more books by the author, especially because he has a whole trilogy that is set in this same universe, but is not specifically connected to this book. 

(+) A cast of colorful characters who were each quite distinct from one another

(+) A lighthearted and generally clean romp across a science-fiction universe

(+) A fast paced, relatively quick read

(+) TONS of creativity that went into crafting these bizarre worlds and the equally alien creatures that live within them

(+/-) The narrator did a largely spectacular job with the voices, but the way he recited the prose came off as a bit flat to me

(+/-) The cover and title, though fantastic, sort of gave me a false impression of what this story would be like

(-) In spite of how much fun I had, I wasn't all that emotionally invested in the story or characters

(-) The more interesting concepts aren't really explored in all that much depth

(-) Some of the characters and alien species were hard to picture and/or keep track of

(-) Scene shifts that felt rather fast/abrupt (on audio at least)