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Heir Apparent
By Tyree Campbell (Hiraeth Books)
Review By Alan Ira Gordon
Hiraeth Publishing has recently released author Tyree Campbell’s latest science fiction novel entitled Heir Apparent ($14.95 Paperback Edition). While the overall story theme is outer space science fiction-oriented, the story is in combination equal parts science fiction, fantasy, political thriller and mystery.
At the center of the plot is the romantic couple of March and Myrrha, a pair of whom I would describe as space-faring “importer-exporters,” which is a polite way of describing smugglers. Answering a distress call originating from a supposedly uninhabited planet, they find the marooned Hoya Palologa, the royal heir-in-waiting to the throne of one of three kingdoms on the planet Wanderby. The problem is, the entire universe knows that Hoya Palolaga isn’t missing and is publicly living back on Wanderby.
And so begins an intriguing and engrossing story, as several subplots emerge and chapter-by-chapter intertwine around this central story element. The most immediate storythread centers on the trio, as Hoya convinces March and Myrrha that she’s the actual Hoya Palologa and there’s a royal usurper ensconced in her place back on Wanderby. Upon arriving planetside, the trio together try to unravel the mystery as the plot reveals additional players in this situation. There’s Jinzy and Kamie, two good-hearted servant friends of both the real and false Hoya, the evildoers Alexor and Goodling, as well as Hoya’s unsuspecting parents, the Duke Justinio and Duchess Olena, as well as other key players. And of course, there’s the eventual mystery identity reveal of the false Hoya.
Initially, the story characters are geographically separated in scattered subgroupings about Wanderly, functioning within their own subplots. But chapter-by-chapter as the plot advances and the mystery of the duel heirs to the throne is bit-by-bit revealed, the players geographically come together. Without being a story spoiler, the key characters ultimately come together in the concluding chapters in a tense and exciting story climax, defeating the bad guys behind the dual heirs scheme and concluding the situation in a satisfying and entertaining resolution.
As a fan of author Campbell’s novels, I expected an enjoyable read but given the massive number of outer space mystery-based novels published over the years in the genre, I went into this read assuming that no major new genre ground would be broken. And boy, was I wrong. Campbell has succeeded in writing a very fresh and unique take on the alien-planet-mysterious-doings type of science fiction novel, in a few ways.
The first is the blending of basic science fiction with elements of mystery and fantasy storytelling. I’m reminded of acclaimed writer Robert Silverberg’s novels in this regard, particularly the Lord Valentine’s Castle novel series. But Campbell presents his own fresh take on the hybridization of these genres, both in plot details and more importantly, in the skillful creation of the various character’s personalities.
As an example, my favorite element is the romance between the two main characters of March and Myrrha. Turns-out that while Myrrha is organically a human, she’s actually an AI extension of March’s spaceship. The story elements impact upon their relationship in combination with their conversations about their relationship, love and the nature of being a person. That alone could be the focus of an entire novel or series of novels.
But there’s more goings-on in this novel. Secondly, there’s the two-heirs-to-the-throne mystery at the heart of the story, which I won’t reveal a thing about in this review. Suffice to say that it’s entertaining and builds in a nice way to a crescendo of action and confrontation leading to a satisfying resolution.
Third, there’s a soap opera-like plot theme, as various characters learn about previously unknown relationships between certain people among them, including a very surprising and key reveal of someone’s unknown parentage as a very important and central feature of plot resolution.
I’d love to reveal more specifics of these plot elements in this review, but that would just rob readers of the enjoyment of discovering these details in their own read of this creative and highly entertaining novel. So I’ll just end this review with three brief and final comments. The first is to compliment the author Campbell once more on his success in skillfully presenting an absorbing and highly entertaining space-based mystery and adventure novel.
My second concluding remark is that while we’re all familiar with the saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” in this case it’s highly recommended and a complement to do so: I just love the front cover illustration of this book, which is a wonderful blend of science fiction, fantasy and a few effective real-world designer prop elements. Think “steampunk-with-a-gun” and you’ve got an accurate image of the front cover.
And third and finally, a request directly to author Tyree Campbell: please write one or more sequels to this novel! March and Myrrha deserve, and we readers equally deserve, more entertaining stories of the outer space adventures of this unique and very likeable spacefaring couple!
In conclusion, don’t just take my word for it. For all of the reasons that I’ve stated above and more, read this book yourself for a well-crafted and highly entertaining science fiction read!