Reviewed by Anabela
TITLE: Sub Zero
SERIES: Esto Universe
AUTHOR: Angel Martinez
PUBLISHER: Mischief Corner Books
RE-RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020
LENGTH: 182 pages
BLURB:
Returning to the frozen planet Aren died on was bound to have complications…
A Science Fiction Mystery from Angel Martinez…
Major Aren Dalsgaard’s newest assignment is to investigate a series of murders on the frigid planet, Drass, where relations between the Treaty settlers and the indigenous inhabitants have taken a nasty turn. A linguist and trained xenologist, Major Dalsgaard should be the ideal Special Investigations Officer for this case, but Drass is where he died, over a hundred and twenty years ago.
Sent by his family to the chigyel city, Nyachung finds himself confronted with a murder charge, racial prejudice, and a man who claims to be a hero from his grandmother’s generation. The man could be crazy or he could be lying to manipulate Nyachung, but the sincerity in those spring-green eyes disturbs him more than anything else he’s encountered in the foreigners’ city.
Evidence that makes no sense, mysterious boxes, and a suspicion that they can’t trust anyone in the city drives the major and Nyachung together and out into the wilderness. No one’s telling Major Dalsgaard everything, but every step leads him closer to a feeling of imminent catastrophe if he can’t wrap this case up in time.
REVIEW:
The story gripped me from the first pages, because I could feel Aren’s dread and anxiety as if they were my own. After being kept cryogenically asleep for more than a hundred years, to him it felt like a cruel joke to be brought back to Drass, the planet he’d died on and lost the person most dear to him. But rich settlers were being murdered on Drass and, considering his familiarity with its environment and inhabitants, he was the most viable candidate to be sent to investigate.
All the clues pointed toward some of the dangpo mimang, the planet’s native species, as the killers. But Aren never believed in that theory to begin with, and even less after he met Nyachung, the native male the local police have arrested as their first suspect. I admit that the mystery wasn’t that difficult to unravel, but what I enjoyed immensely was that, in the effort to clear their name, with each page, the investigation became more and more an introduction to the dangpo culture and people. Peaceful and giving, yet they were exploited and humiliated, treated as second rate citizens by the chigyel (dangpo name for the ESTO settlers) and I became increasingly angry and saddened by the injustice of their living conditions, especially in the cities.
Witnessing their desperate situation was even harder to Aren. In his previous life he’s been ready to be their champion and their voice, the one to ensure just attendance for them in the federal sittings. His death put an end to that endeavor, only to find the dangpo, a century later, in a more critical need for rights and representation. I loved the fact that, in a sort of a cosmic twist, he was given not just the opportunity to help again, but also a new chance at love with Nyachung. The way Aren and Nya were together, their emotional connection filled my heart with warmth and hope, in the otherwise dreary circumstances.
In a way, Sub Zero comes pretty close to being a photographic image of our nowadays humanity. A story about injustice and greed, but in a brilliantly written science-fiction world. So well described that it was like having the people, animals, objects and backgrounds in front of my eyes. I liked the fact that the author gave most of them their own names and terms, and in such a way it was easy to understand and distinguish them during the storyline. Combined with the feelings emanating from the pages, it all felt like a colorful and detailed, emotionally charged motion picture. I loved the way the mystery paved the way to the romance between Aren and Nyachung, and how it eventually led to an exhilarating ending. Not surprisingly, yet another wonderful story by Angel Martinez.
RATING: 
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