The fact that Redsight, the science fantasy debut novel from author Meredith Mooring, is out around the same time as Dune Part Two may have been the result of shrewd marketing, considering Dune is given top billing in Redsight’s ‘for fans of’ spiel. It’s a comparison that’s to both the book’s strength and detriment, as it turns out.
The premise makes it immediately pick-up-able for certain types of sci-fi/fantasy fans: maniacal space nuns, interstellar pirates, sapphic romances and a blind protagonist who can play with the very fabric of time and space… It’s a big YES at the outset for those who love bombastic space operas with lashings of political and social commentary. To some of those points, Mooring is a North Carolina employment discrimination attorney who also serves as a director of an organisation that trains and allocates guide dogs to blind children. Therefore, the inclusion and representation of this particular disability and theme of standing up to injustice clearly come from places of both authority and passion.
With all this in mind, it’s a shame the writing lets its compelling subject matter down at times. These are the usual trappings authors of this genre can fall back on – lines like “Korinna was an outsider” within the first couple of pages are small but consistent niggles (your classic ‘show don’t tell’), while heavy exposition dumps bog down much of the storytelling, the brisk pace of which makes the 400 or so pages feel that much denser. Conversely, the ending is intriguing yet feels strangely underdeveloped.
The balancing act involved in erecting entire fictional universes and ‘magic’ systems without resorting to rolling out reams of literary and historical blueprints for readers is a hard one. While perhaps an unfair comparison, given the difference in medium, a huge component of Dune Part Two’s success is its ability to digestibly condense its source material’s lore to keep the emphasis on character and theme. Redsight is full of fantastic, original ideas that deserve a similar amount of breathing room.