Russ Allbery: Review: Dark Class

Review: Dark Class, by Michelle Diener Series: | Class 5 #5 ---|--- Publisher: | Eclipse Copyright: | 2022 ISBN: | 0-6454658-2-8 Format: | Kindle Pages: | 349 Dark Class is the fifth novel (not counting the skippable novella) in Michelle Diener's Class 5 romantic science fiction series. As with the previous novels, this follows romance series conventions: There are new protagonists, but characters from the previous books make an appearance. It's helpful but not that necessary to remember the details of the previous books; the necessary background is explained enough to follow the story. By now, series readers know the formula. Yet another Earth woman was secretly abducted by the Tecran, encounters a Class 5 ship, and finds a way to be surprisingly dangerous and politically destabilizing. This time, Ellie has been mostly unconscious since her abduction and awakes in a secret Tecran base after the Tecran have all been murdered. There is a Class 5 AI involved, but not a full ship; instead, Dark Class picks up (or, arguably, manufactures) a loose end from Dark Minds. Other than that break from the formula, you know what to expected by now: a hunky Grih, a tricky political standoff, a protective Class 5, a slow-burn romance, and a surprisingly capable protagonist who upends politics through plucky grit and refusal to tolerate poor treatment. Oh, and a new selection of salvaged clothing and weapons to make Ellie beautiful and surprisingly dangerous. If you are this far into the series, you probably like the formula. That's my position. I don't care about the romance, but something about the prisoner to threat evolution of the kidnapped protagonists and the growing friendship with an AI makes me happy. This is not great literature, but it is reliably entertaining with a guaranteed victorious protagonist and happy ending, making it a comfortable break from more difficult books with emotionally wrenching scenes. Dark Class is one of the better executions of the formula because it has long stretches of my favorite parts of these books: exploration of mostly-abandoned surroundings for neat gadgets while the AI and the protagonist slowly build a relationship of mutual respect. This book has bonus drones with minds of their own and an enigmatic alien spaceship that provides a fun mid-novel twist. The Tecran and the Grih repeatedly underestimate Ellie and are caught by surprise at dramatically satisfying moments. It's just fun to read, and I save this series for when I need that type of book. As with the other books of the series, Diener's writing is serviceable but not great. She repeats herself, uses way too many paragraph breaks for emphasis, and is not going to win any literary awards for prose quality. The series is in the upper half of self-published works, and I've certainly read worse, but either the formula will click with you or it won't. If it doesn't, the prose is not going to salvage the book. There is some development of the series plot, but it's mostly predictable fallout from Dark Matters. This book is mostly tactical and smaller in scale. I am a little curious where Diener is going with political developments, since the accumulated Earth women and Class 5 ships are in some danger of becoming a sort of shadow government through sheer military power, but I'm dubious this series will have enough political sophistication to dig into the implications. It's best enjoyed as small-scale episodic wish fulfillment for female protagonists, and that's good enough for me. If you've read this far in the series, recommended; this is one of the stronger entries. Followed by Collision Course, which breaks the title convention for the series. Rating: 7 out of 10