Not many science fiction stories have a mother and wife as the heroic centerpiece; Spots the Space Marine is one of them.

The plot is your standard Starship Troopers fare with a few subtle variations; hungry space bugs threaten earth and it’s up to the Marines to curb stomp them. They’re aided by the Violinists, sentient offshoots of the bugs who provide technology and advice, but also serve their own agenda. The story is driven primarily by the relationship between Spots, an older mother and reservist recruited by a troop-starved military, Claws, her comrade-in-arms, and Samuel-Colt, the Violinist who has been assigned to their base.

The script format frees the story from the shackles of overwrought prose and allows the characters and their relationships to shine through—the result is a story that moves fast, shifting from scene-to-scene with a steady staccato beat. The drawback to this approach is that the setting itself is nonexistent; characters move through blank and featureless rooms, their dialogue and interactions being the only thing that carries the scene. It’s a risky investment, and only likely to work if your characters are very interesting, and very approachable. In this case, it pays off.

On top of this, the author has struck an excellent balance between compelling characters and intriguing plot-points—I’m sincerely curious to learn more about the Violinists’ agenda (the author does an excellent job creating rapport between them, Spots, and later, Claws), the story behind the newly arriving platoon, and what the bugs are currently plotting. The combination of all three of these elements—great characters, intriguing plot-points, and a narrative that’s fast and succinct—produces an addictive science-fiction story that hooks my interest and keeps it all the way through. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on it, and recommending it to any of my friends who enjoy character-driven science fiction.

On a final note, the only thing keeping this away from a four-and-a-half rating is that I think there were a few misses and near-misses in the narrative, particularly with Spots—a few times I felt the author overplayed the maternity card (the first time Spots goes apeshit on the bugs comes to mind), and there are a few expositions where I think they missed the beat. These misses are few and far between, however. Highly recommended.

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