In Unexploded Remnants, the last human in the universe comes across an unexpected find at a marketplace: an ancient weapons system disguised as a lava lamp. (It is not actually disguised as a lava lamp.) Our Protagonist is a woman named Alice who accidentally ended up in the wider universe after accidentally passing through a “gate.” This gate network connects a variety of worlds, much like in the StarGate franchise. (Note: StarGate is not the first sf franchise to ever use “gate technology.” There are a number of other works that also use the concept, see C.J. Cherryh’s Morgaine novels as a second example.)
Once she ended up in the wider universe she was taken in by an organization called The Archive, which is somewhere between a museum, a library and information broker. (Knowledge is literally power in this setting, and the Archive has a lot of it.) Alice’s function as an agent for the Archive is somewhere between a archaeologist, a smuggler, and a curator of artifacts. When she finds the artifact, she discovers that weapon is a person (that is, there’s a sophont uploaded into the system–so she immediately goes off to find a way to remove the person for the weapon. Because of this she ends up on the run from agents of a militaristic civilization and a number of other organizations that want to either make use of the weapon, or destroy it.
This book has some fascinating worldbuilding and engaging characters. The book is fast paced and I appreciated the, “this is not a case of good guys and bad guys, it’s more complicated” themes inherent in the plot. On the other hand, I was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t more interaction between Alice and the “weapon.” (Alice calls him “Gunn” because she isn’t quite sure how to pronounce his real name.) I would have liked more communication between Alice and Gunn, since it seemed obvious that they were thematically linked. (Alice is the last human, Gunn is a weapon created by an extinct civilization.) Overall, this is solidly written book and I enjoyed it immensely.
This review is based on a copy received from NetGalley.
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