S.J. Klapecki

I regret that I cannot give a rave review to Station Six, S. J. Klapecki’s debut novel. It has several appealing elements. Its gay hero, Max, is a working stiff on a space station sixty million miles from Earth. I have always been drawn to working-class characters in space opera, rare though they are. Klapecki makes a credible attempt at describing the microeconomics of station life—Max’s “everything burrito” includes everything but meat. Finally, the novel poses a worthwhile question of how a worker’s movement could gain traction in such a dangerous, controlled environment.
Sadly, the novel’s style and world-building need work. Dialogue is flat, and the macroeconomic details are lacking. For example, why sixty million miles? How does the station fit into the solar system’s larger economy? One reviewer said the station seems to be an Amazon warehouse in space. But who knows? Suggestion to the author: read the Ceres sections of The Expanse to see what you missed.… (meer)