Book Review: CONTRACT OF DEFIANCE by Tammy Salyer

Contract of Defiance by Tammy Salyer has been on my TBR list for awhile, so when I got the hankering for a good, old-fashioned Gunfight at Docking Bay 3-type story I picked it up.

And couldn’t put it down.

The story is filled with the sci-fi tropes that defined my generation. An evil Admin has spread across the galaxy using citizens and non-cits alike as fodder for its dastardly machine. The main character Aly Erickson is an ex-Corps soldier turned outlaw. (Side note: since I'm from Minnesota, I kept wanting the Erickson in Aly to come out with a good uff-da during one of the fight scenes. Strangely, she never does).

The story opens with an actual gun fight, showing off both Aly's fighting skills and her creator's fight scene writing skills. Aly and her gang of cutthroats are in the middle of a raid on an Admin site when the plan goes sideways. She and her brother are betrayed, her brother is captured by the Admin and Aly is saved by a band of “good” bad guys.

Salyer's writing is crystal sharp, with metaphors that made me stand back and say “wow.” Check this one out:

His callousness makes me feel as if I’m biting tinfoil.

Or this:

His smile is a squashed worm writhing on a hot sidewalk.

Fresh, incisive, gritty, these little metaphorical jabs pepper her writing, making it feel fresh and snappy all the time.

Salyer lets Aly tell her own story using a breathless, first person, present tense that lends immediacy to the tale. Normally, I am not a fan of present tense—it seems to kitschy to me—but it worked in this case.

I've since learned that Salyer is an editor and it shows. Her text is flawless. It's been a long time since I've read a book by any author or publisher–established, new, independent, traditional–where I didn't find a single typo. This was one of them. But what I admired most about Salyer's writing was the way she develops depth in her characters. She takes her time, metering in the character's backstory like a pro, never making it a data dump, but blending it expertly into the flow of the narrative.

So mash it all up and what do you have? A rocket ship full of sci-fi lovin' goodness powered by prose that borders on literary fiction. Hey, if Michael Bunker can manufacture Amish sci-fi, why can't Tammy Salyer have literary sci-fi. I can see why Contract of Defiance won a ton of of awards.

Now, I only have one question: can she do it again? When I read Contract of Betrayal, Book Two of the Spectras Arise Trilogy, I'll let you know.

David Bruns is a speculative fiction writer from Minnesota, and creator of The Dream Guild Chronicles. Check out his website for updates, new releases and a free short story.

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