Hands down most convincing characters and world building I have encountered in any series. Even though this is presented in “missions” it is so cohesive. Each character has such believable development and the world is so instantaneously immersive without any tedium of the author having to overtly explain. He just jumps right in and you instantly get it – almost without realizing. Every word is spent on conveying that these are real, complex characters in a detailed, ever exploitable world. And boy do they exploit it in any way they can. I especially love how open ended the black ocean is. There is no introduction, rising action, apex, and falling action like the typical tired outline of novels. The story exists in perpetuity. Life existed before this recorded snapshot and it will exist afterwards. It feels like a real timeline of life – spanning three generations. There is no singular goal, just a record of exceptional existence and exciting experiences. Within that very human record we get to witness the beauty in the gradual evolution of each generation. The characters almost subconsciously strive to become better than their predecessors. People are not just good or bad because of what they do, but also because of what they don’t do. They don’t make fewer mistakes than the previous generation, but they constantly reach for deeper meaning with each misstep. Luckily for the reader we get to follow along.
