Calamity by Constance Fay (book review).

There is a sub-genre of urban fantasy that is often referred to as supernatural erotic romance. There is always a male with chiselled cheekbones and a square jaw. He could be a vampire, a shapeshifter, or a werewolf. Then there is the sassy woman who has often had her heart broken and has given up men. They are likely to fight, misunderstand each other, and, in particular, be wary of each other’s motives. Inevitably, they will fall in love and have explicit sex. While this scenario can play out in many different settings, it is less common in far-future SF, where most of the action happens in space. For those who enjoy this kind of fiction and want something slightly different, ‘Calamity’ by Constance Fay might be the book to try.

In this future, mankind has spread out through the galaxy, colonising many planets. There is a coherent system based around family dynasties and business. The five most successful families have the ruling power, but that can change. Beneath them are the Ten, families that want to replace one of the Five. Banishment is the ultimate punishment for crimes. The Banished are not permitted within the sphere of civilisation. They are easily recognised by a fluorescent tattoo below the eye.

The female lead is Temperance Reed (shortened to Temper), who is a member of one of the Ten families but also Banished because of the vindictiveness of her brother. At the start of the novel, she is part of the crew of the scout ship Quest. The reader is dumped straight into action, at the end of which men such as the captain, Ven, have been stringing her along while making out with the intern. The upshot is that Temper buys the ship from Ven and acquires a debt. Temper needs a big job to pay it off and keep her crew together. The Escajeda, head of one of the Five, offers her one. She is wary about taking it, as one condition is that she has to take on Arcadio Escajeda as her security officer, an arrogant son in the family. But she needs the money.

On the surface, the job seems simple. They have a month to survey a particular area of an unsettled planet, looking for the mineral phydium, which is rare but essential for the development of the next generation of engines for more efficient space travel. Temper is suspicious about the job because it seems too easy for the amount of money they have been offered. She is right to be.

The planet, Herschel Two, hosts a small colony of Banished. Though the intention is to avoid them, their leader, Rashahan, has other ideas. He is effectively a cult leader who has the idea that the Quest’s medic, Micah, can remove the tattoo and sets about kidnapping him. Meanwhile, Arcadio has his own agenda. Temper finally gets the truth from him: that his younger brother, Pablo, disappeared on the planet while investigating a devious plot by the Nakatomi, another of the Five. The situation rapidly gets more complicated, and, amid all the mayhem, the romance between Temper and Arcadio begins to simmer nicely.

This is a novel that is packed with physical action of all kinds. Nothing comes easy for the characters. The nature of this romantic SF means that you can expect some fairly explicit erotic action as well. It is an enjoyable romp.

Pauline Morgan

February 2024

(pub: Bramble/TOR/Macmillan, New York, 2023. 305 page trade paperback $18.99 (US), $24.99 (CAN), £15.00 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-20-33041-3

check out website: https://read.macmillan.com/torforge/bramble-for-consumers/