Despite the well-worn phrase “never judge a book by its cover,” I think we all fall into that habit. Such was the case with L. M. Sagas’ debut, Cascade Failure. The title serenaded me like a siren, and the cover produced feelings of coziness while creating deep stress. This conflict depressed my initial zeal for the book. However, a few weeks after release, I decided to pick it up. Sagas’ debut is about a found family of misfits that hits the right emotional notes, but is a story that feels incomplete.
Jal is on the run. He’s been marked by The Trust as a deserter for years. Unfortunately for him, he’s lured onto The Ambit, captained by a sentient AI who has been looking specifically for him. The “why” of the trap is pushed to the side, however, when The Ambit and her crew follow a distress call to a mass grave with a single living soul in it. When the survivor has evidence that the dead are part of a plan by The Trust, the crew springs into action despite their internal friction. What is the Trust doing and why aren’t the Union or The Guild holding them to account? Can The Ambit save the day?
I have mixed feelings about Cascade Failure. It’s a pretty well-executed book about found family in a market saturated with misfit bands coming together. It doesn’t really break the mold here, but I think Sagas does a remarkable job with her dialogue and creating tension between her characters. There are one or two scenes in particular that really sold me on this book being a cut above some others that I read. The cadence of dialogue and emotional body language in these scenes is spot on, and the limited perspective really pulled me in as a reader. You always saw these fights and reconciliations from one side, making them raw and in the moment. Considering that the characters were cut and dry Archetypes, I was not ready for the emotional weight of these scenes.
That’s not to say the characters weren’t good; they just weren’t anything special. What made them more appealing was the interactions they had with each other. The stress of historical baggage is felt throughout the story and leads to internal strife. Where I think the story founders a little bit is while some of the themes revolve around agency and making choices for others, Sagas removes some of the agency from the characters’ backstories to make them more likable. This is most evident with Jal, who did not need the later reveals around his deserter status to go the way they did. It made some dynamics a little sappier and cleaner than I expected. While tough conversations were still had, the reveals made it a little less impactful to me because the complexity of the relationship was reduced. It also makes Jal’s later choices a little easier to stomach while reducing their impact.
Plot wise I had a rollicking good time. At the heart of the narrative is a plot by the corporations to create dead planets after the extraction process is complete. Sagas builds a strong world for this process to become a big problem, and the crew’s investigation of the issue leads to some tense action sequences and eerie explorations. I applaud Sagas for keeping the travel to a minimum as well, focusing on two to three major set pieces that flow nicely while populating the galaxy she created with proper flavor.
Thematically, Sagas could have dug a little deeper into the three-legged table that her world rests on, but she definitely spends time on some key highlights. All the characters recognize that the system is broken. The two sides, arbitrated by a third neutral party, leads to some corruption and negligence that foments a zealous rebel group that the cast collides with. As the plot moves, more is revealed about the dance between the three powers. And while the overarching plot is big and all-encompassing, the casts’ relation to it is deeply personal, which allows for pettiness to get in the way. No one really carries any ideology or sympathy, only cynicism for the system as it is. It leads to some interesting interactions and to my next point.
Cascade Failure feels unfinished because of where the first book ends. Don’t get me wrong, it ties up nicely, but it’s also thematically open-ended. The crew has their family and fixes “part of the problem,” but part of me feels like Sagas has something up her sleeve. It’s cut and dry in a severe way that either denotes something big and exciting for book 2 or could be chalked up to debut pacing. Obviously, I hope it is the former, as the potential is just astounding. If it’s the latter, the book is still a solid addition to the found family library, carried by itsWi weightier conversations.
Cascade Failure is a book I enjoyed more than I expected, but it has flaws. If the characters had been a little less “Good,” its emotional impact could have been stronger. I have more to say, but I’d rather hold my thoughts until the second book drops. The weirdly happy but ominous ending could lead to a strong debut duology if Sagas digs deep into the second novel. Luckily for me and expectant readers, we won’t have to wait long for Gravity Lost.
Rating: Cascade Failure – wait for it to happen all at once. (7/10)
-Alex
