It was like Em lived there now, deep in the recesses, in the folds and valleys of gray matter, a voice running shotgun in her brain.” “She needed Em out of her suit, her display, her head. The Luminous Dead traded some tension for more dynamic characterization. If Em had remained as she was early on, the book would certainly have been tenser, but it likely also would have felt too miserable, and there’d be little reason to hope. This still adds to the tension, but in a far different manner.Ĭaitlin Starling, in writing the book, clearly had a choice. The two continue to clash through the book, but it’s a clash of co-dependency rather than a clash of enemies. As the book progresses, much of that fades away and what remains is a much more benevolent and sympathetic character. Outside of memories and past recordings, they are the only characters in the novel.Įm starts off as a harsh taskmaster, speaking only when needed and doing what she needs to so she can manipulate Gyre. Everything Gyre needs, she is reliant upon Em for. This lack of other characters adds considerably to the sense of claustrophobia.

Em is the one paying her to explore, and while most mining consortiums have teams working on these situations, Em works alone. She does have constant communication with Em, her handler, who communicates to her through her exosuit. The reason for why Tunnelers attack groups but not solitary miners is left as a mystery for most of the novel, but the explanation given at the end is the only logical one. Multiple people seem to draw the attention of an undescribed alien life form known as a Tunneler, while lone people seem able to traverse the mines with far more success. What’s more, there are no other characters in the tunnel besides Gyre. The Luminous Dead takes place entirely in these tunnels. Gyre has grown up on this planet, and knows about the caves, but she’s never been bound into an exosuit which controls all of her bodily functions before while doing it. Most mining consortiums do this to discover ore deposits, but the one Gyre is working in is being more secretive about their reasons. Gyre gets hired for a huge payout to explore some of the deep tunnels beneath the planet. Being alone is the only way to prevent attacks from Tunnelers, an undescribed alien life form that inhabits the caves of this planet. Mining in The Luminous Dead must go down alone in robotic exosuits. On an impoverished mining planet with no hope for a better life, Gyre Price decides to fake her credentials and act as if she is an experienced miner. The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a claustrophobic hybrid of horror and science fiction.

The luminous dead