Six Wakes

A closed room mystery, in space, with clones and memory loss and hacking and most of all, characters with secrets. A lot to tackle, perhaps too much.

I've read several of Mur Lafferty's essays on role playing games, leading me to this novel. She does a good job with the science here, and has clearly thought through the ethical parts of cloning and personality. Within the universe she has created, this book has a strong plot, with twists up to the end.

While reading, I was reminded of 2001, Project Hail Mary, And Then There Were None, and others. Each of these takes a subset of the topics above and really nails it. There are times where this novel feels a little too busy. Mechanically, the author uses Maria's perspective and all the historical flashbacks to good effect. There are a few additional chapters from the perspective of other characters which don't work as well.

Overall, I liked this mystery and the eventual outcome. Recently, Lafferty wrote the expanded novelization of Solo, and that might be where I turn next. If you like a mystery AND science fiction, with a dose of cloning and ethics, I would recommend reading this book.