Recently I was given the opportunity to read an ARC (advance reader’s copy) of A Dark Hole Darkly, by SPSFC veteran Drew Melbourne. I’ve previously reviewed his Percival Gynt series of books (and The Conspiracy of Days and and The Inevitability of Fire) and found them wonderful, so when he offered me an early look at this one, I jumped at it.

This book is really something different from Melbourne’s other works, although the skilled writing and the engaging, humorous feel is much the same. Readers who enjoyed the Percival Gynt books and followed them to this book will, I think, not be disappointed – and may even be a little awestruck. I know I was. Readers considering starting with this book might then be a little surprised by the Gynt books, but – again – hopefully not disappointed by either. I can’t actually imagine a situation in which a reader would be upset with this story, but you should be aware it is a real change in gears.

This one is a whole lot more serious, and whereas main protagonist Percival Gynt explored questions of psychological development and parental challenges in a fantastical sci-fi setting, Patrick Hinkle is almost entirely down to Earth.

So, what’s it about? Well, that’s simple. Patrick’s mother is murdered, and Patrick – haver of numerous neurodivergencies that we are really just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding in this, the close of Q1 of the 21st Century – decides to try to solve it. After all, having a special brain thing makes doctors like Gregory House and detectives like Adrian Monk into super-geniuses who see things that normals miss. So why wouldn’t he use his powers for good?

The result is a simultaneously hilarious, gut-wrenching, frustrating, and beautiful series of disjointed and irrelevant fuck-ups and tangents, as Patrick learns about his own life and his mother’s past and his own psychological makeup. Which, spoilers if you didn’t read any of the blurbs or other stuff surrounding this book (and in case it wasn’t already obvious from the initialism one can form from the title), makes him an absolutely useless investigator. But a pretty darn good outsider / everyman.

It also dives into the sci-fi convention and obscure fandom worlds in such a loving and intricate way, this filk-writin’ worldcon-goin’ cosplay-failin’ dork found himself blinking away happy tears, and is doing so again while writing this review. The story that unfolds as Patrick fights through his handicaps to confront his past and deal with awkward conversations with strangers and maybe – just maybe – catch a murderer, is magical in its normality. And in the end … was the real murderer the friends we made along the way? I guess you’ll have to read the book and find out.

Sex-o-meter

There’s a bit of sex, tastefully rendered. Patrick and his girlfriend have a sex or two, and the fandom folks are their usual assortment of sweaty and horny. Patrick’s mother fucked someone in order to end up pregnant with Patrick, that much is almost certain. He wasn’t spontaneously created by midichlorians. If he had been, he’d probably be able to remember where he put his note pad (and also pod race!). The sex-o-meter gives this a Sir Alexander Dane out of a possible D.C. Parlov, which makes sense if you’re a very specific subspecies of nerd.

Gore-o-meter

There’s a murder, less tastefully rendered. Not much else, although once we get into the nitty gritty of the whole murder explanation … yeah, there’s a bit of violence there. Not a gory one though, all in all. This story is grounded in what we will call “reality” until a better term for it comes along. One and a half flesh-gobbets out of a possible five for A Dark Hole Darkly.

WTF-o-meter

There’s … well, there’s an underlying story here that will make you think. It’s not the rich cosmic WTF that we’re used to, but it’s an inner WTF that is entirely our own. It’s the WTFs we made along the way. I already used that joke in the main review, didn’t I? Damn it, I’m using it twice. Plus, of course, the final sequence of chapters in the story are extremely odd and left me to wonder whether I was satisfied or frustrated by them. Then I realised that was the point. The WTF is the point. It’s the point we made along the way. I’m just going with the whole “along the way” thing now. A Dark Hole Darkly gets an Eon out of a possible Fastball on the WTF-o-meter, which makes sense if you’re a very specific subspecies of nerd again.

My Final Verdict

I’m going to be thinking about this one for a long time. I wholeheartedly recommend and enjoyed all of it, even when it was making me uncomfortable and especially when I was ranting to anyone who would listen about this crazy-arse book and the ending the crazy-arse author had decided to slap onto it like a giggling taxidermist inventing the platypus. Five stars.

Maybe you’re a neurodivergent person suffering from similar conditions, and you find the author’s lived experiences inapplicable to your own, or insensitive in their depiction. I honestly can’t say I find that likely, but I don’t know. I’m just a dude who reads books and has a bunch of neurodivergent and neurotypical friends (so many friends, seriously) to whom I would confidently recommend this book, and is himself an ’80s kid with one (1) experience with therapy where he was told his coping mechanisms seem pretty solid and to come back if he actually starts suicidally ideating. So ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Look, for someone who words for a living as well as a hobby, I’m still just a silly ol’ boy doing his best when it comes to the language surrounding neurodivergence and all the other still-developing issues of our time. I hope I can clarify that a psychological condition can literally handicap one’s ability to do things that neurotypical people seem to take for granted, without flatly declaring said sufferer is somehow broken and less useful to society. But then, many would openly agree that yeah, “broken” is in the ballpark and if there was a glowing green mildly radioactive pill they could take to fix themselves, just for example … look, just read the book. And stop reading my footnotes, they’re really not relevant.