Probability Shadow

Against the Glare of Darkness #1

by Mark Laporta

A single voice in the darkness stands alone against the fall of civilization, as a great new science fiction saga begins.

Mark Laporta's most recent trilogy, The Changing Hearts of Ixdahan Daherek has been acclaimed both in the mainstream press -- Kirkus Reviews called the first outing a "fabulous read" and "an irresistible blend of wonky science and heartfelt storytelling," and nationally syndicated radio host Patzi Gil proclaimed it "a wonderful, wonderful read ... very, very beautifully written" -- as well as the SF internet, where Jodi Scaife of Fanbase Press wrote, "I absolutely adored the depth of Laporta's world building ... the characters within the pages will stay with you after the last pages are turned" and Tay LaRoi of Cheap Reads named Ixdahan to the list Top 10 List for 2016, raving, "In case you haven't noticed, I adore these books. The wonderful characters, the outlandish conflicts, the strange worlds and aliens, all of it."

Now Laporta branches out with his first space opera for adults, destined to win him new fans and acclaim. Probability Shadow leads you into a new universe, where a critical mineral shortage pits imperious humans against every major political power. As their battles rage, the Quishiks re-emerge, an ancient evil with unprecedented control over time and space -- which foretells the end of all sentient life.

To stop this onslaught, Ambassador Ungent Draaf of Grashard must forge an unlikely alliance of misfits from across the galaxy's entire political spectrum -- a force of humans, symbiotes, mutants, androids and the ghostly remnants of a vanished civilization -- and unite them in one seemingly impossible goal: to drive the conquering Quishiks back to their multidimensional prison and restore order to the galaxy.

In a universe dominated by great powers on the verge of collapse, and as the mistakes of the past become the legacy of the future, one question remains: will sentient life ever rise above the specter of evil?

246 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2018

About the author

The stories that move me are about people shaped by moral dilemmas, love, and the sheer absurdity of everyday life. I'm intrigued by people smart enough to know how stupid they are—but unable to stop themselves from obeying their compulsions. That is, until a critical event shakes their foundations and opens a fissure in their rock-solid view of reality.

How do these people think, what's driving their emotions, as they hurtle toward the trouble lurking just around the corner?

Sometimes success starts with a patch of bad luck. And sometimes what looks like a windfall turns out to be a rampaging hurricane, lifting them up and out of everything they believe in. At both extremes are situations absurd enough to look tragic and grave enough to look ridiculous—if only we slap on the right pair of lenses.

Yet within this skewed matrix we like to call "The Way Things Are," every random occurrence opens a world of possibility to people with vision. My favorite characters lie just within that range. Heroes? No. Just people driven by nature to poke around in destiny’s darkest shadows.

Reviews

[Ralph Brande · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read any “speculative fiction” when I started Mark LaPorta’s Probability Shadow and didn’t know what to expect. I was intrigued, initially, but very quickly hooked by its twisty narrative and otherworldly characters (including a “symbiote” femme fatale who can enter and take over the mind and body of anyone she pleases). However, I especially enjoyed the sardonic wit of the curmudgeonly main character—an aging “crustacean,” of all things—who attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery at the center of the novel’s plot. I laughed out loud more than once at his observations about life on the planet he’s visiting, primarily because they seemed so beautifully analogous to our own experience of disorientation today. I have to say I identified with his cranky responses to living in a world in which evolutionary biology struggles to keep up with the dizzying acceleration of technology and events. It was great fun to enter another world that simultaneously seems so familiar! This is a very smart book from an original and thoughtful writer.

[Noah Powlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Laporta provides a full and detailed vision of the next millennium in Probability Shadow. This tale of an unassuming crustacean-hero who, as a sane, wise, and mature diplomat, finds himself struggling against political idiocies that threaten the future of life in the universe, manages to seem familiar. Class and inter-species tensions and a strain of populist isolationism threaten to destroy the progress that human and non-human kind have made. This is a wild ride, and the reader is fortunate to be along for it.

[Raymond A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interplanetary intrigue, at its best! This is a great read, with characters I haven't seen elsewhere, ideas I'd not yet heard and plot twists I didn't see coming. A lobster-like intelligent life form befriends a wayward teen from another species and together they embark on an adventure involving complex physics theories with religious and philosophical overtones. This will make you think. I enjoyed watching the movie version unspool in my head. This'll be a fun series!

[Debra H. Wruble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Well written and very imaginative story about multiple species uniting to fight a terrible alien species that exists out of time and is able to manipulate time which makes them very dangerous. Wonderful characters and very complicated twists and a great read.

[David Pospisil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tough read for me.
No likable characters, many with multiple names.
Some of the tech was very interesting to me.
I will probably try the next book in the series.

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this as a publisher request and I’m a couple weeks late on the review, sorry about that 🙁 Time got away from me and the reviews piled up a little quick.

It’s nice to get back to sci fi! I’ve only read a few so far this year since most of my requests are fantasy – bring on more sci fi 😀

The main character, Ambassador Ungent Draaf is the first ambassador to a species known as the Dralein. They’re a very interesting species because every 250 years or so they enter a cycle known as the Sceraun, where they “molt” their brains, essentially. When entering the Sceraun they revert back to a primal stage in their evolution, driven by only the most basic instincts with their upper cognitive functions on pause. They fear the light, live in tunnels, and it’s only at this time do they breed. He’s spent a lot of time researching them in hopes of making a good impression.

This is a world where humans were the first to invent intergalactic travel, they were the first to discover how to fold space onto itself, and able to cross distances much further than ever before. Since they were the first to do so, they made in-roads in over 12 galaxies and became the predominant species, and controlled most of the economy in those areas. The humans are also suffering from in fighting, an ancient Earth-religion as sprung up and taken hold with most of humanity, suffocating the other religions and belief systems. The human foothold is loosening, however, as in fighting continues and the emergence of another race that’s capable of galactic travel independent of the humans. The Grashardi race is throwing a major kink into the Terran Protectorate and their galactic domination plans.

I thought this was going to be a smaller scale story about the first ambassador to a new race, but it expands into much more. An ancient race thought gone long ago comes back, and wants to destroy all life in the galaxy. Somehow, Ungent has to get all the different fighting factions of sentient races to band together to fight off this new, and much more dangerous threat. To make things more complicated, there’s a plot to kill him, and the threats come from all angles, including people he thought were friends.

Ungent Draaf is a member of the Grashardi race, he’s a crustacean-like creature which is something I’ve never seen done before as far as a POV. He requires a special breathing apparatus, isn’t used to planets with high gravity, and has also recently lost his daughter. She was a journalist that was captured when poking her nose into places people didn’t want seen, and ended up captured and murdered. He’s a researcher and scholar at heart, and he uses logic and coldness to try and defer his emotions about his daughter. But, sometimes it becomes just too much, and he goes for five-course meals to drown his sorrows – as a result, he’s gotten quite rotund. The more I read about his character the more I liked him, he was a very different sort of character and a breath of fresh air.

There was a ton of world building in this, there are a bunch of different sentient races, and even some sub-species of humans that were specifically bred to deal with high radiation levels and varying air/water pressures. They’re extremely adaptable and in high demand for colonizing new planets. There are rat like races, bird like races, crustacean races etc, and they all have their own cultures that are considerably different from one another. There’s a symbiont race as well, one that’s able to take complete control of their host, but usually just hitch a ride.

Audience:
Sci fi
short fast books
non human pov
many unique non human races
galactic domination threat
lots of action


Ratings:
Plot: 12.5/15
Characters: 11.5/15
World Building: 13/15
Writing: 11/15
Pacing: 11.5/15
Originality: 13/15
Personal Enjoyment: 8/10

Final Score: 80.5/100 – 4 stars – recommended!

[Tripleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. You can tell it's one of the author's early works (relatively short, not excruciating depth), but it's still an entertaining read.