Book Title: Cursed Dynasty: A Military Space Opera Series – Gravity City, Book 3
Authors: CJ Valin & Artie Cabrera
Publication Date: December 20, 2022
Available On: Amazon as an eBook, a paperback, and an Audible audiobook
Indie Athenaeum Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
This is it – the finale of the epic Gravity City trilogy! Picking up immediately where we left off from book two, Sleepwalkers, things are all building to a head. First Johnny Rangers and his cybernetic kid sidekick Rocket are on the run, as unknown but powerful forces are trying to kidnap her.
Pantheon Industries is shaken to its core after Ashton Reed died in the “accident” aboard the Seagazer. Now that her husband is dead, Maia Reed wrests control of the company. But her hapless son Ashton and his gang have control over the Sleepwalker, which has abilities unlike anything ever seen before.
Charlie Bravo and his mechanical co-pilot Boltz-RG are doing smuggling runs for CommuCorp and are ambushed out in the desert by corrupt officers of the law. Needing supplies after that fracas, he seeks help from Koya Nyrus, an old friend whom he hasn’t seen in years. Now running a ruthless group of mercenaries out in the desert and protecting the Skern species, she decides it’s time to come in from the cold and take hold of her destiny at Nyrus Industries. She also wants justice for the crimes against humanity committed on Khovalt so many decades ago.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Finn Samconi is trying to protect his daughter Sarai after her run-in with Ashton’s gang. With all the corruption rampant throughout the city, Samconi feels like the only honest lawman in Precinct Six of Gravity City’s police force.
Gravity City is now in great upheaval with everything going on. The Soulless robot gang is on the prowl in the city after being stirred up by events on the news and violence is on the rise everywhere. So with all of this going on, why did Walton Cayde choose now as the time to resurface? And why is the city teetering on the brink of ultimate destruction and who is causing it?
Myriad storylines are going on here with multiple characters. All these disparate storylines connect to characters and stories set up by the first two books in the trilogy and receive their final payoff. And what a monumental payoff it is!
Johnny Rangers is on the run without many allies and he has Rocket to protect too. His father Frank Branza is stranded on the city’s outskirts after they have a big fight about what to do with Rocket. And Nadir, Ranger’s adoptive mother, is in the hospital. After absorbing the Cynapse crystal in the previous book and Rocket learning to use her powers, both Rangers and Rocket have leveled up. They’ll need all the power they can get when they’re called upon to turn themselves in.
Rangers is not one to follow instructions and decides to make his own fate by trying to escape their pursuers. But it’s not only the police they’re trying to get away from, it’s those who want to capture Rocket. They seek help from a highly unlikely ally and figure out their next steps. Rangers, now a parental figure, must figure out not just how to save himself but now a child too.
Putting out the call to bring in Rangers because of the connection to Rocket, Samconi is not the only one to look for them. Maia Reed wants Rocket as well and has her forces looking for them too. But not just for reasons to further her power, there’s also a personal connection there as well.
But all the major mega-corporations are up in arms as their machinations are coming to a head. Their rivalries with one another as well as their goals for the city are at cross-purposes with each other. However, there is only one thing greater than themselves that will unite them in purpose, and it is about to become very real.
That one thing will expose all their secrets and threaten their plans to preserve themselves in the face of the biggest threat they have ever faced. And their self-interest and their most guarded secrets are deftly revealed by necessity as a result.
The threat posed by the Sleepwalker technology, the corruption of the police in Precinct Six, Samconi and his daughter Sarai, the Soulless wanting robot rights, and the mystery of Dickey Jets and his criminal empire are resolved. What happens to Frank Branza, Johnny Rangers, Rocket, the surviving members of the Reed family, as well as the hidden council controlling everything behind the scenes at Pantheon Industries?
Is that not enough? How about the ultimate fate of Sinister Squid or Charlie Bravo putting his flying skills to the ultimate test? Koya Nyrus reclaims her destiny and even Boltz gets some closure from the events in the first book. Even characters whose fates we wondered about from book one get a spotlight and even a chance at possible redemption.
Plus, we get a resolution to the mysteries of everything that happened on Khovalt, Koya’s father, what happened to Walton Cayde, and answers about the origins of the Nimic armada. Even minor characters who come into the orbit of the major characters, we learn about their fates as well.
Embedded in every aspect of the trilogy is a weary cynicism about the world and the Gravity City universe overall. From corruption, corporate influence, power grabs, criminal syndicates, personal power, the decadent nature of the rich and the poor who get trodden upon all get skillfully explored here. Even aspects like journalism and the nature of celebrity are all impacted by the darkness inherent in this world.
Technology and how it influences us and Gravity City’s society are connected to all of that. Who controls virtual reality and how artificial intelligence is unleashed could have a negative impact on this world. Together, it all grinds down the citizens of its society until they have no hope.
However, from this pessimism springs our heroes, bringing hope to the city in an attempt to balance the scales. From Rangers trying to protect Rocket and bring justice to Gravity City, to Samconi wanting a better Precinct Six, to Frank Branza unflinchingly loving his city. There’s even Charlie wanting to help his father the only way he knows how and Koya wanting justice for the displaced Skern, there is abundant hope in these characters trying to make a better world.
As this is the final book in a trilogy, it takes on an “everything and the kitchen sink” approach. You would think that would mean mass chaos in the writing, but the opposite is true. It brings all the ongoing storylines from chapter one onwards of the first book in the trilogy, brings them to a head with a highly focused lens, and gives them all substantial resolution through meticulous plotting.
This doesn’t apply to just plot threads but also character arcs. All of them intertwine with one another in some fashion, forming a complicated and magnificent tapestry. Collectively, it brings everything in the novel into the home stretch with a resounding and fantastic payoff. It all culminates into one of the most satisfying and emotionally grand finales I have EVER read.
Amidst all of the action and adventure going on in the various plotlines, there are matters of cosmic importance happening too. The implications of this are not only for Gravity City but for the entire planet of Nebuna. But the characters are just as important as the plot here and receive much attention. With all of these giant events happening, the personal impact of these events on each of the characters is also important.
For me, the storyline that was the most touching must be the pairing of Rangers and Rocket. Rangers is used to the role of protector of his city but now must learn how to be a protector in a different sense to Rocket. It brings out the humanity he usually hides underneath his tough veneer.
Sweet and innocent Rocket is repeatedly put in danger of being drowned by the nefarious forces in the criminal underworld. But her origin and her and her powers make her a force to be reckoned with in her own right and her understanding of herself and her capabilities evolves over the course of the story.
Together, this pairing is my most favorite. It’s in the quieter moments they spend together that I feel how the cynicism of the city really affects Rocket and her overall worldview. As Rangers educates her on the city and how evil is afoot, Rocket’s innocence in the face of all of it is a testament to her strengths.
My second favorite pairing is Charlie Bravo and Boltz. Bravo has got crazy flying skills and a personal motivation to do what he does. But Boltz is his wingman, both as his co-pilot and in his sarcastic demeanor as a partner who has braved thick and thin with him. Boltz’s humor balances out the danger Bravo seems to put them all in all the time and adds some levity to the grimness inherent in all these adventures.
The myriad storylines woven throughout the trilogy come to a head in a brilliantly executed grand finale that wraps it all up. The finale was surprising, heartrending, explosive, and intense. This novel ties up all the loose ends and answers all of the questions that were brought up for me over the course of reading the entire trilogy. Well, almost. There are a couple of smaller loose ends that just beg for some follow-up in future stories.
This Gravity City universe that the authors have created here is filled with imaginative concepts, inventive ideas, masterful plotting, and distinctive characters who I was rooting for to win the day. For the bad guys, I was hoping for the comeuppance that they deserved and I was not disappointed.
Several characters didn’t make it through to the end of the finale and their deaths were the most sorrowful, impacting me greatly. To me, this is a sign of terrific writing, as I was invested in all these characters and their fates.
This universe is overflowing with storytelling potential that could power numerous short stories and many more trilogies here. I look forward to the authors following up on all the innovative ideas presented here for years to come, telling more stories about Gravity City and its fascinating denizens.
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Previous Indie Athenaeum book reviews about the rest of the Gravity City trilogy of stories published by Artie Cabrera and co-written with CJ Valin include “Thieves of Destiny – Gravity City, Book 1” and “Sleepwalkers – Gravity City, Book 2.”
Previous Indie Athenaeum book reviews about anthologies and stories published by Artie Cabrera include “Better Angels,” “Citadel,” “I’m Not Dead – The Journals of Charles Dudley,” “Chronicle Worlds: B-Movie,” “Gravity City: Flesh and Blood“, “The Legends of Boone Ridge” and “Once Upon a Time in Gravity City“.
Previous Indie Athenaeum book reviews about stories published by Christopher J. Valin and co-written with Jaime Castle include “Raptors 1 – Sidekick,“ “Raptors 2 – Superteam,“ and “Raptors 3 – Scions.”
Previous Indie Athenaeum book reviews about anthologies and stories published by Christopher J. Valin include “Chronicle Worlds: B-Movie“, “Best of Beyond the Stars: a space opera anthology“, “Beyond the Stars: Rocking Space: a space opera anthology,” “Chronicle Worlds: Legacy Fleet,” “Once Upon a Time in Gravity City“, “World Domination: A Supervillain Anthology“, and “It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane!: A Superhero Anthology“.
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