Fiction Analysis - 'The Matrioshka Divide' by Isaac Young
A Voyage of Mice and Men
Author’s Note: Fiction Analysis is back once more. I’m really cranking out these reviews, huh. Well, I do have a lot of free time at the moment.
Warning: There will be spoilers, though it’ll be very mild. This is the author’s first published book (sort of) and I want as many people to read it for themselves as possible.
Introduction
I want to start by stating that it is impossible to separate the art from the artist. You just can’t do it. This is something that I have been alluding to in my reviews, though I only made it explicit in my analysis of Silence and Starsong:
The reason I brought this up in this particular analysis is because I got this idea from the author Isaac Young. While I intend to analyze his book The Matrioshka Divide, I want to quote from his article: “Why the Right Wing Needs to Abandon the Term Mary Sue”: (Young, 2023, Para. 10)
This is why I say knowing the author is important. A good story relies on meaning. It relies on the beliefs of the writer and is meant to convey the good, the true and the beautiful … And while you can often see the meaning in the work itself, knowing the author will tell you what’s intentional and what’s not.
Having read the author’s writings both in Twitter and in Substack, I feel like I have a good handle on him. Even more so than all of the other writers whose work I’ve reviewed thus far. Ironic, given that he writes under a pseudonym.
Moving on to The Matrioshka Divide qua the book itself, I must confess that I wouldn’t bother with it if I hadn’t read Mr. Young’s writings beforehand. Why? It was the setting, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Even so, I gave this book a chance because I knew I could trust Mr. Young not to give me mind garbage.
I will be looking at this book from three angles: the setting, the characters, and the story.
Setting
The Matrioshka Divide took place in the far future. In fact, it took place so far ahead in the future that readers were never given the date. It could be the 41st millennium, for all we know. But unlike with the Imperium of Man, Old Earth is long gone. On the bright side, humanity had spread across the Milky Way Galaxy.
And now we get to the aspects of the world that I don’t particularly like. The first is the “transhumanist” (for lack of a better word) bent of the universe. Mr. Young presents us with a world in which people can choose their age, how they look, and so on.
Another aspect that I didn’t like was the ruling power of that world: the Free Exchange. The best way for me to describe them is as follows: imagine the most all-encompassing conspiracy theory that you’ve ever heard (lizard people, CIA, etc.), then imagine that it’s just not all-encompassing enough. That’s the Free Exchange. These creeps have perfected political science to the point where they can predict human behavior with great precision.
Some may object to what I wrote and say that this was meant to be a negative portrayal. That’s a fair criticism. I acknowledge that much of what I didn’t like about this book was on me. I’m not the biggest fan of dystopian setups.
Objectively speaking, I acknowledge that Mr. Young did a great job in portraying humanity under the Free Exchange. It’s not a dystopia per se, but it honestly comes close.
Characters
In terms of the characters, The Matrioshka Divide has three viewpoint ones. I’ll be looking at those three characters in addition to the book’s main antagonist.
The first viewpoint character is Captain Samir Singh. This old veteran and legendary war hero also serves as the protagonist of the story. Haunted by events long past, he seeks redemption in one final mission. At some point since he retired from service, he had converted to Christianity (referred to in the book as the ‘Catholic-Orthodox Faith’).
I love Samir as a character. He is an inspirational character; I’d go to hell and back for this guy. I also like how his Faith and his quest for redemption was handled. Given how the character had been set up, it’s so easy to fall into the pitfall of cheap grace. Thankfully, the author had skillfully avoided that with Samir.
The next viewpoint character is Dr. Erika Terese. A literal high-IQ girl, Erika is an interesting character. Thanks to her smug scientistic schtick, I did not like her at all. Thankfully, the author took care to ensure that she’s not completely unlikable.
The final viewpoint character is the pilot, Miles Kieth. Out of the three viewpoint characters, Miles is the most down-to-Earth. He drinks, he swears, and he even got into a bar fight; he is the everyman. While Samir is a legendary war hero and Erika is a super genius, Miles is just a pilot who’s knee deep in the machinations of the Free Exchange.
Finally, we get to the villain of the story: Glen Tannis. An agent for the Free Exchange, this guy just knows how to manipulate people into doing his bidding. In a sense, he’s the personification of the Free Exchange. And that makes him the antagonist because it was clear early on in the story that the Free Exchange did not have the best interests of our heroes in mind.
Story
Now we get to the story. I’ll let Mr. Young speak for himself:
A signal has been detected on the outer edge of the galaxy, possibly from a colony ship thought lost nearly three thousand years ago. The Free Exchange, the dominant power of the known universe, puts together an unexpected crew to find it. Only time will tell if this impossible beacon will change the course of human history forever.
This setup reminds me of Michael D. O’Brien’s book, Voyage to Alpha Centauri (my analysis): a ship was put together by a dystopian government, and they were sent to some faraway location wherein the crew ended up discovering something that would forever change their perception of the universe.
But make no mistake, The Matrioshka Divide is its own story.
One more aspect I’d like to add about the story is the planning and conspiracy carried out by all involved throughout the plot. This was to be expected, given what the Free Exchange is. But with all this scheming and planning and gambit-making, it is easy to forget that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
Conclusion
One foolproof sign of a good story is that it captivates you even if you don’t necessarily care for the premise. And The Matrioshka Divide is that kind of book for me. The setting, though well written, is not my cup of tea.
Where I found this book to be appealing is in its characters and story. The characters are great with Samir being the highlight for me; even the minor characters that I didn’t mention in this analysis were well-written. As for the story, I like how the mystery and intrigue were handled.
However, I must mention that this book ended in a sort of cliffhanger. Don’t worry, the main plot itself was resolved. However, there are still loose ends that remain untied. Normally, I wouldn’t bring this up since it’s spoilers but the author himself had posted a preview of this sequel. It’s called The Telos Razor.
But before you click on that link, make sure you finish The Matrioshka Divide first!
-Michael P. Marpaung