Majority by Abby Goldsmith

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Majority is the first in a planned six-book space-opera series, chronicling the struggle of a few humans and their alien allies against one of the most viciously malign galactic empires ever created in fiction. The book is marketed as a “progression fantasy,” but the tropes of that sub-genre aren’t overly distracting – the story here works very well on its own.

Thomas Hill is an enormously talented teenage boy. He suffers from crippling physical handicaps, and he has grown up in an indifferent foster-care system, but his intelligence is so vast as to be unmeasurable. Even more, he is a telepath, a mind-reader who can absorb knowledge from others at lightning speed. At the age of thirteen, he is already a world-class scientific genius. The one mystery he has never been able to solve is that of his origins – he knows nothing about his biological parents or any family he might have. His only allies are two of his foster sisters, Cherise and Violet, who do their best to protect and support him.

Thomas soon learns that his origins are stranger than he could have imagined. Strictly speaking, he isn’t even fully human. His mother, at least, was a citizen of the Torth Empire. The Torth closely resemble humans, in fact humanity may be an offshoot of their species. The major difference is that all Torth, like Thomas, are telepaths.

The Torth dominate the entire galaxy. In theory, their Empire is a perfect democracy. Every Torth is considered the equal of every other. Every law, every policy, is decided by the “Majority” of Torth minds, linked in a galaxy-wide network. Talented Torth can acquire millions or even billions of “orbiters,” lesser minds who watch their every moment and leap to their aid, like the followers of Earthly “influencers.” On the other hand, the Majority is an absolute tyranny, insisting on perfect conformity at all times. Non-Torth are kept as slaves, subject to torture and death the instant they step out of line. Even high-ranking or popular Torth are always being watched, and might likewise be killed if they show signs of deviance or unwanted emotion.

Incidentally, the Torth Empire works quite well as a satire of the worst elements of modern Internet culture. I suspect that was quite deliberate!

Early in the story, the Torth arrive and capture Thomas. Thomas learns that his mother was Torth, and because of his talents he is offered the chance to join the Empire himself. For a time he is tempted . . . but the Empire has also taken his human friends, reducing them to slavery. The story that follows pits Thomas against himself, against the friends who no longer trust him, and against the constant surveillance and vicious cruelty of the Torth. Thomas and his friends must fight to survive, much less regain their freedom.

Ms. Goldsmith’s prose style is very clean, with no obvious copy- or line-editing problems to pull the reader out of the story. Viewpoint discipline is fairly good; although the viewpoint does shift around among several characters, it’s always clear who has the narrative at any given moment. The plot is tense, suspenseful, and fast-moving. I found the story quite compelling, and I ended the novel very much wanting to know what would happen next.

About the only difficulty I had with Majority was with characterization and character development. These felt just a touch clumsy; there’s a lot of telling, not showing, when it comes to how major characters think and feel about themselves or each other. Changes in characterization sometimes seem abrupt and inorganic. This may or may not be a result of the “progression fantasy” sub-genre; I suspect the emphasis on a character’s skills and abilities may sometimes distract from subtle and compelling characterization. In the end, I was able to stay engaged with the characters here, but it was occasionally an uphill struggle.

Even so, this is a very promising opening to what looks like it will be a top-notch space-opera series. I’m very interested to see what Ms. Goldsmith comes up with next. Very highly recommended.