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Outcast Mine

Review 46
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Title: Outcast Mine
Author: Jamie Craig
Cover Artist: not listed
Publisher: Carina Press
Buy Link: Outcast Mine
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 85,000 words (400 pages)
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

A Guest Review by Damon

REVIEW SUMMARY: A flawless, visceral space opera that digs deep and dazzles

BLURB: There is nothing Aleron Pitre can’t steal, nobody he can’t con and no situation he can’t slip out of—until he’s sent to the prison planet Tantoret, where every sentence is death. If the prisoners don’t kill each other, they’ll die slowly from mining the poisonous drug chojal. Yet Aleron still hopes that he can escape. Only thirty Athaki guards keep the chaos of Tantoret in check, a race of aliens stronger and faster than their human charges. Most intimidating of all is the head guard, Jasak, who has his own reasons for being sent to Tantoret. Amidst the darkness and desperation, Aleron and Jasak share an unexpected attraction, an attraction neither can resist when Jasak claims Aleron as his mate to protect him. Then they discover that both guards and inmates are planning a coup, while a traitor from an enemy nation threatens the whole planet. Suddenly escape from Tantoret isn’t just Aleron’s dream—it’s a matter of survival for them both.

REVIEW: Devastating. Hypnotic. Luminous.

Featuring intensely appealing heroes, a fever-pitch plot, and delicious worldbuilding, Outcast Mine is a book by two authors (Vivian Dean and Pepper Espinoza collaborating as Jamie Craig) writing at the top of their M/M game in every way. It’s as cunning as its double-entendre title would suggest and I read it in one sitting. And when I’d finished, I flipped back to the front and read it again immediately just to dissect its efficiency and elegance.

Lest I be accused of mindless gushing, I’d like to specify my praise in case what’s working for me might not work for other readers. The skill and savvy on display here is so seamless that it deserves more than blank enthusiasm.

The novel’s setup is classic high-concept adventure in the vein of Dumas and Burroughs: In a hellpit gulag used for mining an illegal hallucinogen, a slippery human thief named Aleron and a hardnosed alien warden named Jasak come together at the worst possible time in the best possible way. Every person present is a literal prisoner and byzantine subplots braid deftly through their stories, wringing pain and truth out of our flawed heroes on almost every page and fleshing out the rich environs. Aliens that feel like aliens! Intense violence that feels purposive and authentic! Impossible choices made against impossible odds! All this in a harrowing catacomb where the low heartbeat of the “Core” thumps around the inmates like a vast Hitchcockian clock.

For starters, Aleron’s callow opportunism and Jasak’s rigid detachment immediately lay the foundation for an explosive union. They are a beautifully mismatched duo, but Craig sidesteps any lame Odd-Couple chestnuts to focus on their unsteady balance between sacrifice, honor, and survival. Both are shaped with craft that never draws attention to itself: singular voices, blistering stakes, and bold, mindful use of POV to build suspense and empathy. Wily Aleron is a crook to the marrow of his bones, in diction, calculation, sociopathy… But his thievery goes beyond the literal to less tangible loot in ways that damn and save him. Jasak, leader of the Athaki guards, manages to be a bloodthirsty alpha-barbarian without resorting to empty swagger or Neanderthal clichés.  Their slow-burn relationship is so compelling that at one point I realized I was fantasizing about being a convict in a toxic alien slavecamp. Without irony. Feel that fact.

Then the worldbuilding. Anne Lamott once said that the best writing starts with a “view the size of a postage stamp” and Craig eases the reader into the invented language, customs, and crises with laser focus. Each outlandish element appears as if under a pinpoint light that brightens and widens until the entire alien world blazes around us. Over and over, the expert use of POV did the work for me invisibly and contextually. In concrete terms that meant that I kept realizing I’d learned facts by osmosis about Athaki culture, Athess politics, and blackmarket chojal trade. From the opening moments of Aleron climbing through sludge in darkness, we absorb the environment alongside our protagonists, which deepens our empathy AND gradually widens our view of their world without fat slices of exposition cake. Clever-clever-clever!

The plotting is equally adroit. Every interaction escalates the stakes and the tension. Insults have their own story arcs and wounds have lasting consequences. A less-skillful author might have used Aleron’s infirmary stint to plant a clichéd escape attempt or to milk pathos out of the poisoned patients, but Craig folds that action into no less than four subplots involving fraternal devotion and treacherous factions seeking to overthrow the prison-mine! Every character, no matter how trivial, follows a meaningful arc that affects and is affected by everyone else until the entire colony boils with Claudian machinations driving it towards catastrophe. All that without getting wanky, derivative, or confusing. Take THAT, George Lucas!

Oh yeah. And the intimacy? Tender and filthy, thanks. Craig forces predatory heroes trapped in a lethal environment to walk a knife’s-edge between lust and violence only to shock us with sweetness. Brilliant. The sex is subtle and surprising and motivated without exception. Trust is earned and tested. More proof of the skill at work: Jasak’s Athaki bloodlust and Aleron’s wounds motivate an intensely erotic licking scene which filters through all subsequent erotic (or bloody!) encounters… the heroes must negotiate bedding and body heat in their grim pit… Jasak’s blood hunger overlaps thirst for other salty fluids… and the sex manages to stay alien AND erotic throughout which is no small feat, yo.

(n.b. I would pay a lot to see this novel adapted for film, even ultra-low-budget, because the story is so gritty and dynamic it could weather exploitation. Come back to the five-and-dime, Regent Entertainment, Regent Entertainment.)

Did I have quibbles? I suppose. Because it’s action-adventure, the angst is more plot-based and there’s too much incident for any tears to be jerked, which might irk some folks. I felt that the crime for which Jasak tortured himself seemed too noble and justified to warrant his inflexible masochism; a darker crime might have pushed his pathos further. While I reveled in the ghoulish comeuppance for Snod’s scheming, I felt that for about 20 pages he got lost in the whiteknuckle shuffle and that the critical “Core Key” seemed a MacGuffin-y afterthought. Also, a few times I wanted another page on a fascinating minor character. But I can’t exactly fault Craig for making the minutia so addictive that I wanted an extra scoop from a novel that is 400 pages long!

Outcast Mine is a joy to read. It is an astonishing gay romance and a rip-roaring old-school space opera unafraid to sidle over to Herbert and Chalker. This is the kind of impeccable genre fiction that makes crappy M/M writing look embarrassing by contrast, a book that hacks should fear and readers should cherish. Which is another way of saying this is genre writing that strengthens the genre. The craft here, the bone-deep skill and exuberance and wit of these two women writing as Jamie Craig, makes this novel a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in romantic sci-fi.

There are obviously MANY more stories in these stars and I’ll buy any Craig’s planning. Funny thing: because everyone seems to be pumping out a series right now, I was almost about to say I can’t wait to see the sequels to Outcast Mine, but that’s kind of misleading. Much as I’d love to revisit this cosmos, even to check in on Aleron and Jasak, this book might be complete as it is. Dunno. What I really meant to say was that I can’t wait to read the next book by Jamie Craig, regardless of the universe it occupies.

Author

Damon

Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal into a career as a crazy word-wrangler and opinion-factory. He reads too much, sleeps too little, and loves his husband a lot.
http://www.DamonSuede.com

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46 comments

  • Oh yes Damon I’m with you on this one- complete page turner kept me awake until 2am.

    That licking scene- totally original as far as I have read and sooo hot.

    My only quibble was I felt Jasak should have been more aware of nasty prisoner politics.

    Lovely review. Thanks.

  • I have heard good comments about this book. I think you sold me with the sweetness factor in this action-adventure story. So I’ll move it to the top of my never-ending pile. Thanks for the great review and welcome.

  • Damon
    Incredible review. The depth of your analysis and the exquisite pros and very few cons of this story make me want to read it right now.

    I have read many books by JC including their Master Chronicles (the ones that weren’t menage) and their writing sucks the reader into their world. Obviously it does here.

    Fabulous job! Now I have yet another book to read – but what a book. 🙂

    • Gosh, sorry to butt in, but which books exactly *aren’t* menage? Cos the premise of the book sounded so good, but then I realized it became m/m/f and I kinda didn’t want to start reading…but if there’s more than one installment that’s purely m/m, it sounds like it would be worth it to get invested.

      • Asher

        Are you talking about Jamie Craig’s Master Chronicles? If so – books 1 and 2 Master of Obsidian & Unveiled are M/M then Emma joins them in books 3,4,5 &6 which I didn’t read. She is not present in books 7 – 9. Hope that helps. Don’t know what happened to the rest of the series after book 9 but you should check their web site.

    • Damon- Great review! I actually have this book 🙂 just in my TBR pile. I am going to move it right up to next. Enjoyed your descriptive, in-depth review of this book, look forward to your next one on this site. Since I discovered your website not to long ago, thought your other reviews were very good as well.

      Wave- I so agree with you the Masters Chronicles ” m/m ones” were very good!
      Great addition to reviewers!

  • I’m not much of a science fiction fan but I enjoy Jamie Craig’s other books very much. Your review might be enough to get me to explore the genre. Great job and welcome!

  • The book is one of my favorites this year and I can’t see it moving from that list. I loved the world building – it has been a long time since I enjoyed the sci-fi setting and aliens because of their otherness. I’m sick and tired of space cadets – this one was a general. The characters, the power struggles, the darkness, oh, yeah! Great book and great review, Damon! :bravo:

    I am guilty of wanting the sequels of this one. I want to see Aleron in all his thieving glory.

  • Hi Damon,

    Welcome aboard Wave’s ship! I’ve enjoyed your reviews from Goodreads, so I’m very happy to see that she’s contracted you 🙂

    Great review. Someone that I barely know gifted me with this book after I read a great review of it. I’ve yet to read it, but I’ve only heard fascinating things 🙂

  • Thanks y’all. I was just so swept up by this book, after avoiding it for no particularly good reason. I had it in my head that it was going to be kind of Stalag 17 in space. No idea why… And then yesterday I was en route to a meeting and couldn’t put it down.

    And I’m psyched that my first review for Wave was a book I admired so much; it feels like an auspicious beginning. LOL

    Any of y’all who have been delaying, get on this stick! 😀

  • You were able to summarize clearly what I really loved about this book. Great review & welcome to the site.

  • Hey Damon, welcome to our merry band of reviewers and FABULOUS first review. I am usually not much for the space opera stuff but seriously, “Take THAT George Lucas”? Gotta read this one.

    Glad to have you here,

    L

  • Outstanding review Damon. I don’t think my thesis was that well thought-out! I look forward to reading your stuff in the future.
    :bravo:

    As for Outcast Mine, I bought it a few weeks ago because I’m a fan of Jamie Craig and sci-fi… but after this rave review it just shot to the top of my to-read list. Thanks.
    😀

  • Damon,

    Thank you for this amazing, dizzying review. We loved writing this book, and it’s so gratifying to know that we aren’t the only ones pleased with the results. We’re tentatively planning a sequel, as we love the characters and the world, and if all goes to plan we’ll probably begin writing it this summer.

    • We’re tentatively planning a sequel, as we love the characters and the world, and if all goes to plan we’ll probably begin writing it this summer.

      You have no idea how happy you made me. :flowers:

    • Thank YOU for investing so much time and love in the writing of it. I’ve read a run of M/M books recently that are “thin” for lack of a better word… kind of dashed off and cobbled together out of borrowed tropes. Cookie-cutter fluff-fests. Know what I mean? So your book was a thrilling, bracing gear change. Kicked me right in the asterix!

      VERY excited for the sequel. And I can’t wait to see what other worlds you’ll cook up for us. 🙂

  • I have read Outcast Mine sometime back. Just like you say, both authors are at their top in this story.

    I enjoy reading this science fiction and I am glad there is a sequel to Outcast Mine.

  • I haven’t read a good science fiction story in a long time and I haven’t ever read a m/m science fiction story. I seems as though this might be the right one to break my drought.

    Welcome to the group, Damon. I enjoyed your review. It was both informative and entertaining.

  • Loved the review. Looks like a really cool read. Added it to the list.

    Also, long-time reader, but first comment!

  • That’s what I’M talking about. What a great review. Any author would be thrilled to know that kind of care and attention was paid to their work.

    Nice job, Damon!

    • Thanks, J. What I’m nervous about is when I have to write a rocky review. 🙂

      Many thanks to everyone for being so complimentary…

  • Guess my comment was one of those which disappeared into worldpress nirvana so I’m joining the party again – late –
    What a fantastic review, Damon! I loved your reviews on GR and I’m thrilled to have them here now, too. Well thought – through, entertaining and enticing – and always fair.
    Hooray to wave for luring you in!

  • Fabulous review, Damon! I also loved this book. Like you said, I loved to revisit them yet at the same time their story seems complete. 🙂

    • There are a few threats, and at least one ominous confrontation (which is more focused on blood/feeding than sex), but no non-con goes down. It’s a delicate balance actually The book makes you FEEL like it is grim, and the violence is gritty,, but there’s a real tenderness to the intimacy.

      It was hard for me to put my finger on my reaction first time through. That’s what I meant about Craig using it as a surprise. The reversal in the sex was that it WASN’T brutal, though it certainly is passionate!

      • Ok I’ll give it a try. I was a bit hesitant the first time I read the blurb because given the set up it could easily go that way imo…

  • I’m kinda picky when it comes to SF but since I quite enjoyed other books by this author I’ll be giving this a try as well. How can I not after such a glowing review.
    Thanks for a great review 🙂

  • goodness – 😛 🙂 another one for my TBR pile – I don’t do S/F normally but your review has made me run off to buy – thank you – please excuse the use of the bunnies –

  • Damon, I’m not familiar with the other books written by the two authors. You’ve answered the question of violence; thank you. You’ve mentioned, however, that the authors’ other books have featured menage. This isn’t in my comfort zone. Does the book travel down that path?

  • Damon – Fantastic review and spot on!
    I cannot say enough good things about this book. It is brilliant. I lost myself in the writing and that so rarely happens that it felt like a rare gift. Engrossing from first page to last. The writers made me feel what the characters felt…the environment, the noise, the fear, the love. Wonderful!

  • I love Scifi and bought this because of this great rec.. I am taking a hiatus from dubcon books of all types so I was hesitant to try this because of the prisoner/guard plot. No Dub Con! Great science fiction. Thanks for the rec. I would have missed out on a great read!

    • I’m so glad, Denni!

      This is one that I’ve already revisited more than once, just because the world is so tangible on every page.

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