The Burning Light

Starred review from October 24, 2016
Beaulieu and Ziegler take a brief but intense look at a future clash between government forces and the latest addiction. Two centuries in the future, the addictive threat isn’t a simple chemical substance but a “spontaneous sentient entity” called the Burning Light, a “pattern emergent in the primordial human noise” that seeks its own continuance by subsuming humanity. Col. Melody Chu lost her entire family to the Burning Light; her sister is bound to it, and the rest are dead. Zola first felt the touch of the Light in her collective community but was forced to flee an assault by government troops when the Light threatened to overwhelm the entire collective. Now Zola leads a life on the run in drowned New York, pursued by Chu’s squad and hired thugs as the call of the Light grows ever stronger. The authors imbue this novella with the emotional heft of something much grander through sharp characterizations, detailed worldbuilding, vibrant descriptions, and thunderous action pieces.