Earthflown: A Potable Study of Love and Collusion by Frances Wren

This book is what you get when the author thinks they are smarter than the reader.

Genre Unbending

a niche genre-mix of romance and speculative-flavoured conspiracy. There is likely too much romance for conventional crime readers, and too much crime for conventional romance readers.

This is in the blurb after the bit insisting the reader needs to go see the supplementary material and illustrated version (eye roll). Okay putting aside that I’m clearly the wrong demographic for this book, I have a lot of issues with it.

First of all a sci-fi/crime/romance isn’t that unusual. Plenty of books already exist matching that description. Nor does this book lean too heavily into any of those dynamics.

No, in this case genre-blending isn’t a feature, its a bug. Because this book cant decide what it wants to be. There is a romance plot and there is a crime/suspense plot and they never intersect. Think about it, if we pull the entire crime plot out of this book, substitute a different near death meet-not-so-cute, the romance would proceed exactly the same way. Similarly the suspense plot in so far as it progresses at all would be identical without the romance or in fact either of the main characters.

Another example is that the book starts with a entire chapter of police procedural, and another chapter of hospital procedural and then forgets both of them. It sets-up expectations it can’t be bothered to run with, and leaves the reader unsure what they should be focusing on, or how they can expect the story to proceed.

The key attraction of genre writing is the predictability of the structure, and I’m not saying you cant deviate from those expectations, but there should be good reasons for it from a story telling perspective.

I suspect the real problem is that the entire plot is just too complex. The author spends ages setting up a much larger socioeconomic and political conflict that has very little affect on this story, and almost no time on solving the crime. Which also means the climax comes out of nowhere, and the main characters contribute nothing to the mystery’s solution.

This isn’t a genre-bending redefinition of literature, this is throwing all the ingredients in a bowl, forgetting to stir and expecting a well baked cake.

Worldbuilding or Lack Thereof

Another major problem with this book was a lack of deeper engagement by the author. This crosses all aspects of the story, worldbuilding and character. It is, you could argue, a lack of immersive detail, this is definitely a book being propped up by exposition and explanation.

Example: The whole book is supposed to be about a world where all water has to be filtered for safety, but it doesn’t feel like a world with profound water problems. Like, I live in a city that regularly experiences water cuts, you feel it at every level of life, it shapes your everything.

Sidebar
Life Without Running Water:
Do we have enough plastic drums to hold a few days worth of water. Are the drums full in case of a unexpected cut. Is there someone on hand strong enough to carry a full drum (25L is the most practical size – and I can barely lift that). Where can I get clean water that will still be open after work? – Are the city tankers still running, no? Okay what about that house near the park with the borehole, no they have stopped supplying. Wait there are rumours of a house on 7th street, but when you get there they are charging R1 a Litre.
I’m sweaty from the gym, can I get away with some wet-wipes, no. Okay fill the kettle. Pour some cold water from your drum into a large mixing bowl – try not to spill. Add the hot water, checking temperature. Now take this, and an empty bowl up to the bathroom. Use a washcloth and soap to wash standing in a dry shower stall so you dont splash everything. Remember to keep some fresh water back for rinsing. And hang up your washcloth properly or it will get smelly.
Just to give you a starting idea of what water problems look like.

This book manages a couple small details – shower pods – but they only start appearing quite late in the story. For the most part these seem like pretty normal kitchens and bathrooms to me. And I am left wondering where the actual pressure of the water situation is supposed to be.

Another told, but not felt, element is the social-political climate. We are told its all on edge, that there are demonstrations, that Whitehall is under pressure. But everyone just seems to go about their lives as normal. We don’t ever see or experience a demonstration. We never hear who the political opposition are. We don’t even see anything related to the drugs epidemic either. All of it is brushed over at a superficial level. It is window dressing that doesn’t drive the story.

I will talk more about Jav’s empath power later, but I found the whole magic system needed more development. Like the downsides of both empathy and healing get lots of page time at the beginning, and are never mentioned again thereafter.

(No) Character Building

When it comes to character, this superficiality gets even worse.

Like I don’t mind Ethan as a character, but a lot of what he does doesn’t make any sense. There is no work done to setup his decisions, to root his bad characteristics in past trauma.

Example: When he has the massive breakdown after the assault at work, he talks about (as in his explanation for why he is upset) his only value being his aptitude as a healer – why does he think this? What has happened to make him believe that is all he has to offer? Who made him think that way? And don’t tell me it must be his dad, we get so little perspective into that relationship that you could project literally anything there. Why did he go into and stay in medicine when he hates it? Not to mention the murder at the end which he is apparently totally okay with, no conflict or introspection required.

I will say it takes balls to write a book without a single redeeming or likeable character in it – except that a well written antagonist is one the reader can sympathise with (see my comments on Yellow Face) even if you don’t agree with their decisions.

What about Ethan’s relationship to Olliver? The book tries to tell us they are actually friends, but where does this come from? Even in their private thoughts they have nothing positive to say about one another, so where is this apparent platonic love supposed to be coming from? I’m sorry but in real humans proximity doesn’t breed affection – rather the opposite. Also why the fuck are we spelling Oliver this way?

And Javier, oh my god Javier. Has there ever been a more spineless, superficial love interest ever committed to the page? Nothing about this character jibes with his background. Substitute in any normal family for him and you would not have to change a single part of his character.

In fact, the whole Arden family is problematic. The blurb and the first chapter set up a ruthless, hands-on, family controlled business situation. But the only person who feels actually invested in the business and cut-throat about it is Corinna. The parents are chill, the eldest sister is not evil or more stressed than any big corporate CEO. Hell, they have already planned for the switch out of the C15 (or whatever the drug was called) business. So where is the intensity coming from? And I could not make sense of how the Arden business intersected with the St Ophie business. So much page time devoted to a conflict that does not make an appearance.

And there is no clear picture of how Jav fits into the family dynamic. Like were all the children groomed to go into the business? If so then I would have thought his career as a dancer would have gotten major blowback, but the family doesn’t mention it even once. Is he wanted or integral to the business now? What even is his role, PR is a pretty broad term. Does he even want/like being in the business? The author doesn’t dig into any of this which makes me wonder what the point of any of the family dinner scenes was.

The most developed and honest character in the whole book is Corinna, probably because nobody tries to explain her sociopathy. Although, when you think about it, her insisting on bleeding out so Peter can finish the plan in the first chapter was pretty out of character for someone that narccisistic. This one chapter suggests she’s looking to prove her worth to someone, but at no point thereafter does she act like she needs anyone’s approval. Further, she is so out of sync with the rest of the family regarding the business’s future that I’m starting to wonder if she is the one running the glass ring.

Bad Romance

It is also pretty ballsy to write a book with a strong romance arc that features only unhealthy relationships.

I’m not saying the purpose of books is to tell people what relationships should look like, but this one has so many, presented as perfectly normal, that it was starting to make me uncomfortable.

Like Nick, who is apparently in love with Ethan, but on what grounds? Okay Nick gets fractional page time, but still. They go months without talking, even in texts. Ethan is as emotionally distant as the moon. What exactly did this character fall in love with? Or did the author write himself into a hole and need a scapegoat? If Nick was so in love why wasn’t he working for or fighting for the relationship? Apathy is not the same as respecting boundaries.

Or Vegas and Olliver, who is the most self-centered jerk-wad who ever lived. We never find out what they broke up over, and he never meaningfully apologises for whatever it was, because he doesn’t even know! An apology without a change in behaviour is just noise. And a pattern like this isn’t a healthy relationship. Hell, at one point it is even suggested that she breaks it off with him occasionally to see if he will come back. Like that is not okay behaviour.

Then there is Ethan, who pushes men away. And my best is that it is rooted in the breakup with previous boyfriend Tom (who actually gets page time in this stupid book!), except that it was Ethan who broke up with Tom, not the other way around. So what the actual fuck is his problem? And then Ethan, on learning his boyfriend has the ability to alter his feelings decides that hell if it feels this good he doesnt mind. I get that was not what the author meant, that it was supposed to be a statement of trust, but I don’t think that subtext is coming across all that clearly. Like he never goes through any kind of emotional upset on realising Jav is an empath, no conflict happens, he’s just chill – it makes the whole relationship feel iffy, ‘cos this should be something to consider deeply. What is Ethan, of the sever trust issues, rooting this trust and confidence in?

Dodging your own conflicts

This book is guilty of two things I absolutely hate: Skipping the romance parts of the romance and dodging its own conflicts.

Romances are about finding connection with other people, that spark of attraction, which through shared time and working towards a common goal, turns into real connection. This book skips over most of the second bit. Jumping forward over numerous dates and substantial timescales. And yes, you don’t have to document every date, but the ones that are there need to show the progression of the relationship. It left me wondering what was holding these two people together? What or who did each of them fall in love with?

The other issue was that the relationship didn’t feel like it had moved forward in the skipped parts, there was no sense of the deeper connection I would expect from that amount of time spent together. I just kept feeling lost when they referenced things that never happened and wondering when they were supposed to have met each other’s friends. Basically, in this novel the skips are not working.

Conflicts give stories drama and tension, they drive reader engagement, when you don’t engage in the conflicts you set up, it makes for a disappointing read.

Why, for example, was the empathy a secret? This is explained so late in the story that I spend a long time being genuinely baffled. In fact the whole empathy thing gets too little explanation and often far too late in the story. And even at the end, I still don’t get it. Like there are known empaths working professional jobs. The book itself admits that beyond certain very specific functions empathy is legal. So why were they hiding Jav’s? This is built up as such a big conflict, but it makes no sense from a societal perspective. And the best part of all, the major conflict the romance drives towards, the big reveal of the big secret. And Ethan doesn’t care. It is a staggering anti-climax. And if I had not been recovering from food poisoning I would probably have thrown the book across the room at that point.

Ethan and Jav’s relationship shows vastly different social class and wealth – but at no point is there any conflict between the lovers over it. A few snippy remarks by Jav’s family which Ethan doesn’t rise to. I have no idea how Ethan feels about having a rich partner, does he enjoy it, is he guilty, is he jealous? Your guess is as good as mine. Jav’s reaction to how the other half lives is muted to say the least, like it leans on the naivete, but there is no I can give you better darling, or how can you live like this, or I don’t want to sleep over in your shitty apartment which is what is normal for these stories or for actual people. Again, it makes Jav rather one dimensional. I have already iterated the inconsistencies between the setup of Jav’s family and their actual behaviour – at its heart it was conflict dodging – If I wanted a happy families story I would be watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

Similarly, the book tries to build Ethan’s schedule into a major sticking point, but it never becomes an issue between them, not as something to fight over, not even as something to support or compromise over. The closest it gets is Jav complaining to himself about not getting to wake up with Ethan, but he mentally shrugs and carries on.

In fact the author takes this further by trying to make it into a thing and chickening out at the last hurdle. He has Ethan try to chase Jav off by playing the schedule card – a whole long scene of Ethan doing the stupid and Vegas calling him on it – which leads to nothing! There is no follow-up scene from this. The romance simply proceeds.

Also while we are on the subject this is not how humans work. They don’t do stupid things while knowing they are stupid, humans are experts at justification and obfuscation. They always find a good excuse to do what they want that doesn’t sound stupid. As authors we need to strive for the same.

Don’t play nice, don’t let your characters get away with being nice, you have to push them to show their true selves, the good and the ugly, otherwise what are you actually offering your audience?

Plots have to go somewhere

I guess the real problem with this book, the reason it has no conflicts or structure, is simply because there is no arc. The plot moves (sorta) but the characters don’t. Jav and Ethan change only in that they fall in love (although that relationship is never meaningfully tested). The crime is solved (‘cos the villain monologues). But neither Jav, nor Ethan, nor Olliver change. They don’t step out of this book with different outlooks on the world. Jav still thinks Rina hung the moon, Ethan still thinks his schedule will chase Jav away, Oliver still puts his story over everything else. There were never any emotional stakes in the story, so it just stutters to a stop, except for the author shoe-horning in a cliff-hanger ending.

And I’m sorry but authors who use cliff-hangers should be hung drawn and quartered. Books don’t need it, this book very definitely didn’t need it. You promised your audience a story, beginning, middle and end. If you cant deliver then you should have gone back to your structure, not added fluff. Also if you can’t tell your story in one book then its existence as part of a series should be clearly advertised upfront. It’s your role to manage the readers expectations with honesty – something this author lacks.

This is marketed as a crime novel but no crime solving happens. There is some inter-character discussion, which is the author explaining the world masquerading as plot. And Olliver drives side plots along, but the needle doesn’t move on the crime until right at the end. And for me there was no buildup, just jump and we were in the climax. Which while featuring Jav and Ethan, they contributed nothing to – can you honestly tell me that ending would have been different if other people had been in the room?

And I’m sorry, but the healer, the doctor, deciding to shoot the villain in the head, after he just took a fall down some stairs and has been unconscious for some time, after insisting to Rina that awake and lucid are not the same thing, after deciding that he can’t let her take care of the problem her way. It just doesn’t make sense for the character or for the story. Nor does the Nick deus-ex-machina resolution of it. It felt hurried, even though we are still subjected to a few more chapters of no meaningful change in anybody.

Earthflown was written as a standalone (in that the lingering questions are deliberate) – but this isn’t the last we’ll see of the cast or the fall-out

From the postscript. This is why I say the author thinks themselves cleverer than us mere mortals. Because this is clearly not a standalone book given it has no ending. And the questions left unanswered DO NOT MAKE SENSE. These are not features, they are bugs. And you don’t get to wave away your poor craft by telling the audience it was supposed to be bad they just need to look past it.

There is potential here, a great premise world-wise, a potentially interesting cast if you engage in them emotionally. And actually the writing is engaging given the way the structure is hampering it. But it needed a lot more time on the cutting-room floor.

Final gripe: The Earthflown Project doesn’t even feature in this book!!

What a waste of time and money.