No Song, But Silence by Jonathan Nevair – 5 Star Review

Can the secrets of a lost philosophy break the cycle of vengeance?

Welcome to one of the December 5th stops on the blog tour for No Song, But Silence by Jonathan Nevair with Storytellers on Tour. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Book

No Song, But Silence
Wind Tide Book Three
by Jonathan Nevair

Published 18 November 2021
Shadow Spark Publishing

Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera
Page Count: 387
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Can the secrets of a lost philosophy break the cycle of vengeance?

The tide of justice ebbs. A mysterious and reclusive superpower threatens to extend its reach, colonizing new star systems for Wind energy and spreading a corrupt political empire. The People’s Army, once the hope for a new federation of allies in the Arm, has dwindled to a mere spectator in the fight for political control. Ailo’s role in its revolutionary fervor is over. The esoteric philosophy of the legendary Cin Quinti is her only concern now. But when an unimaginable threat sends a political shock wave through the Arm she must weigh the cost of self-preservation, hiding in the shadows as civilization falls to despotism and tyranny.

Light years away on Kol 2, a young librarian grows inspired by a mentor’s clandestine teachings. What he discovers with the newfound knowledge reveals a moral avalanche. The dubious and cruel political power corrupting his society must be exposed, but it will take a leap of faith to challenge an empire.

No Song, But Silence: a space opera inspired by The Eumenides, Aeschylus.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

My Review

My Rating: 5 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads.

I was sent a complimentary copy of No Song, But Silence by Jonathan Nevair as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Storytellers on Tour. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity, and thank you so much Jonathan Nevair for including me among the bloggers thanked in the acknowledgements at the back of the book. As always, my thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Sitting here to write my review of this book is such a bittersweet thing. This was such a great book, the best of the three in my opinion, and I have absolutely loved working with both Jonathan Nevair and tour organizer Storytellers on Tour over the last year. Two of those things are coming to an end. This book is the end of the trilogy, and Storytellers is sadly closing its doors. I wish everyone the best, and I sincerely hope that whatever Jonathan Nevair does next that I will be invited to continue supporting his work and showcase his future books on my blog.

In my review of book two, Jati’s Wager, I took time to praise the widespread, positive, and casually integrated LGBTQIA+ representation. That hasn’t changed! If anything, this book does it even better. The SFF genre has always been ahead of other genres in so many ways, which only seems natural, and I do remember reading different sexualities and genders in science fiction 20 years ago as a teenager, but it’s only recently with books like the ones in this trilogy that I’ve seen representation without spectacle. For example, several of Robert J. Sawyer’s older titles feature alien species with different biology and differing ideas of gender to match, or parallel universe modern-day neanderthals who are exclusively bisexual and polyamorous as a species, but in all cases this is perceived as shockingly different and unusual by the human main character. In books like Nevair’s Wind Tide trilogy and a handful of other SFF titles I’ve come across in recent years, a wide spectrum of genders and sexualities are simply present, accepted by all, and not really commented on. The only other genre doing this well right now is YA Contemporary. Everybody else still has to catch up.

As anyone can tell from the official synopsis, as we open this book and resume the Wind Tide timeline, “the tide of justice ebbs.” Time marches on, the state of the galaxy is ever-changing, and at some point someone is going to have to re-establish some sense of order. Book two was anarchy, revolution, and revenge. Book three is more about finding hope for the future and attempting to establish peace. It’s a rough, heartbreaking ride, and not everyone is going to survive to see that peace established.

What really stood out to me this time around is how well-developed all of these characters, new and old, have become. These are completely three-dimensional people with long histories and vivid personalities. I really feel like I got to know so many of them on a much deeper level, which of course made losses all the more heartbreaking. I loved getting to see how much individual characters meant to each other, how and why they were connected, and how those relationships and connections are viewed by other characters around them. There’s a step-sibling dynamic that was particularly interesting to me. They clearly love each other, but what stood out was how much they respect and admire each other, and how they clearly see each other as the adults that they are. It’s so common to see sibling-type relationships on the page that stay goofy and juvenile or the maturation of the relationship is a focused arc for the story. It was refreshing to just hang out with a pair of adult siblings who are already at the end of that maturation arc.

I don’t want to talk too much about the plot itself because I want to avoid spoilers. I’ve already teased above that there are many tragic moments and to say more than that would definitely dampen the impact of those moments. What I will say is that the cast is coming to a realization that their civilization is stuck in an infinite loop that always comes back to the turmoil and corruption they’ve been facing up to this point and they have to break that loop if they truly want to effect real change. In between all the tragedies and heartbreak there’s a real sense of hope building throughout this book. By the last quarter you really start to feel hopeful right along with the characters, you’re proud of them, and although you’re hopeful for their civilization and their future, it also inspires a little bit of hope off the page. This isn’t a neat and tidy rose-coloured glasses wrap-up to a trilogy, it’s very bittersweet and perfectly imperfect, but it feels right and it feels inspiring.

If you haven’t started reading the Wind Tide books yet, what are you waiting for? Read them in order, and start as soon as you can. I can’t wait to see what Jonathan Nevair writes next!

About the Author

Jonathan Nevair is a science fiction writer and, as Dr. Jonathan Wallis, an art historian and Professor of Art History at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia. After two decades of academic teaching and publishing, he finally got up the nerve to write fiction. Jonathan grew up on Long Island, NY but now resides in southeast Pennsylvania with his wife and rambunctious mountain feist, Cricket.

You can find him online at https://www.jonathannevair.com and on twitter at @JNevair.

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Giveaway Alert!

Prize: 
A paperback copy of No Song, But Silence + Ebook copies of Wind Tide 1-3  (US/UK Only)
 –OR– 
Ebook copies of Wind Tide 1–3 (International)

Starts: December 1st, 2021 at 12:00am EST | Ends: December 8th, 2021 at 11:59pm EST

My Previous Wind Tide Posts:

• Review: Jati’s Wager (Book 2)
• Cover Reveal: Jati’s Wager (Book 2)
• Review: Goodbye to the Sun (Book 1)
• Cover Reveal: Goodbye to the Sun (Book 1)

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