amandajean

'Signal to Noise' is an extremely tightly plotted work with unusual central characters. Twins Bastian and Theo are the heart of the story; their survival against all odds, and their remarkable (and yes, taboo) bond, are what linger the most in my mind after reading the novella. Yes, there is a fair amount of horror, so caveat lector in that respect, and yes, and the scifi world building is quite good, but the twins are the truly memorable elements of this work.

I liked all of the other characters -- even the ones I'm decidedly not supposed to, in a love-to-hate kind of way. The small cast of characters and limited setting helps the reader to feel exactly how claustrophobic and terrifying it's been for the twins on planet Noise. I think the ending (and here I'm trying to avoid spoilers) is truly the only one that could have occurred, and the ones the twins deserved.

Looking forward to more works from Talya Andor in the future. The author's style of prose is engaging, and as mentioned the world building is top-rate. I'm also not easily spooked, but a few of the sequences were genuinely alarming.