Gyre has accepted a one time job with a company that will send her deep down into a mine. It’s all very secretive and she doesn’t really have any idea what the mission is. She’s also never officially gone cave diving professionally before and lied to get this job. Gyre’s Mother left when she was younger and she’s determined to leave this horrible planet and find her. This one job will pay her enough that she’ll be able to accomplish that. As long as she survives, of course. Gyre: “Well shit, I guess that really WAS stupid. I might have just doomed myself with my stupidity. Dammit Em, why didn’t you stop me?”

The Luminous Dead - LGBT Book Review - Book of the Gay The Luminous Dead - LGBT Book Review - Book of the Gay

It’s such a repetitive book and I thought the relationship was forced and toxic. Gyre and Em are a terrible couple who are brought together by mutual trauma and that is all. They both take terrible actions and make mistakes that they don't learn from. Gyre especially is so frustrating and dramatic. Ugh, I just really didn’t like this. This cave is an appropriate topos for horror, and TLD has enough ethereal ghosts to be shelved within this genre—it was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in 2019. However, the novel is set in an indeterminate future, a distance that readers note not in terms of time but through an apparent technological advancement. We learn that interplanetary travel from one planet to another is expensive for those living on colony planets, but it is common enough. We learn that body-modifying suits are so intricate that they can invasively replace organs. The protagonist of TLD is Gyre, a young woman from the colony who is promised a significant sum to explore Lethe while wearing one of these exo-suits. In a limited third-person narrative, Gyre takes the readers into the cave through crevices, falls, and underwater crags. What she sees through the algorithmically-encoded helmet of her suit is all that we have access to. The book centers around main character Gyre, a caver, who is desperate to earn money to find her missing mother. Gyre is hired by a private mining company to map mineral deposits in a cave off planet and thus the story begins.I DON'T THINK IT SAW YOU, says the silent message Em sends Gyre in Camp Four. But Em is wrong. And Gyre was right - she's not crazy. She's never been alone. If not this thing chasing her, then the cave. We learn of it late, but the cave in the novel is called Lethe. As readers of fantasy and legal documents, we know the power of names. Lethe belongs to Greek myth, a river whose waters effect a forgetting of the past; in Christian retellings, it is where Dante washes his earthly sins. For philosophers, the name carries the weight of a related word: alethia, or truth. Lethe is concealment, and truth is an encounter with what is no longer concealed. A certain unnamed good friend strongly suggested it after reading it. Here's how she sold it: "It takes stones of steel to write a full novel with only two characters and a cave for the setting. So far, it's done very, very well."

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling: a claustrophobic The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling: a claustrophobic

In case you’re trapped, and cut off from me, there are . . . kill switches built into the suit. In case there’s no way out.” (c) You won't be having sex with me, Gyre," Em said. "I'm only the one pushing the buttons." Language: English Words: 1,702 Chapters: 1/1 Collections: 1 Comments: 8 Kudos: 34 Hits: 295 Is technology a tool of history or its product on the long march to advanced civilization? Is this terror less horrifying than the straightforward story of colonial exploitation and oppressive desire simply through the machinations of computer and code? It took reading to around the 61 percent mark for anything decent to happen and even then, it was lame. This novel is full of fluff and events that are flat-out boring. I thought this was supposed to be a horror novel? There is absolutely nothing scary, creepy, or horrific in “The Luminous Dead” at all as I’m not even sure how this was even classified as a part of the horror genre in the first place. The overall writing and dialogue between Gyre and Em are very repetitive and stagnant throughout this novel.

Do not read the GR book blurb, as it does give far too much away, including one plot point that happens two-thirds of the way in. I read an early copy--hopefully very early--so I look forward to re-reading a print copy that might have even more polish. Just for me--for heaven's sake, do not read the spoilers if you intend to read-- Em sees nothing wrong with controlling Gyre’s body with drugs or withholding critical information to “ensure the smooth operation” of her expedition. Em knows all about Gyre’s falsified credentials, and has no qualms using them as a leash—and a lash. And Em has secrets, too . . . The suit was her new skin, filled with sensors and support functions, dampening her heat and strengthening her already powerful muscles with an articulated exoskeleton designed to keep climbing as natural as possible. She wouldn’t even remove her helmet to eat or sleep. Her large intestine had been rerouted to collect waste for easy removal and a feeding tube had been implanted through her abdominal wall ten days ago. A port on the outside of her suit would connect to nutrition canisters. All liquid waste would be recycled by the suit. (c) Sounds painful. It’s hard to describe a book like The Luminous Dead. It’s part science fiction, part psychological thriller with a hint of horror but at the heart of it, it’s a story of two people who are looking for answers. In a sense, it’s a psychological drama played out between just two characters. From the award-winning author of The Twisted Ones comes a gripping and atmospheric retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Fall of the House of Usher."

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling | Waterstones

A thrilling, atmospheric debut with the intensive drive of The Martian and Gravity and the creeping dread of Annihilation . . . " Nah, I beg to differ.What’s more, I feel the publisher description has done the book a great disservice by comparing it to The Martian and Gravity, because the reality, as I found out, was much different. For one thing, the “intensive drive” that was promised was virtually non-existent. A heart-pounding thriller this was not, so don’t be expecting anything like The Descent. I just can’t emphasize enough the slowness of this book, even though, in all fairness, I have no doubt the measured pacing here was entirely intentional. The plot featured here is the kind that relies heavily on character development and relationship building, a process that understandably cannot be rushed. Since the entire story takes place within the cavern, there is very little world building. The reader only gets small pieces of information about the outside world and the corresponding technology. Some science fiction readers might be disappointed by this narrative choice, but I felt that it worked well for the story. Still, I did mention the book had its moments. First of all, kudos to the author for pulling off what is essentially a novel featuring an extremely limited setting and only two characters. And while at no point did I personally find this “horror” novel scary or disturbing, Starling nevertheless did a fantastic job evoking an atmosphere of isolation and claustrophobia, especially in the sections with the sumps. At times, the hopelessness of Gyre’s situation really got to me, not to mention how all the uncertainties had a way of messing with your head. Scenes of breathless action were few and far between, but whenever they cropped up, they were also well written and suspenseful. Plus, the tunnelers were pretty cool, though we didn’t get to see nearly as much of them as I would have liked. It was very good, just the sort of read I wanted. Read it if you enjoy survival stories, or caving, or psychological mysteries where people are unreliable, conflicted, and determined. Sheehan, Jason (April 7, 2019). "Monsters Imaginary And Real Haunt The Caves Of 'The Luminous Dead' ". NPR.org . Retrieved 2020-12-24.

War of Images, Images of War: Technology and Labor in Caitlin

There is hope in the body. Even when its guts are twisted and full of toxins, even when it is broken irredeemably, even when it is maimed.Horror Writers Association - Past Bram Stoker Award Nominees & Winners". www.horror.org. Archived from the original on 2014-10-09. NASA may have marketed the film based on The Martian, but mining monopolies like Glencore or BHP are unlikely to ever sponsor Starling. Bourke, Liz (2019-04-03). "Rich and Complicated Survival Horror: The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling". Tor . Retrieved 2020-12-23. Gyre, the protagonist of TLD, lives on a planetary colony, Cassandra IV, which is ravaged and devastated by mining companies and technological tycoons. She has no illusions about the job she is offered by a shadowy company to conduct preliminary explorations into Lethe. Caving is one the most lucrative jobs on her planet. But Gyre knows that many other cavers are more skilled and experienced than her—she is replaceable, bought for a price that is paltry compared to the wealth of her employers, and has little other opportunities for employment. The Luminous Dead follows the underground cave mission of Gyre, the protagonist, as she works under contract for a company exploring one of the many caves on the planet. Gyre's suit comes with a 24/7 communication link to a handler above ground. Her handler, Em, appears to have hidden motivations regarding the mission and things don't always go as planned.