I’m still Marie Howalt’s personal shill reviewer! Her fourth book is checkable at Spaceboy Books! While I don’t blog or review stuff much anymore due to my focus on other project, I think a once a year check-in with my current top-ranked author is good to keep those meandering writing skills alive.

Background and Lore

The third book in Marie Howalt’s Colibri Investigation series. If you’re not familiar with this series from them, you really should by now. Following the crew of the Colibri on yet another interstellar adventure should be a household name.

For the first time in the series, we’re entirely focused on a single planet’s setting, with minimum space jumping. Personally, I find this refreshing, because one of my personal complain for the previous two books was how little we got to experience a location. Now, we get to truly explore a part of a planet’s culture to its fullness.

Without spoiling too much, I like how the aliens, both smelling and smelly, are explored and dripped into the normalcy of the background. The exploration of our human protagonists and the planet’s native species was also unique in a way that satisfied that “new world” itch.

(18/20)

Plot

A mysterious invitation from an old friend brings private investigator Richard, spaceship pilot Eddie, and travel guide writer Alannah to a gorgeous, bustling metropolis on a planet where the dominant species can literally smell fear and lies. 

Wenamak appears to be the picture perfect place, down to the finest detail, but dangers lurk beneath its pristine surface.

When a flippant wendek undercover agent seeks assistance on a delicate job, the Colibri Investigations crew soon find themselves tangled up in a shady game involving a web of illegal trade and exploitation. Luckily, Richard’s military training, Alannah’s intimate knowledge of the local culture, and Eddie’s tough attitude give the team the perfect edge to meet their client’s needs… at least until they run into someone familiar whom none of them expected to see again.

There’s no planet too distant, no job too strange, for Colibri Investigations!

Again, as with the previous two books, the main plot of investigating an illegal underground fighting arena isn’t a grand adventure. However, with more spice this time, I can definitively say the investigation this time has a far more reaching consequence to the world than the previous. I’d be hopeful that future books in the series might even mention it in the hard lore of the universe to some extent.

What’s far more important for us as readers is that this time we got to see the return of a beloved character of mine as a main character, something that I was not expecting. I had thought, given how Howalt writes, they would not bring any other character back in such a scale, especially one wit such a strong impact on the dynamic of our main cast.

(17/20)

Characters

I still think Howalt is one of the best writers of character interactions I’ve ever read. Across all mediums of media, from video to games, books to theatre, I’ve really not found any other creators that managed to bring inter-character conversations to such life.

The relationships between the main characters of the Colibri definitely carried over from the previous books. You’ll probably not be thrown off kilter by reading the books out of order, but one might miss out on a few subtle hints of emotions between them in the in-between scenes.

Additionally, the new secondary characters are definitely overshadowed by the returnee character mentioned earlier in terms of exploration of personalities and page time. There are some interesting drip feed of a fascinating backstory between the undercover agent and doctor, but there was just not enough time or opportunity to explore them. It’s kind of a shame, but their little interactions are well written enough to sow the seeds for a future look.

(18/20)

Flow and Pacing

Originally, I was going to read the book in 3 separate sittings, because I needed sleep and had a long week. But if you’ve read my previous reviews on Howalt’s stories, you won’t be surprised I did it all in one night again. It’s just that good. I did not sleep enough that day.

There were half a dozen spelling or grammatical errors, but nothing flow breaking. I’m pretty sure they were stomped out during the further editing process since the review copy I’ve received, but I still gotta review based on what I got.

(18/20)

Themes

Vices and past mistakes. I think that’s the best way to describe the overarching thematic plot of this story. I can’t say much without massive spoilers. While the previous books’ plots aren’t that grand that spoilers will… well… spoil them, this third one does, so I’ll be a little more careful.

All 3 of the 4 main characters of the books ties in together with these themes perfectly, and you see them – not deal with the consequences per se but – live with the fallout of their vices and errs. There are times, especially near the climax, where their psyche seems to be held without with paperclips and prayers, patchworked by just their love and compassion for each other. In my opinion, those are the moments where the book really shines.

(19/20)

Conlusion

Marie Howalt definitely outdid her first two books here. The Wenamak Web is definitely the strongest of the series not just by the definition of my arbitrary scoring system, but also the strength of the character work. You can really see Howalt’s improvement in the craft over the years.

If you’re looking for a fun, character centric sci-fi adventure that’s inclusive and none-binary from the more common sci-fi far of trope protagonists, the Colibri Investigation series is definitely proving to stand on its own mark, climbing higher. And The Wenamak Web is a beautiful dance of characters with slices of life in space that keeps the pages turning and the universe feeling alive.

Marie Howalt’s The Wenamak Web scores a 90% fresh on the smell test.