Aerovoyant Book Review

Aerovoyant is a complicated review for me: it is well written, the characters are complex (Alphonse in particular) and the pacing is strong, making for an entertaining read from start to finish; but it is also driven by a message (the author expresses as much in the foreword) and there were many times during the course of reading that I would be reminded of that. This resulted in the message being sometimes distracting or disruptive to my immersion in the story.
There are many scenes where science or historical information is provided (relevant information to the narrative) but these are elegantly folded into the narrative itself, simply elements of larger scenes or over-arching plot lines, and often imbued with their own conflicts.
Our main characters are well developed and complex, but Myrta suffers slightly from a lack of individual agency through most of the book, and a tendency to bemoan her situation somewhat, but does remain likeable. Alphonse is immensely likable in contrast, with significantly more agency (almost every advance in his narrative is a result of a decision he made) and a wonderfully complex interpersonal relationship, goal, and story.
This is an action light story (only three real scenes of ‘action’ with a few more of peril sprinkled in) and is much more revolving around its characters, their journey, situations, and the plot of the world. I am a very character motivated reader, so this format works for me, but more action driven readers may find it boring.