Reviewed by Robert Runté
Lost Lives is the third book in the Get Lost Saga, currently a trilogy. Chinn has hinted he might write more books in the Get Lost universe, albeit with different characters and a completely new mystery/storyline. I, for one, would love that. My job, then, is to convince you to read the current Get Lost books to ensure Chinn keeps at it.
I love these books. I previously reviewed Lost Souls (Feb 2023) and Lost Cargo (Dec, 2023). (In the latter, I also mention And Then Things Got Worse by Maurice Foot —the free Get Lost novelette, apparently written by the main character of the Get Lost Saga.) As with almost any trilogy, you have to start with the first book, rather than starting here with Lost Lives. Unlike many trilogies, the third book is not a let-down.
In Book 1, Lost Souls, Moss is a down-on-his-luck adventurer; Hel is a stowaway on his spaceship; and Violet is Moss’ deceased partner, now installed on the ship’s computer. The initial challenge is to trace Hel’s origins, but the deeper they delve, the more confusing and dangerous the situation becomes. The first book sets up the large cast of characters (even minor characters have their own arcs in this series) and the initial layers of the mystery. The second book complicates the mystery and accelerates the action to the point where I actually fist-pumped at the ending of Book 2; and Lost Lives winds up the mystery, the derring-do adventure, and the myriad character arcs.
Lost Lives is the most ‘serious’ of the books, posing moral issues pertinent to any dystopian hellscape. There is still plenty of humour and fast action to keep one turning pages, but underneath it all is a story about humanity’s fundamental tendency to divide people into groups, and then get genocidal on each other. It is a story about choosing to remain hopeful in the face of a seemingly impossible situation and choosing to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. It is about the universal need for transparency, for the rule of law, and for heroes.
The setting is a multispecies civilization in the best tradition of Star Trek or Star Wars, with pirates, space rangers, cyborgs, clones, a secret society of scientists, and adorable droids. The Get Lost Saga is everything space opera is supposed to be: optimistic, positive role models for dark times, and ultimately, immense fun.
The Get Lost Saga is the far-future hopepunk series for our times.
Lost Lives is published by Noah Chinn Books.