Book Review | Historical Horror / Cosmic Horror | 4 / 5
Spoilers Ahead
A Song for the Void (2020) by Andrew C. Piazza is a combination of two genres that I deeply enjoy, Historical Fiction, and Horror. I also love the setting, the backdrop for the majority of the story is life onboard a nineteenth-century British warship, during the Opium Wars in the South China Sea.
After having read and adored The Terror, Dan Simmons, and The North Water, Ian McGuire, I went into this novel with high expectations, and, long story short, A Song for the Void delivered.
Piazza achieved the complicated balance required for this setting of life on board ship with ease. As seen through the eyes of protagonist Edward Pierce, the ship's surgeon on board The Charger, a state-of-the-art Military vessel. Through Edward, we gain an appreciation for not only life on board the ship, but also military life.
Edward is an interesting and complicated character with vices, flaws, and history. We understand from an early point that Dr Pierce is a character with opinions, and personality, and, I think that importantly, as a reader we quickly trust him as well.
Now, the story of A Song for the Void is one of Cosmic Horror, so the nature of the threat that, quite literally, hangs over the characters is as central to the tone as our protagonist.
That threat is characterised as ‘The Dark Star’ and appears in the form of a star or comet very early in the story, first observed by Edward, and then by Jack. Which brings us on to Jack Pearham. A young officer in training who Edward is seen to be close to and invested in, we as readers are given the impression that Edward sees Jack as a surrogate brother, nephew or son. This is later further pushed by a chinese character referring to Jack as ‘little brother’ and Edward as ‘uncle’.
After the point at which the Dark Star is observed by Jack, its influence seems to be felt amongst the crew. From the Captain of The Charger to pirates of the Chinese junk ships, all are wracked with body aches and head pain. This drives all to narcotics in search of relief, from opium, to laudanum, or alcohol. Those that medicate then receive visions, dreams, or hallucinations that push them to a mysterious island that the Dark Star seems to hang above.
Now, I’ll get into what pulled this from a 5 / 5 to a 4 / 5.
Edward is just a little… Slow. There were several points in the narrative where, as a reader, I could already see where the events were leading, but I was waiting for Edward to catch up!
The first time I noticed this was early, Jack is given command of a boarding cutter to take routed pirate junks as prizes. The marines round up the pirates who appear to be under the influence of opium, on deck of a junk Edward observes a brief fight that results in a pirate dashing below deck.
Edward knows the pirates aren’t very disciplined about powder storage, he knows the pirates think they’re going to be hung or tortured, he knows they’re talking about ‘a candle below deck’, and he knows that a pirate decided to dash below rather than to try and swim for shore. He goes over these facts and more for a long while before someone else works it out for him.
Two plus two equals four, Edward. They’re going to blow up the ship.
And honestly, this is my only real criticism. The narrative requires Edward to be a little slow on the uptake so that another character can save him. This is important because later, that character’s actions on board the junk are pivotal to how they are perceived by the crew. Unfortunately, it requires sacrificing Edwards quick thinking, which up until this point has been very reliable.
It was in sections like this that I could feel the hand of the author.
Overall, A Song for the Void is an excellent story that has made it near the top of my list for 2026. I’ll definitely be looking into Piazza’s other work with One Last Gasp looking like my next read.
