Blog Archives
Redemption
Heavy Weight of Darkness follows a disgraced former officer given one last chance to redeem himself by hunting down a once-privileged woman turned revolutionary who has become a symbol of the uprising across colonies.What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The story continues the story of the Endless Fall of Night from the perspective of Captain Willard Bennett, former captain of the Jefferson Davis where our heroin, Cassandra Kurtz, escaped and started of movement on Mars to rid the fledging colony of imperialism, racist patriarch. In a desperate act to curb insurrection on Earth, space command’s admiralty and tribunal branch offers him redemption in the form of a new mission: track, find and kill Cassandra Kurtz. In return, he will receive his freedom, commission, life extending health care and a return to his former glory. He does find redemption but not in the way he expects.
I find the world you created in this novel gripping and immersive. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
Drawing inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the Heavy Weight of Darkness is the sequel to the Endless Fall of Night where questions are answered, lives are altered, and truths come out in the final confrontation between Acting Captain Willard Bennett and the infamous disrupter, Cassandra Kurtz.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Heavy Weight of Darkness takes a look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s work that found stupidity to be the driving force of heinous crimes against humanity. It was not mere evil or malice that convinced an educated population in an industrialized, cultured society in the 21st century in the middle of a “civilized” Europe to embrace genocide, accept racism and to practice wholesale fascism, but rather it was good people who suspended critical thinking, believed one small lie after another until the “truth,” irrefutable facts became inconsequential, irrelevant and incidental. Bonhoeffer’s work is cautionary postscript of one of the darkest periods of human history while Heavy Weight of Darkness is a tale of how history can rhyme when it doesn’t repeat.
Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
There is another chapter in the works that will return to Casandra’s world as a new instrument of destruction, XO Robert Lee VI of the Robert E Lee, picks up her trail and is tasked with completing the mission that Captain Bennett abandoned.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Website | Blog | Second Website
In a desperate act to curb insurrection on Earth, space command’s admiralty and tribunal branch offers him redemption in the form of a new mission: track, find and kill Cassandra Kurtz. In return, he will receive his freedom, commission, life extending health care and a return to his former glory.
Originally enthused, he researches Cassandra’s origins, the once first class, full citizen from the oldest family of the Third Republic turned insurrectionist on Earth and a full-blown terrorist on Mars. But it’s after his investigation of the Delta Quarter, where it all started for Cassandra, that Bennett’s resolve diminishes.
Drawing inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the Heavy Weight of Darkness is the sequel to the Endless Fall of Night where questions are answered, lives are altered, and truths come out in the final confrontation between Acting Captain Willard Bennett and the infamous disrupter, Cassandra Kurtz.
Heavy Weight of Darkness
Heavy Weight of Darkness is a dystopian science fiction novel set in a future where slavery is institutionalized, patricians rule with unchecked privilege, and rebellion brews in the shadows of Mars. The story follows Captain Willard Bennett, a disgraced former officer given one last chance to redeem himself by hunting down Cassandra Kurtz, a once-privileged woman turned revolutionary who has become a symbol of uprising across colonies. Told through sharp scenes and immersive internal monologue, the book is a gritty, fast-paced exploration of power, corruption, and conscience.
This book doesn’t pull punches. Erickson’s writing is blunt, sometimes brutally so, and there’s an edge to the prose that kept me a little on edge in a good way. One of the most powerful moments for me was when Bennett visits the Delta Exchange. It’s grotesque, honestly. The smells, the heat, the masked patricians casually buying children like products. It’s a gut punch. And that’s the turning point, not just for him, but for the reader. Bennett, once a man who benefited from the system, is forced to see it for what it is, and the way Erickson layers his disgust, confusion, and growing empathy, it feels real. The writing is raw and broken, like Bennett himself. And that makes it work.
But here’s the part that surprised me: I liked Bennett. I didn’t expect to. He starts out as a selfish, complicit jerk. But his transformation is subtle and kind of tragic. He’s not some hero on a redemption arc. He’s a man caught in a machine that’s already chewed him up. And Cassandra is barely even on the page directly, but her voice haunts everything. Those intercepted transmissions, where she calls out the hypocrisy and brutality of the patrician class, gave me chills. She isn’t just a character; she’s an idea, and you can feel it spreading like wildfire.
If you’re into sci-fi with a heavy dose of political commentary and psychological grit, this book will be your jam. It drags you into the mud and makes you look around. That said, it’s also not for the faint of heart. There’s graphic content and brutal realities, and Erickson doesn’t shy away from any of it. But if you can handle the darkness, Heavy Weight of Darkness is one heck of a ride. I’d recommend it for fans of The Expanse series, or anyone who likes their dystopias unapologetically grim and their characters complicated.
Pages: 210 | ISBN : 1942708556
LITERARY TITAN 