The Language of Liars
by S. L. Huang
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted May 6, 2026
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I have seen this described as space opera, and I suppose that might be the case if you squint just the right way. It does cover many cultures across vast spans of space, and there are ships, but I think most are mining ships, not the military juggernauts I think of when space operas are discussed. Those might have been used in the far reaches of the past, but not within the time this story takes place. The main character is Ro, a member of the Ponto, a hive species (not a hive-mind though) living within the Orro culture, which shares a moon with 37 other governments. Ro is a linguist accepted into the curriculum (for lack of a better term) of the Warren, which promotes study of words and their meaning, plus meditation on those words, the intent being to train linguists to be able to "jump" into the body of another being light years away. I suppose it could be any number of other species, but the one most desired is a species referred to as the Star Eaters, although their own name for themselves had never been learned, or perhaps forgotten.
As has happened with other books of late, since I am not as intelligent as I would like, I was confused about several things in the beginning. I wish information provided in Chapter 13 had come sooner, but I eventually deciphered everything, except for a particular element that seemed to be the most important thing. What is meridian? I assume it was a fuel source, but I'm still unclear about that. What was revealed in that later chapter were the various ages of galactic history, beginning with the Age of Expansion. The Star Eaters had control of the meridian element, but were later attacked by several others, which marked the end of Expansion. The Age of Dissolution saw the control of meridian switch to the Rakyir Polity and the States of Dossania, which resulted in the Star Eaters driven to near extinction. That led to the formation of the conglomerate (not capitalized for some reason), the first universal decision-making body. The Age of Foundation and the Age of Balance followed, and finally (?) the Age of Labor.
Ro had thought the point was to get inside the mind of the Star Eaters for better understanding, for cooperation between species. Sadly, that was not the case, and when he finally learned the truth it drove a wedge between him and those he had long respected. It had been generations since any Ponto had jumped, and most of his instructors felt Ro did not have what it would take to make a jump. He also doubted he ever would, and had almost decided to take the advice of his most respected Hive Mother, Hobi, who warned him of what he would lose if he did jump. Supposedly he would never be able to jump back, would have to live as a Star Eater until either his death, or the death of the body he was inhabiting. The former would come sooner, since Star Eaters were thought to be extremely long lived. He is not even sure how he managed it, but he did jump, and found himself inside a Star Eater on a mining ship, processing meridian ore. He was able to make connections with at least two others, but those relationships were threatened by the menacing Overseers. Ro was as confused as I was for a time, until he learned the truth of the operation, the reasons for jumps being so important.
Ro was well aware of the different nuances concerning lies. Some were forgivable; white lies to save face, for privacy of ones thoughts, or those close enough to truth to divert suspicion. There had been lies told throughout all of those ages, so many that "a lie enough repeated becomes true." Lies, and truth, are subjective, and I am sure some had told lies they thought were the truth. When Ro finally learned the truth, or at least as much of it as anyone was likely to understand, he was torn over what to do about it. He was as angry with other Ponto he had respected, along with others among Orro, that it made more sense to continue his existence as a Star Eater rather than attempt a return. What needed to happen most was revealing the truth concerning the history of the Star Eaters. The best way to discover the truth was at the source, to search the records of history, and when the records speak, one has to listen.
Different readers will interpret this in different ways, depending on their own life experience, how certain things apply to their own culture's history. It is as much about colonialism as any other science fiction I have read. It is important, and should be read that way. Highly recommended.
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