This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Psychopomp was released on March 25, 2025.

Maria Dong’s “Braid Me a Howling Tongue” was one of my favorite stories of 2023, so when I saw she had a new novel coming out, I jumped at the chance to give Psychopomp a try. 

Psychopomp takes place in a prison labor camp on a moon that’s tidally locked to a planet that is itself tidally locked to the local star. The lead has been abandoned by her parents, has failed out of training to be one of the Pomps that help map out valuable ore deposits, and has failed in a suicide attempt. Now she’s assigned to work underground with a group of unfamiliar miners, but their efforts are undone by dangers seemingly only she can see. There’s a piece that will make the puzzle make sense, but with no idea who to trust, the question is whether she’ll be able to find it while there’s still something to be done. 

If that sounds like a lot stuffed into one medium-length sci-fi novel, it is. In fact, I’d go as far to say it’s too much on at least two axes. First, the lead’s life is horrible almost to the point of parody. A few of the bigger pieces—like the abandonment by her parents—offer hints at future explanation, but a significant chunk feels like an endless succession of casual cruelty. There’s a scene early in the book, in which a teammate badgers her for details about her suicide attempt and acts surprised when greeted with an emotional outburst, that had me wondering whether the secondary characters had ever met other human beings. Losing one’s parents, being imprisoned, failing the test for a key position, and being thrust into a new work role with no support network is plenty of cause for emotional distress. The rest feels like an unnecessary play for pathos that’s so over-the-top that it backfires, pulling me out of the story. 

In addition to the tragic backstory, there’s also a lot going on from a plot perspective. Seemingly every major character has hidden motivations, and coupled with the obvious fact that the lead has some sort of special trait that no one has told her about, it gives the novel the feeling of a secret around every corner. Which can certainly work, but Psychopomp doesn’t give these elements enough room to breathe, instead delivering cascading revelations with little time for the characters or readers to sort through the implications. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for every character to have secrets, it just develops too quickly for each one to generate full emotional impact. That does help the reader get into the mindset of a lead who is overwhelmed and struggles to tell what’s true and what’s not, and the lingering chaos at the end feels true to the major climactic actions. But at the same time, it doesn’t do enough to pull things together into a satisfying resolution. Some uncertainty at the end can be well and good, but the ending comes too suddenly for my tastes, with a flurry of changes and revelations that don’t have time to settle before it’s all over. 

But for all that the story feels overstuffed, there are still plenty of ways in which Dong’s writing chops are on full display. She builds the tension from the first chapter and keeps it high throughout, peppering small revelations into increasing layers of uncertainty, so that there’s always a big danger or a big question driving the reader to keep turning the pages. And just as much as it’s a page-turner, Psychopomp is an exploration of a traumatized main character, desperately searching for ways to cope with a life she’s not even sure she wants to live, yet struggling to find any with even a glimmer of hope. There are times that watching her can be maddening, but it’s hard to say it’s not realistic for someone so deep in a psychological hole. 

Overall, Psychopomp is a novel that tries to do a bit too much, with a proliferation of subplots and intrigues that don’t have enough time to breathe and a lead with enemies behind every corner. But it’s also a compelling dive into the world of a traumatized lead, a sci-fi thriller that’s gripping even in the midst of the chaos. It would benefit from a bit more subtlety and a steadier finish, but it’s a book that will keep the reader engaged through its many twists and turns. 

Can I use it for Bingo? It’s hard mode for Author of Color, Small Press, and Down with the System, and it’s also Published in 2025.

Overall rating: 12 of Tar Vol’s 20. Three stars on Goodreads.