This was really good! So much better—and different—than the author’s first book. If you want a fun space opera with some adventure packed in, I have a book for you.
Maya Hashimoto used to be the Robin Hood of art thieves–stealing from the rich and their museums, and giving back to the alien civilizations where they were stolen from. Maya lives in a world where First Contact happened ages ago, humans still kind of ruined the planet, but also moved out to colonize the stars. Only, the colonies wanted independence, as colonies do. They even fought a war about it. Maya was born on another settlement but is now on Earth, having forgone her life of crime, in order to get a PhD. But when the chance to find the mysterious Grail (an object lost by a race of aliens long ago that is said to have mystical properties by those who are ignorant, and by the aliens who lost it, to have the knowledge of how to create offspring, which was lost in a genocide thousands of years before (look, it’s a long story, just believe me that’s how it works).
What follows is Maya and a ragtag crew, of course, adventuring across the galaxy, trying to heist and find the Grail faster than the evil corporate colonizers, who are also on its trail. To make matters worse, the system used to traverse the stars seems to be failing. Network points are just disappearing, and people on the other side are now cut off from the rest of the galaxy. No one knows why these network points are disappearing, making the Grail even more urgent to find (it’s also said to help with this problem? omg I’m so bad at explaining today).
My favorite part of this book was how imaginative the world is that the author created here. I’ve read a lot of sci-fi, and read and watched a lot of space opera, and this one felt unique. I didn’t want the book to be over, just so I could spend more time in the world. I hope she writes more books set in this world.
For those who also read Kitasei’s debut, I liked this one a lot better. That book was more depressing and claustrophobic, and the many flashback scenes to the MC’s life were irritating rather than informative. Here, she got it exactly right, at least for me.
Will definitely read all this author’s future books!
CBR BINGO: Celestial (‘star’ is in the title, but they are also traveling among the stars as part of the plot)
