space opera | Book Girl & Little Bear

The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

If you enjoy the science fiction subgenre of space opera, I suggest reading Stardust Grail, the author’s second novel. A little like Becky Chambers’ work, but not as optimistic, along with some Indiana Jones; the characters are searching for a grail, after all.

Maya Hoshimoto is human, but was infected with the Frenro virus years ago. During migraines she has brief visions of the past or the future. Maya can hear Auncle’s voice in her head and respond telepathically. Auncle is very tall with tentacles. Xie is Frenro, an aquatic species. Wil, an armored human female and Medix, a robot, join them in their quest.

Maya, along with Auncle, found and returned stolen artifacts. Now she’s a grad student with writer’s block on Earth, at Princeton. Liam is a fellow graduate student. Then Auncle arrives, asking Maya to come along on one last adventure. They have the journals of Dr. Huang to guide them, one of the last to see the stardust grail, which is desired by multiple species.

The four of them, later joined by Liam, travel through many space nodes, get involved in a space battle, and visit settlements, a watery moon, and an underground museum with booby traps, with Maya wondering if anyone will survive to return home. And just where is home for her? An entertaining and thought-provoking read.

Brenda

Alliance Unbound: The Hinder Stars II

Published five years after Alliance Rising, science fiction novel Alliance Unbound is well worth the wait for Cherryh’s many fans. Increasingly hard to put down, this story about trade in interstellar space both delights and thrills. Three main characters narrate: Senior captain JR Neihart of the Large FTL family ship Finity’s End, young Jen Neihart, an up-and-coming member of Finity’s Security team, and her sweetheart, Navigator Ross Monahan of smaller family ship Galway. One of the real delights is an arboretum on the wealthy station Pell. Jen escorts the nine Monahans currently traveling on Finity’s End, and it’s great to see Pell and the arboretum through their eyes. Their visit to Pell also provides clues to a mystery, sending the ship to visit remote, closed-down space stations. Naturally, they find all the excitement a reader could want at one of the stations, with Ross and Jen having significant roles.

Ross can sense the binary stars at the stations they visit, as can Finity’s chief navigator. Alliances are forming among the merchanters and the space stations, but what Finity’s crew encounters could challenge the whole Alliance. A subplot is about waiting for news about Galway, testing out a possible FTL route to Sol, currently visited only by sublight cargo ships, while also dealing with armed intruders.

I love Cherryh’s Foreigner series, but this book is a close second. I will likely reread Alliance Rising while waiting for book 3. These books are an excellent entry point into the Hugo award-winning Alliance-Union universe.

Brenda