When months are slightly too-busy, I find I want to read something that is challenging, but not too stressful. Recently, I finished up Sirena, the second book in the Kitra series and wanted to review it today, but was surprised to find I had not reviewed the first book, so I’m rectifying that quickly. ^_^

When I was young,  I read quite a bit of hard science fiction tales for what we now think of as YA readers. I grew up on books like this and while fantasy and sf/fantasy have somewhat displaced them in the cultural domain, I have a fondness for the old-school science-y-ness of the genre. So today I am reaching back and forward at the same time to talk about Kitra, by Gideon Marcus.

Before we begin, I do need to disclaim here – Gideon is an old friend and the publisher of By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga. I assure you that this is not why I am reviewing this book. I read it because I know Gideon is an excellent writer and I am reviewing it here because it was an excellent read. If our relationship seems suspect to you, then feel no compulsion to read it. If you, like me, could really use a rollicking tale of space adventure and science-driven science fiction, read on. ^_^

Kitra is a young woman with a dream – she has spent her life training to travel the stars. Now that she has finally gained her inheritance, she buys herself a ship. With her dearest friends (among them, her ex-girlfriend) Kitra and her crew are going to leave the planet and discover… whatever is out there to be discovered. Of course, things do not go as planned.

Kitra is a mixed-race, bisexual lead, which suits the story beautifully. In the world they inhabit, ancient colonial powers and a distant Imperium mix with aliens and colony ship descendants to create a world just familiar enough to be comfortable, which makes leaving it that much more uncomfortable. 

The challenges Kitra and her crew face are hair-raising, but one is never disappointed by magical handwaves here – this book is rooted in solid science. “Could it work?” is always answered with a reasonable, “yes, and here is why.” It’s very freeing, too, to read a book not about a struggle with moral codes or societal pressure. These young people are who they are and that is perfectly acceptable. I am always looking to portrayals of a future where we see the possible, rather than still encountering the same traumas over and over. Instead, we are treated to a team well-suited to their work, with implicit trust in one another, able to exceed their own expectations.

Above all, even in the darkest moments, I was able to keep reading knowing that this was a story rooted in tales of team achievement. No one was going to be fridged just to motivate someone else to succeed. That made it a relaxing and fun ride.  The book includes illustrations by the youngest Hugo Finalist, for best fan artist, Lorelei Esther.  As the series continues, one can see her art develop as well.

Ratings:

Art – 6 Room to grow
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – Young people have libidos, but the story is not about that
LGBTQ  – 8

Overall – 8

For solid science fiction, appealing characters and the feeling of rising to the challenge, meeting it head on and finding a way through, I recommend Kitra. It was a great weekend read.

Imagine, if you will, a world in which you are familiar with all the people – except the ones with whom you aren’t, and new ones you haven’t met yet – and you have lost yourself and don’t know why these people or you are in this world, except that you are, and you like it, despite the complicating factors.

It is into this story that we are dropped at the beginning of Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir, the fourth book of a trilogy that began with Gideon the Ninth, and continued with Harrow the Ninth and will, (most probably) end with Alecto the Ninth next year.

Where Gideon put us in the middle of a fantasy/science-fiction action story and Harrow stuck us into the depths of a psychological horror tale, Nona feels very much like contemporary Urban Science Fiction, until the boots begin dropping.

The thing is, from the moment the book begins, you KNOW the boots are going to drop. You don’t know how many boots, how big they are or from how high they will drop, but they are hanging there in the sky as surely as Varun is. So when they begin to fall, it’s just a matter of waiting to see how many you anticipated correctly. ^_^ There’s a certain amount of purely fannish fun in trying to identify which boots – whose boots – you’re waiting for. When you get it right you feel VERY SMART. And then, sometimes, the story makes you feel not smart at all, so you sit there, waiting for the next boot.

Once again, Tamsyn Muir has populated a world with terrible people you really want to to hang out with. Really queer people who you just know would eat you for lunch and never notice, but you’d be so delighted to have had them be the ones to destroy you. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 10

The dog is fine. No need to worry about the dog. Everyone else, though…?

No review today, Nona the Ninth has arrived!

If you haven’t already read the previous Locked Tomb novels, I hope you will. They are very in the exact wheelhouse we care about here on Okazu. Here are links to my previous reviews:

Gideon the Ninth.  the first part of this, ギデオン　第九王家の騎士 上, is also available in Japanese, now. ^_^

Harrow the Ninth was astounding.

Now I’m off to read Nona. I’ll catch you later! ^_^