This wasn’t a perfect book, but I enjoyed it a lot despite some flaws.

The flaws would be some unanswered questions and coincidences along the way (such as convenient password guessing). This is definitely soft SF because I found myself regularly thinking, this doesn’t make sense, or this is impractical. I want to call it something like steampunk in space, but it’s not in your face about it. I started thinking about it that way halfway through.

I also had some questions, like why does the Lieutenant obsess over Aster so much? What was the instigation? Otherwise it feels sort of random.

Despite all that, I enjoyed this. It reminded me of Le Guin! There’s a lot of quieter action and progress. Intense moments still feel quiet. The author focuses mainly on Aster, who is no one in particular. She plays a role in the climax at the end, but it never feels like it’s her revolution or something.

I also appreciated the neurodivergence in the story and how that was woven into the characters and their lives. Their conflicting personalities brought challenges, but they do love each other. It felt more realistic than the crew of Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but not erring too far the other way with excessive drama.

So, I think the characters and the tone won me over on this one!

Favorite quotes:

She was standing on the edge of a new world and so ready to jump. How Lucifer felt upon leaving the Heavens. He didn’t fall. He dove.

People were so often mean that when they weren’t, there was a tendency to bestow sainthood upon them. Aster did not reward common decency with her affection.

Memories could not be unmemoried, only shuffled so as not to be in the forefront of things. Surrounded by men, they all resurfaced at once.