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Book: “The Blighted Stars” by Megan E. O’Keefe
Publishing Info: Orbit, May 2023
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org |Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: When a spy is stranded on a dead planet with her mortal enemy, she must first figure out how to survive before she can uncover the conspiracy that landed them both there in the first place.
She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.
He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.
Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.
Review: I’ve always loved Orbit’s covers for their books. I’m not sure who in charge of this over there, but whoever they are, they’ve been knocking it out of the park for years now. I always feel as if I can quickly glance at a cover of one of their books and already know exactly the sort of story I’m going to be getting. So, too, with this one. One glance…yep, gotta check that one out!
I read a lot more fantasy than I do science fiction, but there is one thing that both genres share that I think makes them unique to most other genres: that is the fact that you are often plopped down into worlds and environments that are completely unique, populated with new species, described with new language, embroiled in new conflicts. Often, the reader is left to accept a hefty dose of uncertainty early in the story with the promise that all will become clear with time. I think this willingness to simply not understand for a decent chunk of a story is a trait fairly unique to SFF readers. And it is a trait that will definitely be needed here! Right off the bat, O’Keefe begins throwing around terms and technologies that are completely unfamiliar to readers. It probably took a good 30 or so pages for me to even begin piecing together how some of these things worked.
But herein lies the other side of this particular coin: SFF readers know that if they wait it out, the end result will typically be a wildly creative and unique perspective on life and people. And so, too, do we see here. One of the main technologies explored in this book is the ability to “map” oneself into copies of the body. But this technology, that on its face seems like a massive win for society, also comes with complications and dangers. We see people mapped into the wrong bodies. We see these “maps” breaking when they are placed in a new body. We even see people’s “maps” split into several different bodies. There’s a lot of incredibly interesting applications of this technology, and I loved getting to explore and understand how it all worked.
The book also does a good job of using not only this technology but the state of the society in which it exists to explore a wide host of various themes, including environmental concerns as well as wealth and access to technology. I was pleased to see how organically these themes were woven throughout the story, with the author managing to avoid any large chunks of exposition or “preaching” styles of writing. Instead, these concerns played well within the larger plot of the story and alongside the various characters with whom we experience the book.
Speaking of characters, I really liked the ones we meet here. I was especially pleased to find that the banter and dialogue made for a very fun read. As I continued to read, these humorous aspects to the characters were incredibly necessary as a balance to some of the darker turns the story took. There was a particular event towards the end of the book that really surprised me, and I’m still not really sure how I feel about it. Which, all in all, is probably a good thing since, at the very least, I’ll be thinking about this one for a while as I wait for the sequel.
I haven’t read any other books by this author, but this was definitely an excellent introduction. I would recommend this to all space opera fans, especially those who enjoy a nice balance of humor and depth.
Rating 8: Exploring themes of environmentalism and societal privilege, this book manages to be both laugh-out-loud funny at times and heart-breaking at others. A roller-coater of emotions!
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Blighted Stars” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Excellent Space Opera.
The Library Ladies 