Your rating:
Save one world. Doom her own. From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization. Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future. Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it. Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself. -- CW: violence and gore, xenophobia, xenocide, colonization, vomit, torture, war, infertility, chronic illness, confinement, suicidal thoughts (minor), pandemic, migraines
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
dnf: 40% | 2.7 ⭐
if you're looking for an action-packed space heist, the stardust grail is not for you. this book falls victim to improper advertising, which is not the fault of the author, this story, or you as a reader.
coming into this i was promised a mass effect inspired space quest with a focus on character, quick pacing, and beautiful prose that transports me to the stars...
i got 1 out of 3. the writing is some of the best this genre has to offer. i felt like a smarter, hotter, better person reading this book. (the cashier i spoke to called it very 'thinky' which is the perfect description. though some how never pretentious. a balance i could only dream of striking)
but the slow pace and lacklustre cast of characters dull any points won by the alluring feeling of bookish elitism. i couldn't get myself to care about any of the characters almost halfway through. the 'found family' aspect Kitasei attempts to inject into a quaint starship seems forced and unearned.
this book was not for me BUT if you love sprawling space operas in the vein of Firefly or Star Trek (not the sexy Chris Pine ones), you with have a lot of fun with the stardust grail