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Persephone Station
Persephone Station
Hugo award-nominated author Stina Leicht has created a take on space opera for fans of The Mandalorian and Cowboy Bebop in this high-stakes adventure.
Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.
Rosie - owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner - caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.
Angel - ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing- is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will affect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.
Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.
Rosie - owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner - caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.
Angel - ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing- is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will affect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.
12 pages, Audiobook
First published January 5, 2021
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October 5, 2020July 14, 2020: *gets down on one knee, wipes big-girl-tears away, holds up a ring* I am a lesbian
January 9, 2021
3.75 Stars. This was a pretty exciting space opera. When I heard about a sci-fi book that was filled with lesbian, bisexual, and non-binary characters, my interest was immediately piqued. And of course when I saw the cover I knew I had to read this. The cover art is just so good. I do want to apologize to Gallery/Saga for being a little late with this review. Between watching the Senate returns, then an actual insurrection, and dealing with a migraine on and off for 3 days, I could not get into the flow of the book. I’m so glad I finally got this read and while it wasn’t everything I was hoping for, I did enjoy it.
While the book had a large cast of characters, there were three main characters that most of the POV times was spent in, Angel, Kennedy, and Rosie. Angle is ex-military and current mercenary, Rosie is a crime boss, and Kennedy who is hiding the biggest secret of all. This brings me to my main issue with this book in that I wanted more character development. There was some really good character potential here, between main and secondary characters, but I think some characters were harder to connect with then they should have been. Kennedy, was my favorite but I think it was because she had the biggest and most important backstory. The times that I liked all three main characters the best was when we were getting important details of their past and how it shaped who they were today. Rosie past, Angel’s family, and Kennedy’s sisters and her fight for humanity were all parts when I really cared about the mains. I wish there was more of those really affective and well written character parts throughout the book.
I know a lot of people that read my reviewers always want to know if a book has a romance. This does not have any. There are some characters with girlfriends or boyfriends, but they are mainly secondary characters and the relationships are more just mentioned in passing. I had this weird hope that Angel and Kennedy might end up at least in the same place together. Trust me I get how weird that is, and you will too when you read this book, but I could not help thinking they might make an interesting pair.
This book had a good mix of excitement. With everything going on this past week, I was struggling to get into the book. The beginning felt like a bit of a slog and I just could not get comfortable reading. Luckily, once the book found its groove, the story flow was so much better. Just about the last two thirds were exciting, action-packed, and more fun to read. So if you find the beginning a little bumpy, don’t worry because the action eventually heats up.
This book is not supposed to be a series but I could see a spin-off as a possibility. There is an alien race that is really interesting and I think Leicht has only just scratched the surface on what this race could become. A race of people that can shapeshift and speak to animals, were just really well done and interesting and I would love to see them star in their own book.
I would recommend this to space opera fans, especially if you are looking for book casts that are mostly women and non-binary characters. I was happy about the diversity and queerness of so many characters. Again, I did want more of a connection to many of the characters then I had. Lives were on the line in this book I wanted to feel that worry, but this didn’t quite grab me enough. The action and excitement where good and Kennedy is character that will stick with me. If Leicht ever writes a spin-off I would read it.
A copy was given to me for a honest review.
While the book had a large cast of characters, there were three main characters that most of the POV times was spent in, Angel, Kennedy, and Rosie. Angle is ex-military and current mercenary, Rosie is a crime boss, and Kennedy who is hiding the biggest secret of all. This brings me to my main issue with this book in that I wanted more character development. There was some really good character potential here, between main and secondary characters, but I think some characters were harder to connect with then they should have been. Kennedy, was my favorite but I think it was because she had the biggest and most important backstory. The times that I liked all three main characters the best was when we were getting important details of their past and how it shaped who they were today. Rosie past, Angel’s family, and Kennedy’s sisters and her fight for humanity were all parts when I really cared about the mains. I wish there was more of those really affective and well written character parts throughout the book.
I know a lot of people that read my reviewers always want to know if a book has a romance. This does not have any. There are some characters with girlfriends or boyfriends, but they are mainly secondary characters and the relationships are more just mentioned in passing. I had this weird hope that Angel and Kennedy might end up at least in the same place together. Trust me I get how weird that is, and you will too when you read this book, but I could not help thinking they might make an interesting pair.
This book had a good mix of excitement. With everything going on this past week, I was struggling to get into the book. The beginning felt like a bit of a slog and I just could not get comfortable reading. Luckily, once the book found its groove, the story flow was so much better. Just about the last two thirds were exciting, action-packed, and more fun to read. So if you find the beginning a little bumpy, don’t worry because the action eventually heats up.
This book is not supposed to be a series but I could see a spin-off as a possibility. There is an alien race that is really interesting and I think Leicht has only just scratched the surface on what this race could become. A race of people that can shapeshift and speak to animals, were just really well done and interesting and I would love to see them star in their own book.
I would recommend this to space opera fans, especially if you are looking for book casts that are mostly women and non-binary characters. I was happy about the diversity and queerness of so many characters. Again, I did want more of a connection to many of the characters then I had. Lives were on the line in this book I wanted to feel that worry, but this didn’t quite grab me enough. The action and excitement where good and Kennedy is character that will stick with me. If Leicht ever writes a spin-off I would read it.
A copy was given to me for a honest review.
July 14, 2021
Rosie's quite the irritating person. Aren't they? Much too clever for most people's good.
Love all the strong women and nonbinaries set they treated us with. Looks really cool.
Q:
Thunderstorms on Persephone often bordered on cyclones. Storm shields protected exterior-facing windows from damage during the worst conditions. However, sometimes she risked the alarms and left the shudders up. The storms were as mesmerizing as they were fierce. At its current rate, she estimated that today’s cloud cover would unload at least nine inches of rainfall within the span of thirty minutes. There’d be more after that. Floodwaters would fill the ground-level streets. She spied several lift-cars rushing to their respective garages. As the storm progressed, the upper-level streets would become too dangerous due to gusts of thirty-five to sixty-four knots.
As inhospitable as Brynner was, the rest of the planet was far worse, with storms ranging across thousands of miles of landmass and winds of 135 knots or more. The areas not regularly engulfed in severe weather were plagued with hostile life-forms. (c)
Q:
There were moments when she regretted her ability to read patterns in chaos. But to deny that would be to deny herself. Such things had been her reason for being. Her design. (c)
Q:
There were signature aspects in the mathematics of the hidden communications. It was also clear that the signal was intended for another sentient AGI. The messages had been fragmented and scattered among billions of images, texts, signals, and pieces of code across the Allnet. Certainly no AGI would expect a human to detect and decode a pattern as complex as that. At the same time, AGIs were limited to narrow goals. They existed independently—in that they weren’t closely managed yet operated in partnership with humans for the well-being of both. AGIs managed projects where long-term strategies were beneficial, particularly for corporations and financial markets. They explored space and acted as a data resource for the judicial system and government. AGIs had been granted limited rights as entities, but they were not considered sentient because their emotional responses were strictly curtailed.
If the message was intended for a sentient AGI from a sentient AGI, there was one large problem: sentient AGIs weren’t supposed to exist. (c)
Q:
In short, it is easier and requires far less energy and time expenditure to manage humanity than it does to replace them. (с)
Q:
Love all the strong women and nonbinaries set they treated us with. Looks really cool.
Q:
Thunderstorms on Persephone often bordered on cyclones. Storm shields protected exterior-facing windows from damage during the worst conditions. However, sometimes she risked the alarms and left the shudders up. The storms were as mesmerizing as they were fierce. At its current rate, she estimated that today’s cloud cover would unload at least nine inches of rainfall within the span of thirty minutes. There’d be more after that. Floodwaters would fill the ground-level streets. She spied several lift-cars rushing to their respective garages. As the storm progressed, the upper-level streets would become too dangerous due to gusts of thirty-five to sixty-four knots.
As inhospitable as Brynner was, the rest of the planet was far worse, with storms ranging across thousands of miles of landmass and winds of 135 knots or more. The areas not regularly engulfed in severe weather were plagued with hostile life-forms. (c)
Q:
There were moments when she regretted her ability to read patterns in chaos. But to deny that would be to deny herself. Such things had been her reason for being. Her design. (c)
Q:
There were signature aspects in the mathematics of the hidden communications. It was also clear that the signal was intended for another sentient AGI. The messages had been fragmented and scattered among billions of images, texts, signals, and pieces of code across the Allnet. Certainly no AGI would expect a human to detect and decode a pattern as complex as that. At the same time, AGIs were limited to narrow goals. They existed independently—in that they weren’t closely managed yet operated in partnership with humans for the well-being of both. AGIs managed projects where long-term strategies were beneficial, particularly for corporations and financial markets. They explored space and acted as a data resource for the judicial system and government. AGIs had been granted limited rights as entities, but they were not considered sentient because their emotional responses were strictly curtailed.
If the message was intended for a sentient AGI from a sentient AGI, there was one large problem: sentient AGIs weren’t supposed to exist. (c)
Q:
In short, it is easier and requires far less energy and time expenditure to manage humanity than it does to replace them. (с)
Q:
January 7, 2021
DNFing this very early, even before the halfway point. I don't know if it's because I listened to the audiobook but this is super hard to get into. So far it's nonstop action without emotional stakes, it's all cliches, and I don't care about any of the characters. It's cool to find a space opera with an all-women and queer cast, but you know, it's 2021, and I'd like more than the bare minimum. Maybe this book just wasn't for me.
Heard it picks up in the second half though I don't really care to see it.
Also tangential, but given the sheer amount of SFF writers who so blatantly take inspiration from anime and Asian media... I wish the publishing industry would actually publish more... you know... Asian SF writers.
Heard it picks up in the second half though I don't really care to see it.
Also tangential, but given the sheer amount of SFF writers who so blatantly take inspiration from anime and Asian media... I wish the publishing industry would actually publish more... you know... Asian SF writers.
November 22, 2025
so much pointless waffling and i am begging you to find a synonym for "said"
CWs: torture, violence
CWs: torture, violence
August 17, 2022
Real Rating: 4.75* of five, rounded up because I will read as many more as the author writes in this world
My review of PERSEPHONE STATION's up at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud: https://tinyurl.com/26h2f5s2
It's too long to get read here, so there it stays. I recommend it, if the rating doesn't say it all.
My review of PERSEPHONE STATION's up at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud: https://tinyurl.com/26h2f5s2
It's too long to get read here, so there it stays. I recommend it, if the rating doesn't say it all.
January 2, 2021
3 stars
You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.
For me, this science fiction book is a miss. I just couldn't get into it. It is well-written and packed with action, but it just didn't interest me.
Persephone Station is backwater planet that the Serrao-Orlov Corporation has taken an intense interest in. The people that run the corporation know the planet's secrets, and want to exploit them. Rosie owns a bar that criminals, and those that want to hire them, come to do business. Rosie hires a group of mercenaries led by Angel to do a job for her that pits them against Serrao-Orlov Corporation. The odds are not in Angel's favor, but she will do everything she can to win.
There is very little world building or character development, which is a shame because most of the characters are female (Girl Power, yay!), and there is gay, lesbian, bisexual and non-binary characters in the book. It would have been nice to delve more into these characters before all of the fighting started. Most of the focus is on describing the surroundings and the enormous amount of fighting that goes on in the book. There is nothing wrong with a lot of action, and I like reading it. But, without fleshing out more about why the conflict is happening, and making the characters more accessible so that I want to invest in them, I had a hard time wanting to finish the book. I may be in the minority. There may be a lot of people that will like this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.
For me, this science fiction book is a miss. I just couldn't get into it. It is well-written and packed with action, but it just didn't interest me.
Persephone Station is backwater planet that the Serrao-Orlov Corporation has taken an intense interest in. The people that run the corporation know the planet's secrets, and want to exploit them. Rosie owns a bar that criminals, and those that want to hire them, come to do business. Rosie hires a group of mercenaries led by Angel to do a job for her that pits them against Serrao-Orlov Corporation. The odds are not in Angel's favor, but she will do everything she can to win.
There is very little world building or character development, which is a shame because most of the characters are female (Girl Power, yay!), and there is gay, lesbian, bisexual and non-binary characters in the book. It would have been nice to delve more into these characters before all of the fighting started. Most of the focus is on describing the surroundings and the enormous amount of fighting that goes on in the book. There is nothing wrong with a lot of action, and I like reading it. But, without fleshing out more about why the conflict is happening, and making the characters more accessible so that I want to invest in them, I had a hard time wanting to finish the book. I may be in the minority. There may be a lot of people that will like this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 12, 2022
“Persephone Station” ended up being exactly what I expected it to be, which is both good and a tad disappointing. It’s an action-packed space Western, a genre that I love so much, with a great diverse cast of characters – you know the type, mercenaries with foul mouths and hearts of gold that you can root for. The writing was light and quick to read (though I had a slow reading week due to a new job), and it was entertaining and fun.
But that’s also all it was.
I don’t know if I have been spoiled by Becky Chambers, but now, when I read a blurb about a space opera with diverse characters and crazy adventures, I have come to expect said characters to be deeply developed, their adventures to be thought-provoking, maybe even moral conundrums to deal with. In this book, I liked the characters, but they were fairly superficially developed, and it was very clear right off the bat how this would play out – and the bad guy was immediately unredeemable and unambiguous. The prose was also on the simple side, and didn’t feel distinctive.
I enjoyed it, and it was the perfect book for my otherwise very demanding week, but it could have been so much better.
But that’s also all it was.
I don’t know if I have been spoiled by Becky Chambers, but now, when I read a blurb about a space opera with diverse characters and crazy adventures, I have come to expect said characters to be deeply developed, their adventures to be thought-provoking, maybe even moral conundrums to deal with. In this book, I liked the characters, but they were fairly superficially developed, and it was very clear right off the bat how this would play out – and the bad guy was immediately unredeemable and unambiguous. The prose was also on the simple side, and didn’t feel distinctive.
I enjoyed it, and it was the perfect book for my otherwise very demanding week, but it could have been so much better.
December 17, 2020
When I read the blurb for Persephone Station, I thought it sounded amazing. A genre-bending infusion of science-fiction and weird Westerns with a predominantly queer cast.
And, from the outset, at least one of those things fulfilled my expectations in a good way: Persephone Station features a large cast of characters, many of whom are people of colour, nearly all of whom are women (in addition to one nonbinary protagonist, who uses they/them pronouns) and nearly all of whom are queer. This is a queernorm world, and while science fiction is improving in this regard, I always do a little dance of joy when a book makes it clear that there’s no essentialist gender fuckery to be found within the first few pages.
Unfortunately, the flipside of being a genre-bending story is that Persephone Station simply tried to do too much, and didn’t stick the landing(s). Again, there is a large cast of POV characters, but it was incredibly difficult to differentiate their POVs from narrative tone and voice alone, and I kept getting confused about who was who. Given that some of these characters were not human, I would have liked to have seen more distinctive POVs. Additionally, there’s a lot of info-dumping about characters’ backgrounds and motivations, particularly in the first half, rather than naturally revealing these elements as the plot progressed.
There’s also two separate plot threads, and keeping track of them got confusing very quickly (especially since there are also lots of minor plot points that don’t clearly fit in). The more interesting of the two stories to me dealt with the colonisation of this backwater planet by the giant Serrao-Orlov Corporation, and the lengths the indigenous population of the planet went to protect their existence. While colonisation is not a unexplored topic in science fiction, I like that this book tackled some of its new and evolving faces: as an Australian, there were lots of parallels to the fraught relationship between indigenous Australians and mining companies.
The other plot thread deals with the rights of AI, and I frankly wasn’t particularly interested in this issue at all, which wasn’t helped by all the jumping around. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it picked a single issue and stuck to it.
Overall, I really loved the ideas in this book, and will always champion diverse fiction, but I didn’t connect to any of the characters enough for a 500 page book. I hope this book finds a home with readers who will love it more than I did.
Ths review is also available @firstbreathsreviews.
And, from the outset, at least one of those things fulfilled my expectations in a good way: Persephone Station features a large cast of characters, many of whom are people of colour, nearly all of whom are women (in addition to one nonbinary protagonist, who uses they/them pronouns) and nearly all of whom are queer. This is a queernorm world, and while science fiction is improving in this regard, I always do a little dance of joy when a book makes it clear that there’s no essentialist gender fuckery to be found within the first few pages.
Unfortunately, the flipside of being a genre-bending story is that Persephone Station simply tried to do too much, and didn’t stick the landing(s). Again, there is a large cast of POV characters, but it was incredibly difficult to differentiate their POVs from narrative tone and voice alone, and I kept getting confused about who was who. Given that some of these characters were not human, I would have liked to have seen more distinctive POVs. Additionally, there’s a lot of info-dumping about characters’ backgrounds and motivations, particularly in the first half, rather than naturally revealing these elements as the plot progressed.
There’s also two separate plot threads, and keeping track of them got confusing very quickly (especially since there are also lots of minor plot points that don’t clearly fit in). The more interesting of the two stories to me dealt with the colonisation of this backwater planet by the giant Serrao-Orlov Corporation, and the lengths the indigenous population of the planet went to protect their existence. While colonisation is not a unexplored topic in science fiction, I like that this book tackled some of its new and evolving faces: as an Australian, there were lots of parallels to the fraught relationship between indigenous Australians and mining companies.
The other plot thread deals with the rights of AI, and I frankly wasn’t particularly interested in this issue at all, which wasn’t helped by all the jumping around. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it picked a single issue and stuck to it.
Overall, I really loved the ideas in this book, and will always champion diverse fiction, but I didn’t connect to any of the characters enough for a 500 page book. I hope this book finds a home with readers who will love it more than I did.
Ths review is also available @firstbreathsreviews.
February 20, 2021
This was The Magnificent Seven, in space, but without the magnificent.
There were so many wonderful elements:
-crime bosses
-former soldiers now working as mercenaries who fix problems and assassinate upon occasion
-a plethora of fantastic women being fantastic
-AI, both massive and masquerading
-evil corporate CEOs committing atrocities for personal gain and kicks
-references to Akira Kurosawa
-a cat
And all these elements were together in a story where the writing and characters got in the way of something that could have been really fun.
There were so many wonderful elements:
-crime bosses
-former soldiers now working as mercenaries who fix problems and assassinate upon occasion
-a plethora of fantastic women being fantastic
-AI, both massive and masquerading
-evil corporate CEOs committing atrocities for personal gain and kicks
-references to Akira Kurosawa
-a cat
And all these elements were together in a story where the writing and characters got in the way of something that could have been really fun.
Read
January 4, 2021This gay-friendly "gals with guns" space opera hangs on a fast-paced plot that is currently pretty popular in the SF field, the evil corporations masking their power grabs as AI entities explore various ways of being sentient. Add in mostly female characters, with non-binary ones present and up front, and jack up the pacing all the way to the poignant resolution.
The narrative, with its fast pace, also brings home how much the English language is lagging behind social evolution: specifically the use of "They" for non-binary characters. The problem isn't the pronoun so much as the verbs around it, specifically the plural. I found myself thrown out of the story frequently when I couldn't figure out who, or how many, given pronouns were modifying.
It's still a fun read, and I really enjoyed most of the action parts handed to females. Woo!
Copy provided by NetGalley
The narrative, with its fast pace, also brings home how much the English language is lagging behind social evolution: specifically the use of "They" for non-binary characters. The problem isn't the pronoun so much as the verbs around it, specifically the plural. I found myself thrown out of the story frequently when I couldn't figure out who, or how many, given pronouns were modifying.
It's still a fun read, and I really enjoyed most of the action parts handed to females. Woo!
Copy provided by NetGalley
February 9, 2021
A small group of mercenaries (with hearts of gold) end up defending a peaceful settlement of aliens against a madwoman and her own hired thugs, all while artificial intelligences meddle for their own ends. This reminded me very much of the Magnificent Seven, with the mercs all having their own back-stories and who almost certainly won't all make it through the final assault.
Terrific setup with characters that look really interesting, in-depth world-building and a diverse culture ended up being very not for me as I bounced strongly off the prose. I really wanted to like this too, as I've heard this author speak about her writing before and I like what she has to say.
Unfortunately, in this one I found that there wasn't enough of a difference in voice between the characters and the plotting was overly convoluted for what was basically a space-western.
Terrific setup with characters that look really interesting, in-depth world-building and a diverse culture ended up being very not for me as I bounced strongly off the prose. I really wanted to like this too, as I've heard this author speak about her writing before and I like what she has to say.
Unfortunately, in this one I found that there wasn't enough of a difference in voice between the characters and the plotting was overly convoluted for what was basically a space-western.
anti-library
July 14, 2020I'm so, so glad to have been auto-approved for Gallery Books because this space opera is one of my most anticipated books and like, the cover is fucking badass
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'On the backwater planet of Brynner, at Persephone Station, a community of android refugees, all female, are hiding since they were able to awaken their AI and escape servitude. But the Serrao-Orlov Corporation is nothing if not tenacious, especially about it's proprietary AI's, and it wants their property back. However, Persephone is run by Rosie, and they are in charge of an organized group of beneficent criminals and assassins, along with a bunch of worn mercenaries who have a thing for doing the honorable thing, despite the odds. And in a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation, the odds are not going to be good, but it would be a glorious fight. Award-nominated author Stina Leicht has created a viciously feminist take on The Magnificent Seven by the way of Blade Runner and Westworld'
OMG, I WANT. Also, the author says, 'It's a Feminist SF and the working title is Persephone Station. The genre influences will be Space Opera, Westerns, Heist, and a touch of Northern Irish Crime. All the main characters will be women--mostly women of color.'
------------------------
'On the backwater planet of Brynner, at Persephone Station, a community of android refugees, all female, are hiding since they were able to awaken their AI and escape servitude. But the Serrao-Orlov Corporation is nothing if not tenacious, especially about it's proprietary AI's, and it wants their property back. However, Persephone is run by Rosie, and they are in charge of an organized group of beneficent criminals and assassins, along with a bunch of worn mercenaries who have a thing for doing the honorable thing, despite the odds. And in a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation, the odds are not going to be good, but it would be a glorious fight. Award-nominated author Stina Leicht has created a viciously feminist take on The Magnificent Seven by the way of Blade Runner and Westworld'
OMG, I WANT. Also, the author says, 'It's a Feminist SF and the working title is Persephone Station. The genre influences will be Space Opera, Westerns, Heist, and a touch of Northern Irish Crime. All the main characters will be women--mostly women of color.'
Read
January 1, 20253.5 Stars
This was an enjoyable western inspired space adventure. The story and characters weren't especially memorable but it was a fun romp.
This was an enjoyable western inspired space adventure. The story and characters weren't especially memorable but it was a fun romp.
July 10, 2022
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley
God, I loved this book... I loved it fiercely. I don't even know where to start?
First of all, it's a book pretty much solely made up of women and nonbinary characters. I read all-male scifi too, and often like it all the same as any other scifi, but there is something, just that SOMETHING, about reading a book where everyone's... More or less like you. It's f...ing amazing. No other word for it.
And yeah, you're gonna ask - there WERE some men. But there were as many men as there are women in your typical 50s-60s scifi, and they're in the same unimportant, episodic roles. Robber. One-scene cute boyfriend. Guy who gets assassinated or the guy on the team who takes the shot. Guy who maintains the building. You're gonna say I'm petty, but HA. In your face, all-male scifi. You have all the scifis where we are but decorations and basically blinking, breathing furniture. So I'm going to gloat about one or two books where it's precisely the other way round.
But continuing with the characters. They're all tough, strong, smart, they've got character, they're gritty and interesting people. Most of them had really cool backstories, which always makes the book feel so much more real and multidimensional than just telling the "current story in question." They're tough and capable warriors, and this book feels a little like military-scifi even, with how much fighting we get to see. However... That's not to say that these characters don't have emotion. Oh no - they're fighting alongside those they love, so of course they care, and of course they hurt when something happens. The best part about the way the story was told for me was that it didn't feel the need to turn ex-military merc women into some muscular, feelingless fighting machines (which happens in scifi more often than you'd think, to juxtapose femininity with the ability to fight - as in, for some reason, you can't be both or something). They retain their emotional side and are not afraid of it, nor do they think it's any kind of weakness. It's the human bonds that keep them together.
I really liked the pacing of the story as well, because the start of the book was rather slow and definitely character-built, with a lot of detail on the backstories and world building. However, after the halfway mark it got so tense and INtense that i had to put away the book for brief breaks, because I thought my heart would leap out of my chest. It was definitely a lot of handle, and I mean that in the best way possible. What a wonderful book!
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
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God, I loved this book... I loved it fiercely. I don't even know where to start?
First of all, it's a book pretty much solely made up of women and nonbinary characters. I read all-male scifi too, and often like it all the same as any other scifi, but there is something, just that SOMETHING, about reading a book where everyone's... More or less like you. It's f...ing amazing. No other word for it.
And yeah, you're gonna ask - there WERE some men. But there were as many men as there are women in your typical 50s-60s scifi, and they're in the same unimportant, episodic roles. Robber. One-scene cute boyfriend. Guy who gets assassinated or the guy on the team who takes the shot. Guy who maintains the building. You're gonna say I'm petty, but HA. In your face, all-male scifi. You have all the scifis where we are but decorations and basically blinking, breathing furniture. So I'm going to gloat about one or two books where it's precisely the other way round.
But continuing with the characters. They're all tough, strong, smart, they've got character, they're gritty and interesting people. Most of them had really cool backstories, which always makes the book feel so much more real and multidimensional than just telling the "current story in question." They're tough and capable warriors, and this book feels a little like military-scifi even, with how much fighting we get to see. However... That's not to say that these characters don't have emotion. Oh no - they're fighting alongside those they love, so of course they care, and of course they hurt when something happens. The best part about the way the story was told for me was that it didn't feel the need to turn ex-military merc women into some muscular, feelingless fighting machines (which happens in scifi more often than you'd think, to juxtapose femininity with the ability to fight - as in, for some reason, you can't be both or something). They retain their emotional side and are not afraid of it, nor do they think it's any kind of weakness. It's the human bonds that keep them together.
I really liked the pacing of the story as well, because the start of the book was rather slow and definitely character-built, with a lot of detail on the backstories and world building. However, after the halfway mark it got so tense and INtense that i had to put away the book for brief breaks, because I thought my heart would leap out of my chest. It was definitely a lot of handle, and I mean that in the best way possible. What a wonderful book!
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
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June 9, 2021
3.5 stars. giving queer Star Wars, political maneuvering with aliens, space tech, badass mercenaries, and rag tag crews with spirit and gusto instead of money and resources. I wish I processed this sci fi fantasy a bit slower
January 5, 2021
Persephone Station is a standalone sci-fi novel set on a planet of the same name, one by and large ignored on the galactic stage until a corporation takes a vested interest in exploiting the indigenous population for their knowledge. Pitched as The Mandalorian meets Cowboy Bebop, Persephone Station delivers the action packed romp the comparison promises but left me wanting so much more in other areas.
The most prominent characters being women or nonbinary folks was a delight to read, especially because it was all people being badass. If you’re looking for a very low romance read—romantic relationships are only mentioned in passing and in regards to secondary characters—this will be right up your alley. The most significant relationships are friendship and familial in Persephone Station, and I’ll always be a sucker for a ragtag group of washed up soldiers, assassins, and criminals with hearts of gold.
The Emissaries fascinated me but I wished we had seen more of them. By far their culture and society was more interesting to me than the dystopian city most of the cast lived in, and I feel like they were positioned more as an ideal the main characters were trying to save than a living, breathing society. I would read an entire novel about their history and what happened to them before or after the events of the novel.
One element I need to mention was the way nonbinary representation was handled in this novel. While appreciate the attempts at diversity that were made in the text (some successfully) and thought the nonbinary character Rosie was handled well, there were several circumstances where the notion you can “clock” someone’s gender on sight was reinforced. Multiple characters automatically know if someone is a man, woman, or nonbinary, which 1) reinforces the idea that nonbinary is just a third gender instead of a vast umbrella of experiences and 2) that someone’s gender can always be determined on sight by their gender expression. As a trans nonbinary person, it rubbed me the wrong way, though again I greatly appreciate the effort of inclusion.
There’s also SO much action in this novel to the detriment of character development and worldbuilding. It feels like easily half the novel is one prolonged action scene and little is done to maintain the tension. All the build up also leads to a climax that is abrupt, leaves several elements unexplored or unexplained, and provides an unsatisfactory resolution.
In short, though I liked Persephone Station and thought it was a fun read full of fierce women and giant mechs, it left too much to be desired to be a new favourite. I’d still recommend it to anyone looking for an action heavy, romance light space opera in a queernorm universe with entertaining character dynamics—if ones sometimes not quite represented as well as they could be.
Thank you to Gallery/Saga Press and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The most prominent characters being women or nonbinary folks was a delight to read, especially because it was all people being badass. If you’re looking for a very low romance read—romantic relationships are only mentioned in passing and in regards to secondary characters—this will be right up your alley. The most significant relationships are friendship and familial in Persephone Station, and I’ll always be a sucker for a ragtag group of washed up soldiers, assassins, and criminals with hearts of gold.
The Emissaries fascinated me but I wished we had seen more of them. By far their culture and society was more interesting to me than the dystopian city most of the cast lived in, and I feel like they were positioned more as an ideal the main characters were trying to save than a living, breathing society. I would read an entire novel about their history and what happened to them before or after the events of the novel.
One element I need to mention was the way nonbinary representation was handled in this novel. While appreciate the attempts at diversity that were made in the text (some successfully) and thought the nonbinary character Rosie was handled well, there were several circumstances where the notion you can “clock” someone’s gender on sight was reinforced. Multiple characters automatically know if someone is a man, woman, or nonbinary, which 1) reinforces the idea that nonbinary is just a third gender instead of a vast umbrella of experiences and 2) that someone’s gender can always be determined on sight by their gender expression. As a trans nonbinary person, it rubbed me the wrong way, though again I greatly appreciate the effort of inclusion.
There’s also SO much action in this novel to the detriment of character development and worldbuilding. It feels like easily half the novel is one prolonged action scene and little is done to maintain the tension. All the build up also leads to a climax that is abrupt, leaves several elements unexplored or unexplained, and provides an unsatisfactory resolution.
In short, though I liked Persephone Station and thought it was a fun read full of fierce women and giant mechs, it left too much to be desired to be a new favourite. I’d still recommend it to anyone looking for an action heavy, romance light space opera in a queernorm universe with entertaining character dynamics—if ones sometimes not quite represented as well as they could be.
Thank you to Gallery/Saga Press and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
March 18, 2021
DNF @ 207.
Listen, this was a book that I was kinda hype for. Look at the cover! But, overall I couldn't understand what was happening.
Yes, it's a high sci-fi adult book, but I've read books like this before and was able to understand them almost perfectly.
At first I thought I was supposed to be confused, that it was just the way it was supposed to be. Then, as I got further into the novel I got more and more confused, and realized that I had no idea what was happening.
I only knew the characters names, but I didn't know their powers or who/what they were supposed to be in the story. It had too many POV's, and I felt overwhelmed trying to understand why we needed to see everyone's view.
I just didn't vibe with this book, but I believe that if you're into what this book is about, then you should at least try to read it.
Listen, this was a book that I was kinda hype for. Look at the cover! But, overall I couldn't understand what was happening.
Yes, it's a high sci-fi adult book, but I've read books like this before and was able to understand them almost perfectly.
At first I thought I was supposed to be confused, that it was just the way it was supposed to be. Then, as I got further into the novel I got more and more confused, and realized that I had no idea what was happening.
I only knew the characters names, but I didn't know their powers or who/what they were supposed to be in the story. It had too many POV's, and I felt overwhelmed trying to understand why we needed to see everyone's view.
I just didn't vibe with this book, but I believe that if you're into what this book is about, then you should at least try to read it.
January 30, 2021
DNF@50%
I loved that this story had only female main characters. Thank you! Is this what men feel like all the time when reading sci-fi and fantasy? I also appreciated the non-binary character. Unfortunately that was about it.
The plot was slow to get moving and not interesting enough for me. And all the different PoVs sounded the same and weren't well developed enough for me to feel anything.
The cover is pretty stellar though.
I loved that this story had only female main characters. Thank you! Is this what men feel like all the time when reading sci-fi and fantasy? I also appreciated the non-binary character. Unfortunately that was about it.
The plot was slow to get moving and not interesting enough for me. And all the different PoVs sounded the same and weren't well developed enough for me to feel anything.
The cover is pretty stellar though.
October 1, 2023
This was another one of my series-sampling audio listens, to see if I might want to pursue it in print someday. Technically, I guess this isn’t a series. This book stands alone fine, but there’s another book published in the same world and I wasn’t sure if she might plan to write more. Anyway, the verdict is: nope.
Audio Narration
The narrator is Maria Liatis. I don’t think she was a terrible narrator, but her reading style didn’t work well for me and I didn’t think she was a good fit for this story. I might not have had any complaints if I’d listened to her narrate a different kind of story.
There are a lot of female characters, and I didn’t think the narrator had a sufficient range to distinguish between them. Except for one woman with an English accent, and one woman who spoke with over-the-top manic cheerfulness, the voices all sounded pretty much the same to me. Additionally, I didn’t really feel like her voice was well suited for a cast of characters that consisted mostly of mercenaries. The characters all sounded kind of like sweet, cheerful young women. I would have expected a little more grit in there, at least for a few of the characters, but the grit was completely absent.
One of the other issues I had was probably more the fault of the text than the narrator, but I think she could have mitigated the issue if she’d made different reading choices. The author uses the word “however” a lot. At times it gets borderline incessant and I’ve started to get twitchy about hearing that word now. Fortunately, people don’t use it a lot in real life speech, at least not in my experience, so hopefully I won’t start grimacing at random people. The narrator sometimes reminded me of a text-to-speech program, because you could practically hear the comma following the word “however” every time she said it, much like how text-to-speech programs pause unnaturally long when they encounter a comma in the text. There was usually a slight emphasis on the word, and then a pause, which really made it impossible to miss the fact that the author had used the word yet again. If she’d read that word faster, or with less emphasis, it might not have stuck out to me as badly. I’m really curious about how many times the word actually existed in the text, and if it was as bad as it seemed to me or if it was the narration style that made it seem worse than it really was.
Story
When the story starts off, we’re briefly introduced to an alien race on a human-occupied planet who call themselves the emissaries. They can mimic humans, allowing them to blend in, but their natural communication method is via scent. Few humans are aware that they’re on the planet, and the emissaries want to keep it that way, but the humans who do know about them are exploiting them for their own selfish reasons.
I was quite interested in the very beginning. The aliens seemed interesting, although I wondered how their bodies managed to manufacture so many different scents to be used for communication, and the premise seemed to be one I’d enjoy. And then the story immediately abandoned the emissaries and went off to introduce us to a bunch of seemingly-random, cardboard, human mercenaries. I completely lost the flow of the story at this point, and I was never quite sure if it was because it was written in a confusing manner or if it was just because I was having trouble giving the audiobook sufficient attention, or if it was because the characters all sounded the same to me – both literally in terms of the narrator and figuratively in terms of the tone of the text. It was probably some combination of all three things.
I never felt any attachment to any of the characters. There’s a lot of banter between the mercenaries, which is normally the sort of thing I love, but it did absolutely nothing for me here. I felt like the author was trying too hard at times, but it might just be that I was so disinterested that the banter was amazing and I was incapable of feeling it.
The story did get more interesting in the second half when we finally got back to the emissaries’ storyline, but it wasn’t enough to really pull me back in and we still focused mainly on the mercenaries. I’m rating this at 2.5 stars and rounding down to 2 on Godreads. Also, I might need to buy a stress ball or something, because I think the next time I hear the word “however” I’m going to break something if I don’t have a healthier option at hand.
Audio Narration
The narrator is Maria Liatis. I don’t think she was a terrible narrator, but her reading style didn’t work well for me and I didn’t think she was a good fit for this story. I might not have had any complaints if I’d listened to her narrate a different kind of story.
There are a lot of female characters, and I didn’t think the narrator had a sufficient range to distinguish between them. Except for one woman with an English accent, and one woman who spoke with over-the-top manic cheerfulness, the voices all sounded pretty much the same to me. Additionally, I didn’t really feel like her voice was well suited for a cast of characters that consisted mostly of mercenaries. The characters all sounded kind of like sweet, cheerful young women. I would have expected a little more grit in there, at least for a few of the characters, but the grit was completely absent.
One of the other issues I had was probably more the fault of the text than the narrator, but I think she could have mitigated the issue if she’d made different reading choices. The author uses the word “however” a lot. At times it gets borderline incessant and I’ve started to get twitchy about hearing that word now. Fortunately, people don’t use it a lot in real life speech, at least not in my experience, so hopefully I won’t start grimacing at random people. The narrator sometimes reminded me of a text-to-speech program, because you could practically hear the comma following the word “however” every time she said it, much like how text-to-speech programs pause unnaturally long when they encounter a comma in the text. There was usually a slight emphasis on the word, and then a pause, which really made it impossible to miss the fact that the author had used the word yet again. If she’d read that word faster, or with less emphasis, it might not have stuck out to me as badly. I’m really curious about how many times the word actually existed in the text, and if it was as bad as it seemed to me or if it was the narration style that made it seem worse than it really was.
Story
When the story starts off, we’re briefly introduced to an alien race on a human-occupied planet who call themselves the emissaries. They can mimic humans, allowing them to blend in, but their natural communication method is via scent. Few humans are aware that they’re on the planet, and the emissaries want to keep it that way, but the humans who do know about them are exploiting them for their own selfish reasons.
I was quite interested in the very beginning. The aliens seemed interesting, although I wondered how their bodies managed to manufacture so many different scents to be used for communication, and the premise seemed to be one I’d enjoy. And then the story immediately abandoned the emissaries and went off to introduce us to a bunch of seemingly-random, cardboard, human mercenaries. I completely lost the flow of the story at this point, and I was never quite sure if it was because it was written in a confusing manner or if it was just because I was having trouble giving the audiobook sufficient attention, or if it was because the characters all sounded the same to me – both literally in terms of the narrator and figuratively in terms of the tone of the text. It was probably some combination of all three things.
I never felt any attachment to any of the characters. There’s a lot of banter between the mercenaries, which is normally the sort of thing I love, but it did absolutely nothing for me here. I felt like the author was trying too hard at times, but it might just be that I was so disinterested that the banter was amazing and I was incapable of feeling it.
The story did get more interesting in the second half when we finally got back to the emissaries’ storyline, but it wasn’t enough to really pull me back in and we still focused mainly on the mercenaries. I’m rating this at 2.5 stars and rounding down to 2 on Godreads. Also, I might need to buy a stress ball or something, because I think the next time I hear the word “however” I’m going to break something if I don’t have a healthier option at hand.
January 26, 2021
I told myself I was not going to buy any new books until I read the majority of the unread books on my shelf. I made one exception because I was so positive that I was going to love this book. This is the only book I have bought thus far in 2021 and I have regrets. So, when you tell me to imagine a female heavy space opera, then compare that space opera to Cowboy Bebop, the greatest anime ever, I am going to read that book. But you have put my expectations incredibly high. Then the cover art...damn. So I am reading this and it is slow and boring. A lot of things are going on, but I don't care about those things and my disappointment is just growing with each passing page. Then I get to the paragraph that sums up why I am giving this book 1 star.
"Soothing ambient electronic music began playing from the speakers built into the ceiling. She shucked the leather backpack and gently laid it on the kitchen counter. It would need to be wiped down along with her shoes. Moving to the bedroom, she shed her wet clothes and put them in the laundry shoot for cleaning. Then she took a quick shower and washed her hair."
This is the same damn writing style as "See Spot Run." None of the information provided above is necessary. None of it matters. It is written like someone is giving you a manual on how to get ready for bed. Step 1, remove outerwear and accessories. Step 2, put soiled clothing in the laundry hamper to be cleaned at a later time. Step 3, clean your body as well as your hair. When you are not given such riveting details about taking a shower, you can fully engage in the dialog that makes up about 90% of the book and is akin to listening to people at the table next to you, talking about their crazy Saturday night of watching paint dry. When I read that paragraph I knew instantly why I was not enjoying this book; it is just full of useless information that is not needed and drags you through the story in the least interesting way possible. Learn to edit. You don't need to tell me about Jane getting out of bed. Jane going to the bus stop. Jane waiting for the bus. Jane riding the bus. Jane walking into her office building. You just need to tell me that Jane went to work and you only need to tell me that if her going to work has any relevancy to the actual story. I mean come on. She put her wet clothing in the laundry shoot for cleaning...opposed to what? For safe keeping? Why? Why is this book full of things like that? It is robotic and irrelevant. Like having my dishwasher announce what cycle it is on. I don't care.
You could read this book in a day, there is just not a lot to it. It looks big but that is just for show. Incredibly wide margins, lots of spacing, and an abundance of dialog. There is a lot of 'action' but told in the most monotone way possible. Imagine the dry-eye guy telling you step-by-step about the car accident he was in. Yeah you have the excitement of the car accident, but you are still going to fall asleep. The representation is good. Think this is the first book I have read with a non-binary character. There is no humor in it at all. If a joke was uttered once I missed it. Didn't develop any emotion or connection to the characters. Didn't feel tense, anxious, worried, angry, happy, or any emotion at all. I might be too harsh on this but they compared it to Cowboy Bebop! Just don't do that. A space opera that also had a range of representation, had tons of emotion, was funny, and action packed. Setting the readers up for disappointment.
Another thing, I can tell you more about the speaker systems in this book than I can about what the setting actually looks like. I can't picture any of it in my head. There is really no detail on what the environment is like, but hey, that is the sacrifice you have to make to include the dirty details about laundry.
"Soothing ambient electronic music began playing from the speakers built into the ceiling. She shucked the leather backpack and gently laid it on the kitchen counter. It would need to be wiped down along with her shoes. Moving to the bedroom, she shed her wet clothes and put them in the laundry shoot for cleaning. Then she took a quick shower and washed her hair."
This is the same damn writing style as "See Spot Run." None of the information provided above is necessary. None of it matters. It is written like someone is giving you a manual on how to get ready for bed. Step 1, remove outerwear and accessories. Step 2, put soiled clothing in the laundry hamper to be cleaned at a later time. Step 3, clean your body as well as your hair. When you are not given such riveting details about taking a shower, you can fully engage in the dialog that makes up about 90% of the book and is akin to listening to people at the table next to you, talking about their crazy Saturday night of watching paint dry. When I read that paragraph I knew instantly why I was not enjoying this book; it is just full of useless information that is not needed and drags you through the story in the least interesting way possible. Learn to edit. You don't need to tell me about Jane getting out of bed. Jane going to the bus stop. Jane waiting for the bus. Jane riding the bus. Jane walking into her office building. You just need to tell me that Jane went to work and you only need to tell me that if her going to work has any relevancy to the actual story. I mean come on. She put her wet clothing in the laundry shoot for cleaning...opposed to what? For safe keeping? Why? Why is this book full of things like that? It is robotic and irrelevant. Like having my dishwasher announce what cycle it is on. I don't care.
You could read this book in a day, there is just not a lot to it. It looks big but that is just for show. Incredibly wide margins, lots of spacing, and an abundance of dialog. There is a lot of 'action' but told in the most monotone way possible. Imagine the dry-eye guy telling you step-by-step about the car accident he was in. Yeah you have the excitement of the car accident, but you are still going to fall asleep. The representation is good. Think this is the first book I have read with a non-binary character. There is no humor in it at all. If a joke was uttered once I missed it. Didn't develop any emotion or connection to the characters. Didn't feel tense, anxious, worried, angry, happy, or any emotion at all. I might be too harsh on this but they compared it to Cowboy Bebop! Just don't do that. A space opera that also had a range of representation, had tons of emotion, was funny, and action packed. Setting the readers up for disappointment.
Another thing, I can tell you more about the speaker systems in this book than I can about what the setting actually looks like. I can't picture any of it in my head. There is really no detail on what the environment is like, but hey, that is the sacrifice you have to make to include the dirty details about laundry.
December 26, 2020
2 stars.
I was pretty disappointed in this one. It had all the necessary elements (diverse LGBTQ cast, planet with aliens, AI, badass group of women), but they didn't seem to add up to much. We had a few different storylines to follow, but I only got invested in the fate of the Emissaries. The only other character who sparked any emotion in me was Rosie.
AI is one of my favorite scifi elements, but Kennedy had barely any interaction with the other characters, and I do think seeing the interaction between human and AI is probably usually the most interesting element of it. Also, I didn't think we explored the situation with her 'sisters' enough? I would understand if this was a series, but from what I see, it's a standalone.
Another element that was barely explored was this whole revivification thing? People are out here living after dying and all we seem to know about the process is that it is often used for combat. How does sickness play into this? Considering one of the characters we have, you would think this would be something explored.
The book really takes a long time to get going, but there's some good action in the second half, if that's your thing. This is just one I found it hard to connect to or get invested in.
I was pretty disappointed in this one. It had all the necessary elements (diverse LGBTQ cast, planet with aliens, AI, badass group of women), but they didn't seem to add up to much. We had a few different storylines to follow, but I only got invested in the fate of the Emissaries. The only other character who sparked any emotion in me was Rosie.
AI is one of my favorite scifi elements, but Kennedy had barely any interaction with the other characters, and I do think seeing the interaction between human and AI is probably usually the most interesting element of it. Also, I didn't think we explored the situation with her 'sisters' enough? I would understand if this was a series, but from what I see, it's a standalone.
Another element that was barely explored was this whole revivification thing? People are out here living after dying and all we seem to know about the process is that it is often used for combat. How does sickness play into this? Considering one of the characters we have, you would think this would be something explored.
The book really takes a long time to get going, but there's some good action in the second half, if that's your thing. This is just one I found it hard to connect to or get invested in.
April 25, 2021
Some cool elements, but not all well-developed or connected togeher. It felt like the author was so committed to showing and not telling that they didn't give the readers crucial information we needed to understand the setting and become invested in the characters and their story.
July 6, 2024
Reading this book was a debt, because I got the eARC back in 2021 and I... never got around to it (mental health, oooof). Sadly, now, when I was aware of the debt and I did get around to it, I have to be very critical. Or maybe I don't. I was going to rate it 3-stars and write a couple of paragraphs, because it was... fine. But then, in the final stretch, I just got annoyed.
It happened around this quote:
She realized she knew next to nothing about Emissary culture. There simply hadn't been time to learn.
This book is 512 pages long. But somehow we simply haven't had time to learn about the alien (not alien, actually indigenous culture) on Persephone. This feels simply mad. It's already a book that explains a loooot. It explains things that are glaringly obvious, it has the utmost less trust a book can have in its readers.
And also there are so many repetitions, POV chapters that don't bring that much to the narrative, so much character backstory.
She pointed to the third enclosure.
A girl slept in the hospital bed in the third enclosure.
And yeah, even beyond the heavy editing that is needed here, this is supposed to be a fun action-adventure space romp. But it's just bland. It has no seasoning. The prose is extremely pared down, to just functional. The dialogue is a series of wisecracks / action movie one-liner cliches. There is no flavor here, almost no specificity, almost no interiority. I don't want to be mean, but this is over 500 pages! There is literally a giant alien bears vs. mechs battle and it's not fun at all!
And I guess I'm frustrated, because the potential is very much there, waiting to be built on the bear bones of the story beats. The world could be something special. There are a bunch of characters who, with some tweaks, could leap off the page in interesting ways. Also, most characters are women / non-binary people, like it's super nice to have a book where there are almost no basic men, it's an interesting experience. But this remains just a surface quirk, I feel, there is no delving in deeper. So, I guess I'm sad now.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. (I'm sorry for the delay, desperately trying to catch up on my book debts)
It happened around this quote:
She realized she knew next to nothing about Emissary culture. There simply hadn't been time to learn.
This book is 512 pages long. But somehow we simply haven't had time to learn about the alien (not alien, actually indigenous culture) on Persephone. This feels simply mad. It's already a book that explains a loooot. It explains things that are glaringly obvious, it has the utmost less trust a book can have in its readers.
And also there are so many repetitions, POV chapters that don't bring that much to the narrative, so much character backstory.
She pointed to the third enclosure.
A girl slept in the hospital bed in the third enclosure.
And yeah, even beyond the heavy editing that is needed here, this is supposed to be a fun action-adventure space romp. But it's just bland. It has no seasoning. The prose is extremely pared down, to just functional. The dialogue is a series of wisecracks / action movie one-liner cliches. There is no flavor here, almost no specificity, almost no interiority. I don't want to be mean, but this is over 500 pages! There is literally a giant alien bears vs. mechs battle and it's not fun at all!
And I guess I'm frustrated, because the potential is very much there, waiting to be built on the bear bones of the story beats. The world could be something special. There are a bunch of characters who, with some tweaks, could leap off the page in interesting ways. Also, most characters are women / non-binary people, like it's super nice to have a book where there are almost no basic men, it's an interesting experience. But this remains just a surface quirk, I feel, there is no delving in deeper. So, I guess I'm sad now.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. (I'm sorry for the delay, desperately trying to catch up on my book debts)
October 20, 2022
For a book that promotes itself as queer it lacked a lot of it. There’s like maybe 2-3 queer couples but they weren’t couples I was rooting for.
The author used non-binary like it’s a third gender and if it was a third gender in this novel than please establish it. Leicht describes groups like ‘2 man, 2 women and 2 nb people’ upon first meeting them. How does one know if a person is nb in this novel? Most of the nb people are described as androgynous which is valid but a boring/basic representation of what nb actually is.
For a sci-fi novel everything felt earthly. We get eleborate information about the planet and history but in the end nothing’s done with it. As a reader you feel lost in information.
Barely anything happened in the first 300 pages and then in the last 100 a lot of bombs are dropped, seemingly out of nowhere.
I don’t recommend this to anyone.
The author used non-binary like it’s a third gender and if it was a third gender in this novel than please establish it. Leicht describes groups like ‘2 man, 2 women and 2 nb people’ upon first meeting them. How does one know if a person is nb in this novel? Most of the nb people are described as androgynous which is valid but a boring/basic representation of what nb actually is.
For a sci-fi novel everything felt earthly. We get eleborate information about the planet and history but in the end nothing’s done with it. As a reader you feel lost in information.
Barely anything happened in the first 300 pages and then in the last 100 a lot of bombs are dropped, seemingly out of nowhere.
I don’t recommend this to anyone.
February 2, 2023
THREE STARS
UGGH, I WISH I COULDVE LOVED THIS
UGGH, I WISH I COULDVE LOVED THIS
October 29, 2020
I had kind of an uneven reading experience with this book (Which bummed me out, since I was so pumped to read it.)
For me personally, the first quarter (third?) of the book was a bit of a slog. I felt like the characters weren't terribly well developed (someone in the story does some quick research on the main characters, which becomes the reader's de facto introduction to them too) and the book seemed to need much more world-building (People are sick, but I didn't entirely get why or how that fit into the political situation or why people were being assassinated.) As a consequence, I put this book down twice, intending never to finish it.
However, some time opened up and I jumped back into the book, and am glad I did so. Because once of crew of bad ass ladies (and honestly when was the last time I read a book that had an all-female space crew on a mission? Half-past NEVER, that's when) went off to save some settlers the book got MUCH more interesting. The characters took on life and the story started to hum along.
Frustratingly though, once I was finally getting into a groove with this book, I felt like it very quickly wrapped up (and in doing so, seemed to leave a lot of loose ends hanging.) I get that this is ideal for setting up a sequel. However, for me as a reader, it ended up being unsatisfying.
So, on the plus side: cool characters, great representation and exploration of the notion of gender, PEOPLE WHO TALK TO GIANT BEARS, and fun action scenes. On the minus side: fuzzy details on international politics and illnesses, light world building, not enough time for the the cool characters to hang out together and develop relationships. (Seriously, I just wanted to say to the author, "Why don't you let these characters stand still for just a hot second so I can fall in love with them?")
Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
For me personally, the first quarter (third?) of the book was a bit of a slog. I felt like the characters weren't terribly well developed (someone in the story does some quick research on the main characters, which becomes the reader's de facto introduction to them too) and the book seemed to need much more world-building (People are sick, but I didn't entirely get why or how that fit into the political situation or why people were being assassinated.) As a consequence, I put this book down twice, intending never to finish it.
However, some time opened up and I jumped back into the book, and am glad I did so. Because once of crew of bad ass ladies (and honestly when was the last time I read a book that had an all-female space crew on a mission? Half-past NEVER, that's when) went off to save some settlers the book got MUCH more interesting. The characters took on life and the story started to hum along.
Frustratingly though, once I was finally getting into a groove with this book, I felt like it very quickly wrapped up (and in doing so, seemed to leave a lot of loose ends hanging.) I get that this is ideal for setting up a sequel. However, for me as a reader, it ended up being unsatisfying.
So, on the plus side: cool characters, great representation and exploration of the notion of gender, PEOPLE WHO TALK TO GIANT BEARS, and fun action scenes. On the minus side: fuzzy details on international politics and illnesses, light world building, not enough time for the the cool characters to hang out together and develop relationships. (Seriously, I just wanted to say to the author, "Why don't you let these characters stand still for just a hot second so I can fall in love with them?")
Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 18, 2021
Stars 4.5 out of 5.
"Loved loved loved it!" were my thoughts when I finished this book as I ran around my living room excitedly, happy that I got the chance to read this excellent book before it was officially published (thanks for the ARC, Netgalley.)
This is one of those rare books that managers to portray strong female characters without making them bitchy, slutty, or catty, and without having them hate on any other females around them and lust over anything with a dick that walks into their line of sight. Unfortunately, I have read a lot of authors who think that this is what a "strong female character" is supposed to be.
I have also read, or tried to read and failed horribly, a lot of feminist and "break the patriarchy" novels that assume that to be a strong woman, you need to hate on anything that has a Y chromosome. I'm very glad that it is not the case with Persephone Station. Men are mentioned in this world, but their presence is not important to the story. And I am very glad that the main villain in this is also a woman. Too often we see this trope when a strong female protagonist has to go against a grotesque caricature of a male villain that is painted as such a horrible human being that you have to wonder how his mother didn't smother him in his crib.
Here we have a smothering of female, male, non-binary, and genderfluid characters that all have flaws and motivations and are all portrayed as believable human (and alien) beings. And I love the fact that they fit perfectly in this world the author created. That human, alien, or artificial, they are all perfectly three-dimensional.
I also loved the strong friendships portrayed in this book. The crew of Kurosawa is a group of broken misfits that love each other and support each other like family. I admit that I cried when Kurosawa crashed, because this ship had the Firefly vibes with the same warmth of a found home and family.
So after all this gushing praise, why didn't I give it a full 5 stars? I have a couple minor gripes about the story.
Firstly, I think the Emissaries could have been developed slightly better. I mean, at one point Vicinia says that their colony isn't sustainable without imports from the human settlement... And I wondered why? They are native to Persephone. They lived on that planet way before it was colonized... so this statement makes absolutely no sense. So yes, I would have loved to see a little more of the planet and native Emissary settlements other than the one we saw and that was specifically adapted for humans.
My second gripe is with the ending. I don't want to put any spoilers, but the solution to all their problems seemed very deus ex machina to me, and it literally was. It felt a little bit too simple and anticlimactic to me after the very tense and nerve-wracking events that lead to it.
These two points non-withstanding, I loved this book. I would definitely read the sequel if one is in the works, because I think this world has potential to become a series. There are still many stories to explore. Who is Zhang? What will Kennedy do now? What will happen with Persephone now that the existence of the Emissaries is known? How are Rosie doing?
"Loved loved loved it!" were my thoughts when I finished this book as I ran around my living room excitedly, happy that I got the chance to read this excellent book before it was officially published (thanks for the ARC, Netgalley.)
This is one of those rare books that managers to portray strong female characters without making them bitchy, slutty, or catty, and without having them hate on any other females around them and lust over anything with a dick that walks into their line of sight. Unfortunately, I have read a lot of authors who think that this is what a "strong female character" is supposed to be.
I have also read, or tried to read and failed horribly, a lot of feminist and "break the patriarchy" novels that assume that to be a strong woman, you need to hate on anything that has a Y chromosome. I'm very glad that it is not the case with Persephone Station. Men are mentioned in this world, but their presence is not important to the story. And I am very glad that the main villain in this is also a woman. Too often we see this trope when a strong female protagonist has to go against a grotesque caricature of a male villain that is painted as such a horrible human being that you have to wonder how his mother didn't smother him in his crib.
Here we have a smothering of female, male, non-binary, and genderfluid characters that all have flaws and motivations and are all portrayed as believable human (and alien) beings. And I love the fact that they fit perfectly in this world the author created. That human, alien, or artificial, they are all perfectly three-dimensional.
I also loved the strong friendships portrayed in this book. The crew of Kurosawa is a group of broken misfits that love each other and support each other like family. I admit that I cried when Kurosawa crashed, because this ship had the Firefly vibes with the same warmth of a found home and family.
So after all this gushing praise, why didn't I give it a full 5 stars? I have a couple minor gripes about the story.
Firstly, I think the Emissaries could have been developed slightly better. I mean, at one point Vicinia says that their colony isn't sustainable without imports from the human settlement... And I wondered why? They are native to Persephone. They lived on that planet way before it was colonized... so this statement makes absolutely no sense. So yes, I would have loved to see a little more of the planet and native Emissary settlements other than the one we saw and that was specifically adapted for humans.
My second gripe is with the ending. I don't want to put any spoilers, but the solution to all their problems seemed very deus ex machina to me, and it literally was. It felt a little bit too simple and anticlimactic to me after the very tense and nerve-wracking events that lead to it.
These two points non-withstanding, I loved this book. I would definitely read the sequel if one is in the works, because I think this world has potential to become a series. There are still many stories to explore. Who is Zhang? What will Kennedy do now? What will happen with Persephone now that the existence of the Emissaries is known? How are Rosie doing?
January 10, 2021
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht is a well-written and action-packed LGBT+ sci-fi space opera that's worth sticking with. It took me about a quarter of the book to really get into it, but by the end I was firmly invested. There's not a whole lot of world-building which is the biggest detriment to the novel. I mean, there are quite a few great sci-fi details but I didn't have a sense of the wider world beyond what was directly in front of me. My favorite aspect though was the diverse cast, especially in the second half as it was all really beginning to really come together for me. I wouldn't exactly call them good people, but they were fascinating to read. Plus, they didn't mess around when it comes right down to it. Overall, I'm glad I gave this stand alone novel a try and I'm going to have to try more of Leicht's work in the future.
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht is a well-written and action-packed LGBT+ sci-fi space opera that's worth sticking with. It took me about a quarter of the book to really get into it, but by the end I was firmly invested. There's not a whole lot of world-building which is the biggest detriment to the novel. I mean, there are quite a few great sci-fi details but I didn't have a sense of the wider world beyond what was directly in front of me. My favorite aspect though was the diverse cast, especially in the second half as it was all really beginning to really come together for me. I wouldn't exactly call them good people, but they were fascinating to read. Plus, they didn't mess around when it comes right down to it. Overall, I'm glad I gave this stand alone novel a try and I'm going to have to try more of Leicht's work in the future.
December 10, 2023
✨This book is perfect for anyone that loves Star Wars. It even has its own version of “May The Force Be With you” ✨✨
A fun time with a cast of cool diverse characters and heart racing action scenes. A group of queer rogue mercenaries helping protect an alien indigenous community from the evils of capitalism. SIGN ME UP!
3.5 stars because it was a bit slow at times at time. Plus we began with multiple POV but the last 3rd of the book were mostly in one POV. This choice baffled me, because it felts as if some of the emotional groundwork that we did in the previous POVs never fully came into fruition.
Regardless a Recommend from me
TW: violence, death, war, colonialism, guns, cursing, death of an animal.
A fun time with a cast of cool diverse characters and heart racing action scenes. A group of queer rogue mercenaries helping protect an alien indigenous community from the evils of capitalism. SIGN ME UP!
3.5 stars because it was a bit slow at times at time. Plus we began with multiple POV but the last 3rd of the book were mostly in one POV. This choice baffled me, because it felts as if some of the emotional groundwork that we did in the previous POVs never fully came into fruition.
Regardless a Recommend from me
TW: violence, death, war, colonialism, guns, cursing, death of an animal.
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