R. E. Stearns

That it's taken me this long to get to this novel in regards to its publication date is probably a commentary on my suspicion that there is no way that it could be as cool as the high concept of it all: Lesbian pirates in space! This is reinforced by the sense that this novel mostly didn't find an audience when the iron was hot.

Moving forward from 2017 to 2025, my suspicion is that this story fell between stools of communities of readers: Too nuts-and-bolts for people looking for a show more found-family story, too much relationship building for those wanting a crisp thriller. As for what I think this novel really needed that might have been another POV character to act as a foil to Iridian and Adda, our wannabe space pirates; maybe the pirate captain, maybe the leader of the mercenaries sent to deliver retribution to the hijackers.

The best thing that Stearns had going for her is the arc of dealing with the AI defense systems that are preventing the denizens of said Barbary Station from escaping, as that is where the really interesting developments happen. How those developments play out is what makes me interested in the follow-up books. show less

Everyone who likes SF should read this.

You want a fairly classic space opera story, with a ruined and murderous station, the aftermath of a war, pirates, mercenaries, and a strong mystery? Good.

A story that takes those tropes and settings and makes them fresh and cool again? All right then.

Space opera that pays as much attention to air filters and interpersonal communication as it does to space walks and gun fights? That’s character driven? Great.

All of the above, but GAY? And DIVERSE? show more With FEMALE protagonists? *rubs hands*

Adda and Iridian are awesome and I loved their relationship—which isn’t “lesbians fall in love” by the way. It’s “lesbians have been in love for some time.” And all the other characters are great, even if we only see them briefly, and there’s a great spread of diversity—Chinese, Latino, and Black characters; queer characters including but not limited to the agender bi/pan pirate captain; Adda’s blind brother; and Iridian’s Middle Eastern heritage. Also nobody gives a damn about any of the above, though there are still a few moments that suggest acceptance isn’t totally perfect or universal.

And the plot? I seriously meant it about it about this being character driven. So much of the book is them talking to people, and how psychologically devastated everyone on the station is, and how terrified people do irrational things and refuse to share information. Also, Stearns has a great gasp of tension and when to up the stakes and how to slip information in that tells you next to nothing but also has you screaming “oh my god.” The second Adda and Iridian dock at the station, they are in shit and it just gets worse from there.

Also the hacking scenes are really cool. And I’ll never not be delighted that their motivation for all this is to pay off their student loans.

The one flaw for me is that I got lost a few times during the climax, but I’m not sure whether this is Stearns’ fault (rushed it, couldn’t balance everything perfectly, etc., though the balancing was really good considering how much was going on) or my fault for having to go to work partway through or for reading so quickly I missed stuff. We’ll class that as “whatever” and move on….

Okay, done blithering now, except I’m not. 🙂

Warnings: Violence, gore, hallucinations, drug use, murder, illness of the coughing, oozing variety, other moments of body horror, tense scenes.

9/10 show less

This gave me everything I expected (heists, computer hacking, competence porn, seedy settings, sticking it to corporate overlords), a fair bit of new world-building and some cool new characters, and a satisfying conclusion to the awakened AI arc within the series, but either because I knew what to expect or because I was reading this at the start of a global pandemic, I was never quite as hooked as I was for the last couple books. That said, I definitely want more in the world, if not more show more with these characters! Stearns’ blend of sci-fi elements and her approach to plot has impressed me that much.

I don’t know if there’s a whole lot more I can say about this without spoiling it or the series. (Also it’s been like five months because I’m super behind on reviews.) I still love how Adda and Iridian have each others’ backs, though, the way they build and manage their teams, and the way they’re able to out-think anything the solar system throws at them. I still think the AIs are written is a brilliant blend of sympathetic personalities and godawful creepiness, and I still like the way Stearns throws in plot twists that are telegraphed just enough to be gotchas without giving the whole thing away. I was, as usual, on the same level with Adda solving the mystery, if not half a step behind her.

I think my favourite parts of this book were the settings, though. There’s a prison and a slum of a space station and a hospital and all sorts of places in between, and they all feel fully realised and thought-out without ever quite funny to cliché. The station, for instance, is exactly as cobbled together and weird as anything out of TV sci-fi, but with more diversity, more grime, and more detail as to structural realities. (To be honest, that sort of detail’s been a running thing for me through the series.)

Beyond that, I just have to say I liked this but I didn’t feel like I was tearing through it or caught up in the adventure enough to “love” it. I wasn’t disappointed or wowed, either. It was pretty much exactly what I wanted and thought I’d be getting, without being predictable. I’m going to be watching to see if Stearns writes more in this world, but if she doesn’t, I’ll be satisfied anyway.

To bear in mind: contains mind control and other violations of autonomy and consent (but not of a sexual nature)

6.5/10 show less

While I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Barbary Station, I think it’s largely because I know Stearns’ style now, and because the plot was so different, it took me a while to readjust expectations. The threats are less varied, they have a safer base to work from, there’s an actual bad guy instead of bad tech, the sense of doom isn’t quite omnipresent, and so on. Looking at it objectively, it’s just as good of a book, but in an almost completely different way. Once the tension show more kicks in, it really kicks.

As you can maybe guess from the summary, there are multiple heists and other jobs here, which are to a one fantastic to see in action and/or planning. A lot of the tension comes from trying to work out how they fit together (plus the through-line of the awakened AIs from the last book). I don’t remember wanting to reread Barbary Station to catch clues I missed. Rereading Mutiny at Vesta would yield so much, I’m sure.

Stearns’ sense of character and world-building is still on point too and I think I appreciate her casual way of relaying it even more after reading this one. Every character has a personality and a purpose, there are few world details wasted, there’s lots of diversity of race, gender, and sexuality (including, of course, the main characters), and the plot’s tight and well-paced. Stearns doesn’t really up her game, but she also doesn’t need to.

My main complaint is that there is a semi-cliffhanger, no date on a third book, and Adda and Iridian still haven’t had a proper honeymoon. Ah well, can’t have everything.

7/10

To bear in mind: Contains various space-related dangers and mishaps, a number of dead, dying, and tortured people, kidnapping and coercion, use of hallucinogenic stimulants, clinical depression, off-screen attempted suicide, general dislike of megacorporate bullshit, mind control, as seen from the outside, threatened violence due to same, and a severe drug overdose. show less