Bluebird

A fine—if not terribly original—space opera, with evil warring religious factions, downtrodden underclasses, underground rebels, old beat-up spaceships, a tough-as-nails, rough-and-tumble protagonist, and a mysterious ninja-like sidekick that she picks up along the way.

The tagline of [b:Bluebird|58331132|Bluebird|Ciel Pierlot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636687515l/58331132._SY75_.jpg|91468773] captured my attention: 'Lesbian gunslinger fights spies in space!' That's certainly an accurate summary, so if you're intrigued then this novel is well worth reading as a fun and undemanding romp. The plot follows an outlaw called Rig attempting various heists and rescues from the three empires that have carved up the galaxy: Ascetic, Ossuary, and Pyrite. She teams up with a mysterious bounty-hunter and zooms between planets having exciting adventures and narrowly escaping peril.

The plot relies on coincidence at several points, e.g. overhearing important people making show more significant phone calls at a party, which I found a bit tenuous. If you don't think too hard about that, though, it's huge fun. In fact, I think the whole novel would make an excellent film. The vibes are similar to Farscape, albeit not as weird. Although there are various alien species, there is no great sense of alien-ness. Some of the technology is very creepy, though. There is some neat world-building around the three empires, but it's somewhat undermined by the use of 21st century American slang and idioms.

What stood out for me were the relationships, both friendships and romances, and how different characters felt about loyalty to the empire they grew up in. The former were developed really well. Rig and Ginka have a great dynamic, Rig's librarian girlfriend June is delightful, and Rig's troubled relationship with her sister is an effective counterpoint. As for the latter, I found the narrative most thoughtful when it considered conflicted loyalties. In this highly sectarian future/alternate world, breaking away from the empire you grew up in to live outside it is nearly impossible. I appreciated the discussions between Rig and Ginka about this. On the other hand, there are also lots of great fight scenes, dressing fancy to infiltrate a party, exciting chases, and other action shenanigans. Sometimes it's good to read sci-fi that's more interested in thrilling fun than exploring big ideas - particularly when it stars a badass lesbian. show less

Bluebird is a fun, femme, action-filled space opera with thriller vibes and gunslinger appeal.

“Arson is easier to commit than people make it out to be.”

Author Ciel Pierlot had me from the first line of Bluebird. And the self-described disaster bisexual’s debut really delivered on that fiery promise. Queer sci-fi can sometimes be challenging to find, and good queer sci-fi can be even harder. But Pierlot’s effortless take on the space opera genre, from the well-crafted setting to the thoroughly enjoyable characters, gave me hope that it’s out there.

I enjoyed Pierlot’s sassy, easy-going style and appreciated the story’s steady and engaging pace. There’s plenty of action to keep readers turning pages. But the loveable show more characters and their relationships were what held me to the satisfying conclusion. Rig was a delight, embodying some of my favorite hero tropes in a lovely, femme package. I appreciated the Pierlot including themes of found family, the dangers of colonialism, and the importance of relationships and forgiveness. A story like this could’ve easily felt one-note.

This story contains mentions of violence, medical procedures, and religious and systemic oppression. show less

Since it seems ever more difficult to find a basic space adventure in print form that doesn't inspire the feeling of "why bother," I can say that I actually had fun (what a concept) with this first novel. What Pierlot has going for them as an author is an ear for snappy dialogue, the ability to sketch their characters quickly, and some ability to make the standard tropes work for them, rather than being shackled by those tropes. I'll be looking forward to their next book; hopefully they go from strength to strength.

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
This book contains themes of racism, colonialism, and exploitation. There are scenes of drug use and drug withdrawal, torture, violence, blood and gore. There are scenes of mutilation, and loss of limbs, including one which is done without the character’s knowledge, and they awake to find out what happened in a hospital bed. There are ongoing themes of emotional and physical abuse, including forced separation from loved ones.

Bluebird was a lovely book with engaging characters that I grew to love over the course of the book, and that is sort of the problem. The universe Rig lives in is anything but lovely. This book should have left me with some warm fuzzy feelings (I’m not a show more complete pessimist), just not quite so many. Bluebird is an adult fiction novel that reads to me like a young adult novel; I’ve read some young adult novels that are darker and more cynical than this book. Which would be fine if this was a space opera like Star Wars where the heroes fight the big bad and save the day. The issue is that Bluebird is aiming for much higher resonance and while it accurately hits some targets, in terms of overall plot I found it a bit lacking.

The issue for me was the predictability. That is what made it feel like it was written for a much younger audience. In a universe that is filled with atrocities the protagonist meets an awful lot of nice people who don’t stab her in the back and help her and bounty hunter friend on their merry way. It’s not quite that simple, and yet in a way it is. When an issue does crop up it was something that was telegraphed from miles away, highlighted in neon colours, and underlined so many times that you couldn’t miss it.

For those wanting a light fun read, that’s absolutely fine and if you’re just wanting a novel that takes “Lesbian gunslinger fights spies in space!” to heart then this is the book for you. However, Pierlot is also using science fiction to engage with the topic of colonialism, something she does skilfully. Rig is not just on the run from her faction, she’s a reclaimer, and she has been successfully hunting down Kashrini artefacts that have been stolen by the factions.

I realised while writing this review that the issue for me was not Pierlot’s choice to write a pulp science fiction novel and infuse it with “serious topics”. That is what science fiction has been doing since the dawn of the genre, after all. Again, it comes back to the predictable scenarios and I think I’m a tad annoyed with Pierlot in a way. On the one hand she has created this deep and fascinating universe, the perfect landscape for discussing colonialism and claiming from cultures, and by doing so shown great skill as a writer. In comparison, the overarching storyline of Bluebird seems sloppy. It feels like it is trying to appeal to the market, it’s aim to sell copies rather than get to the root of the story by making it an easier read and holding the reader’s hand at every turn.

I also felt a bit let down by the lesbian relationship in Bluebird. A kickass librarian character? I was completely ready to love June, and then there was this horrible moment where it became extremely obvious that her love for Rig would only ever go so far. Even when her logical argument was proved to be completely wrong, she still stood by it. As someone who is an emotional abuse survivor, reading about a relationship where one person has to find excuses not to be with the other and then painfully watch as their partner convinces them that it’s ok, is not fun. I don’t want to read that, I don’t want that to be considered the norm to aim for in a relationship. Even when someone points out to Rig that this isn’t right, it’s smothered, ignored and never readdressed. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this happen with an LGBTQA couple in a novel, and it’s not realistic, it’s just depressing.

As a result Bluebird’s great premise becomes a mediocre science fiction novel which personally, I’ll remember as being a fun read and that was it. This is Pierlot’s debut novel, so I’d be interested in seeing how her style progresses in the future. She does have a gaming background which may explain the reader hand-holding aspect of her writing, which as a fellow gamer, I can recognise its origins. Useful for a career in game writing, not so much in novel writing.

Pierlot is also a digital artist and has created two artworks of the main characters of the novel, which you can find in her online portfolio here.

For more of my reviews please visit my blog! show less

Snappy and Irreverent space opera. Rig is a smuggler/freedom fighter with a haunted past. When the mysterious Ginka unexpectedly joins her on a job, spies and secret police start chasing them. Rig scrambles to protect her new maybe friend, as well as the people she cares about—Her girlfriend (who is a kickass librarian) and her sister—and her own secrets.
Very tropey yet does not have any love triangles.

This book is fine. Very tropey and cliche with characters who feel less like people and more like flat archetypes, which is wild because there were so many and almost none of them mattered. The middle drags and then it just...ends with everything wrapped up neatly without much conflict. Had to force myself to finish after almost DNF'ing twice, and it wasn't worth it.