Here’s a book that I liked a lot – at the end I was sort of surprised how much I enjoyed it. Because books about lesbian space necromancers seems to be a pretty narrow niche.
I like books with deep worldbuilding, and the author handles this admirably. Things aren’t over-explained. Take the basic idea of a necromancer – raise the dead, magic, whatever – you’ve got enough to follow the story. And then the writer gives you more information as you need it.
The plot itself is filled with stuff that I enjoy – a group of people totally isolated, a competition, hidden doors and missing keys and tests and betrayals. There is lots of backstory that we get in fragments (again, as needed) and this never feels like an information dump.
The writing of the characters is for the most part well done. The main character of this book, Gideon, talks like a smart-ass teenager in contemporary, decidedly not like a member of this world the author has introduced. Because of this she gets some great lines and funny scenes but it does break the suspension of disbelief quite often. If you can get past this, the book is well worth the read.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. For my next book I am reading System Collapse by Martha Wells.
