I didn’t have crying over a spaceship on my 2023 reader’s bingo card, but Megan E. O’Keefe’s The Blighted Stars (Orbit 2023) was a pleasant surprise. This space opera is nonstop action, pulling the reader along before you can even catch your breath or gather your thoughts. And it’ll make you cry over a spaceship.
Tarquin Mercator is the privileged heir of an empire. He’s a geologist, more at home with his books than being involved in his father’s dealings. When his father is accused of being the reason the worlds are being destroyed, he testifies in his defense. His testimony puts a former Exemplar turn revolutionary “on ice” – Naira is a prisoner under complete Mercator control, being kept in a sleeping state until she is “reprinted.” And reprinted she is, as Tarquin’s Exemplar Lockhart on an expedition to prove the Mercators are not destroying the world. She intends to destroy the expedition ship before it lands at the Sixth Cradle. But nothing is quite as it seems. When the Amaranth is attacked by her sister ship, Naira ends up stranded on the dying planet with Tarquin and some other survivors, and she’s still disguised as his protector. The secrets they uncover can save the worlds or destroy everything.
I found myself thinking of Firefly quite often while reading, likely because of the personal relationships, banter, and wit. I really enjoyed this story, and I’m glad it’s not the end of Naira and Tarquin. (As a brief note, Tarquin was born in a female body and later reprinted into his preferred body. He also heads a trans initiative. If you blink when reading, you might miss it.)
The Blighted Stars is the first of The Devoured Worlds series. The second of the series, The Fractured Dark will be released on 9/26/2023. A huge thanks to the publisher for sending me both books of the series.
Read this book.
A Girl Named Tommi 