Reviews with content warning for Torture - A Fire Born of Exile

A Fire Born of Exile is another long novel set in Aliette de Bodard's Universe of Xuya, a collection of various stories set in the same universe. This book reminded me a lot of The Red Scholar's Wake from last year but in the end I think this book is much more approachable to a wider audience.

This book is said to be sapphic the count monte christo in space. I'm not that familiar with the count monte christo so I can't quite judge that but it is a great sapphic story in space. While I'm not usually drawn to revenge stories this one I really felt.

We meet Minh, daughter of the ruling prefect, sneaking out to the festival with her best friend. An unfortunate attempt at kidnapping puts her in the path of Quynh who has some ulterior motives for 'befriending' the young girl.

Like I said, this is a story of revenge, Quynh's story of revenge. So much was taken from her in her previous life, just to make an example. She has decided to take revenge on those that wronged her. And she will do it by any means nessecary.

But this story questions if one must keep going with that revenge. If it is really worth it when other paths open up to you? When perhaps you could have a life again. And is by any means nessecary something one truly wishes to lose their soul over?

I wasn't immediately a fan of Quynh. She's guarded but as she slowly opens up to the possibility of others, of happiness we see her for who she is.

I also loved that we got multiple sides to the story, like Minh who feels incredibly trapped and sees Quynh as her ticket out of under her mothers thumbs. It was interesting to see how others saw her. Because while she doesn't have a great life she also has a lot of priviledge compared to those in the lower parts of the belt. It kept balancing everything out.

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A Fire Born in Exile is the latest installment in Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya Universe series, a collection of works of varying lengths set in a Vietnamese-inspired space opera future where sentient mindships and humans live as family. Having previously enjoyed quite a few works from this universe and having seen this novel described as “a sapphic Count of Monte Cristo set in space,” I was very excited to pick this up.

The worldbuilding in this series is consistently excellent, and while the works share a setting they do function as standalones so there is no need to have read prior Xuya installments to enjoy this novel, which may be my favourite in the series thusfar. A Fire Born in Exile combines mastermind scheming, revenge plots, shifting motivations, complicated familial relationships, and a fantastic cast of characters.

Thank you to the author, Independent Publishers Group, JAB Books, and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for review.

Content warnings: violence, torture (not graphic / off page), war (background context / off page), emotional abuse

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