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A review by azrah786
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
3.5
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, injury, murder, death, death of parent (off page), suicidal ideation, suicide, war, genocide, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, xenophobia, ableism, sexual assault, rape (off page), pregnancy, child abuse, radicalisation, gaslighting, confinement
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Some Desperate Glory is a fast paced, action packed sci-fi that will keep you on your toes.
The story revolves around Kyr, a young super soldier who has been brought up on Gaea Station as part of a militarised fascist cult, a group determined to avenge humanity from the Majoda - aliens who obliterated Earth with the help of a reality bending technology known as the Wisdom. However, when it comes to being assigned a division to serve in Kyr is allocated to Nursery, where she is expected to bear children, and her brother is sent on a mission to certain death. Less than pleased with her fate Kyr sets off to save her brother instead and to claim her higher purpose in the war against the Majoda. What she doesn’t expect is the reality check she gets along the way.
One of the big selling points about this book is that it is labelled as a queer space opera. Some things you should know going in is that yes the MC (and a few of the supporting cast) identify as queer but there is not much in terms of romance in this book. There is very little. In fact with characters who are so rigorously indoctrinated as part of a patriarchal community there are a lot of disparaging attitudes towards anyone who identifies as queer in the story and the MC’s journey has a lot to do with unlearning her brainwashing and coming to terms with her own identity. On that note there are A LOT of heavy topics so please take care when picking this one up and definitely check the content warnings before doing so.
The various characters in the book are all pretty morally ambiguous but the single POV narrative means we mainly get accustomed with Kyr and she is not a likable protagonist at all. Her age and mannerisms make the book have a YA feel to it which again is not what you would expect going in so this might be off putting for some people. Her journey and development over the course of the book are in some way inspiring and make you warm towards her a little but I’m not sure I totally liked her by the end either. Her saving grace in a sense and what allowed me to put up with her was how much she actually cared for her brother. I'd definitely give Tesh credit for character relationships throughout this book because they were an interesting mix and written and developed quite well.
What I also really like were the little snippets from text/books that we got at the beginning of each part fleshing out the history and philosophy surrounding everything occurring in the book. Plus I always love seeing different interpretations on reality bending / subrealities / alternate timelines and Tesh’s take on it was pretty cool. Otherwise I have to say the worldbuilding does come across as a little simplistic.
This is an edge of your seat type of read where a lot is happening. The plot itself is simple but it’s the type of sci-fi where everything is storming on ahead and by the time you register what they mean some new twist gets thrown in. Sometimes this makes for the best sci-fi, other times this can be quite frustrating. I’d say for the most part this book falls into the former however, I did get lost by some parts when it came to the reality changing / Shadowspace technology. It is never fully explained so didn’t feel even slightly credible.
The last thing that I do want to point out is a very questionable moment which occurs towards the end of the book which I really don’t think was necessary - Rebecca Roanhorse’s review touches on it here – and this made me knock off another half star.
But all in all this was an extremely engaging story about indoctrination and survival that despite not being particularly ground-breaking was an entertaining read all the same.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, injury, murder, death, death of parent (off page), suicidal ideation, suicide, war, genocide, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, xenophobia, ableism, sexual assault, rape (off page), pregnancy, child abuse, radicalisation, gaslighting, confinement
--
Some Desperate Glory is a fast paced, action packed sci-fi that will keep you on your toes.
The story revolves around Kyr, a young super soldier who has been brought up on Gaea Station as part of a militarised fascist cult, a group determined to avenge humanity from the Majoda - aliens who obliterated Earth with the help of a reality bending technology known as the Wisdom. However, when it comes to being assigned a division to serve in Kyr is allocated to Nursery, where she is expected to bear children, and her brother is sent on a mission to certain death. Less than pleased with her fate Kyr sets off to save her brother instead and to claim her higher purpose in the war against the Majoda. What she doesn’t expect is the reality check she gets along the way.
One of the big selling points about this book is that it is labelled as a queer space opera. Some things you should know going in is that yes the MC (and a few of the supporting cast) identify as queer but there is not much in terms of romance in this book. There is very little. In fact with characters who are so rigorously indoctrinated as part of a patriarchal community there are a lot of disparaging attitudes towards anyone who identifies as queer in the story and the MC’s journey has a lot to do with unlearning her brainwashing and coming to terms with her own identity. On that note there are A LOT of heavy topics so please take care when picking this one up and definitely check the content warnings before doing so.
The various characters in the book are all pretty morally ambiguous but the single POV narrative means we mainly get accustomed with Kyr and she is not a likable protagonist at all. Her age and mannerisms make the book have a YA feel to it which again is not what you would expect going in so this might be off putting for some people. Her journey and development over the course of the book are in some way inspiring and make you warm towards her a little but I’m not sure I totally liked her by the end either. Her saving grace in a sense and what allowed me to put up with her was how much she actually cared for her brother. I'd definitely give Tesh credit for character relationships throughout this book because they were an interesting mix and written and developed quite well.
What I also really like were the little snippets from text/books that we got at the beginning of each part fleshing out the history and philosophy surrounding everything occurring in the book. Plus I always love seeing different interpretations on reality bending / subrealities / alternate timelines and Tesh’s take on it was pretty cool. Otherwise I have to say the worldbuilding does come across as a little simplistic.
This is an edge of your seat type of read where a lot is happening. The plot itself is simple but it’s the type of sci-fi where everything is storming on ahead and by the time you register what they mean some new twist gets thrown in. Sometimes this makes for the best sci-fi, other times this can be quite frustrating. I’d say for the most part this book falls into the former however, I did get lost by some parts when it came to the reality changing / Shadowspace technology. It is never fully explained so didn’t feel even slightly credible.
The last thing that I do want to point out is a very questionable moment which occurs towards the end of the book which I really don’t think was necessary - Rebecca Roanhorse’s review touches on it here – and this made me knock off another half star.
But all in all this was an extremely engaging story about indoctrination and survival that despite not being particularly ground-breaking was an entertaining read all the same.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting