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laurareads87 's review for:
Persephone Station
by Stina Leicht
I was eager to read Persephone Station as so much about its description and early reviews suggested it'd be a book right up my alley -- a diverse cast of female, non-binary, + queer characters, space opera action, feminist politics, and a struggle against a corporation bent on exploiting a planet with only an eclectic bunch of honourable criminals to stop them.
There was much I enjoyed about this book -- the action scenes (of which there are many, particularly in the latter half of the book) were well written, the plot was compelling (I found myself really cheering for the protagonists and their cause by the end), and AI sentience was explored in interesting ways via the characters' connections to an AI ship as well as one AI character. I also appreciate, as a bisexual + queer reader, the ways that sexual diversity is simply normal in the world of the book without itself being a plot point. Indeed, this book is very low on romance which I also appreciated for a change -- the focus here is on the friendships and bonds of trust built over time between comrades. I'm not sure what the plans are - if any - for further books in this universe but I feel like this one leaves lots of room for that, while clearly standing on its own.
What didn't work for me was the pacing of the first third of the book or so. There was a lot of 'info-dump' at the beginning -- descriptions of characters' appearances and settings that were entirely detached from the action of the plot itself -- yet I still found it difficult at times to keep the characters separate and distinct in my mind or to know exactly what everyone's motivations were. While I appreciated the diversity in the book, I did find gender was described in ways I found slightly jarring at some points -- 'nonbinary' was in some ways treated simply as a third gender, ex. "two men, a woman, and a nonbinary person walked into the room," in ways that read a bit strangely, particularly when describing characters that were totally unknown (like, how do we + the characters know people's genders here? The book doesn't really delve into how gender is socially constructed in this universe at all, or what gender norms might exist).
Overall, Persephone Station is a fun, quick read, well written and clear; if you can stick with it through the first portion, the action towards the end is exciting to read. I would absolutely read another book written in this universe as there are lots of interesting elements -- for instance the culture of the Emissaries -- which haven't been explored here, and others -- ex. the politics of artificial intelligence in this context -- which would be worth exploring further.
Content warning: violence, gun violence, murder, some gore, colonization
There was much I enjoyed about this book -- the action scenes (of which there are many, particularly in the latter half of the book) were well written, the plot was compelling (I found myself really cheering for the protagonists and their cause by the end), and AI sentience was explored in interesting ways via the characters' connections to an AI ship as well as one AI character. I also appreciate, as a bisexual + queer reader, the ways that sexual diversity is simply normal in the world of the book without itself being a plot point. Indeed, this book is very low on romance which I also appreciated for a change -- the focus here is on the friendships and bonds of trust built over time between comrades. I'm not sure what the plans are - if any - for further books in this universe but I feel like this one leaves lots of room for that, while clearly standing on its own.
What didn't work for me was the pacing of the first third of the book or so. There was a lot of 'info-dump' at the beginning -- descriptions of characters' appearances and settings that were entirely detached from the action of the plot itself -- yet I still found it difficult at times to keep the characters separate and distinct in my mind or to know exactly what everyone's motivations were. While I appreciated the diversity in the book, I did find gender was described in ways I found slightly jarring at some points -- 'nonbinary' was in some ways treated simply as a third gender, ex. "two men, a woman, and a nonbinary person walked into the room," in ways that read a bit strangely, particularly when describing characters that were totally unknown (like, how do we + the characters know people's genders here? The book doesn't really delve into how gender is socially constructed in this universe at all, or what gender norms might exist).
Overall, Persephone Station is a fun, quick read, well written and clear; if you can stick with it through the first portion, the action towards the end is exciting to read. I would absolutely read another book written in this universe as there are lots of interesting elements -- for instance the culture of the Emissaries -- which haven't been explored here, and others -- ex. the politics of artificial intelligence in this context -- which would be worth exploring further.
Content warning: violence, gun violence, murder, some gore, colonization