A review by helynalc
Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was cool! A gunslinging space adventure indeed, although for me, the tone was a bit more grave than that. The book's universe is quite an oppressive place, with gigantic, all-seeing factions dominating (or trying to) the life of all the inhabitants of the galaxy while being constantly at war with each other due to strange belief-system differences (but of course, really for power and control reasons). This is where Rig lives as a factionless rebel, who back in the day engineered weapons for one of the factions and now is being hunted for stolen blueprints of nanotech. She's being blackmailed using her sister, and the book is the story of how she tries to save her and get free(er) of the factions.

The setting and story are familiar, but there were always little tidbits that helped shake things up. There's nanotech, there's shady brainwashed assassins, there's even shadier rebel groups...but there's also the thing where libraries are held in almost sacred regard which is just so cool, and the whole Kashrini culture popping up constantly here and there was so interesting, I wished I could get to know more about it...it's great. The pacing was quite slow and it's not a short book either...I was never really bored, though. The plot goes this way and that, from going to a ball undercover to Do Shenanigans, through scary space stations to skiff-chase in a city-planet and another chase in, like, a catastrophe-zone planet...there's always something to do and there's always another obstacle before we end up at the final confrontation.

My favourite aspect was probably Rig and Ginka's relationship as it evolved, and Ginka herself

who is one of those brainwashed assassin types from one of the factions

. I was glad to see how her personality was opened up gradually...she never really got free from her troubles (tangible and in world-view both) and it was nice to see it represented that it's not that easy, usually. The same goes for Rig and her sister's relationship. Daara was a vague destination ahead of us the whole time, a wish and a dream Rig hasn't seen in long long years.

Their "reconciliation" is incomplete and messy and I like it.

I felt like I had to suspend disbelief with the world building and characters a few times, but it never went too over-the-top for me. I could never really get close to Rig, but her humor worked a few times in her favour and I did like that her personality ended up being complex as well. It was subtle, but it was there.

The universe did not change a lot by the end of the story, although we see one of the factions reform a little bit...I would totally read a continuation that goes more deeply into their mythology and whatnot. I felt like there was a lot of emphasis on it here while we knew very little of their beginnings. I think that was sort of the point, too, that they were warring over something that was practically insignificant, and these powers that be still judged sentient life expendable in their deadly little games. How little and weak we are against forces like that, politicians and militaristic types who have it all figured out profit-wise and have all the power. But we can still do something, our part, to preserve, to stand up. Even if the change is slow and has to be done from the inside, because we all live under the effect of these systems. And the change is flawed as we are too, but it matters that we try.

Cool book, a fun read for space opera lovers. And I loved the bird motifs everywhere too :)