A Study in Honor is the first book in the Janet Watson Chronicles, a new series by RT Reviewers’ Choice Award–winning author Beth Bernobich writing as Claire O’Dell. This reimagining of Sherlock Holmes is set in a not-too-distant future America during a second civil war and recasts the detective and Dr. Watson as two black women living in Washington, D.C.

This novel, told through Janet Watson’s first person perspective and journal entries, starts with her journey to and arrival in the nation’s capital before she meets enigmatic Sara Holmes. After having served as a surgeon in the New Civil War, Janet was forced to return to civilian life and begin anew after a bullet shattered her arm. Though another surgeon supplied her with a mechanical limb, he had limited options available to choose from and had hoped the VA would be able to set her up with a better replacement after her honorable discharge. However, Janet soon learns that they do not consider this to be a priority—and she will not be able to perform surgical procedures until she has been set up with an improved apparatus.

While in the midst of searching for a new job and a permanent residence, Janet runs into a friend at the VA who tells her that his friend Sara Holmes is seeking a roommate. He warns her that Sara can be difficult, but Janet meets with her anyway—and regrets it when their first encounter abruptly ends with her fleeing from Sara’s blunt observations about her innermost fears. After receiving an apologetic note from her, Janet decides to give her a second chance and view the apartment, which turns out to be so lovely that she is swayed into agreeing to live there with Sara.

In the course of her new job as a medical technician at the VA, Janet becomes concerned about the condition of a particular patient, and shortly thereafter, sees that an upcoming appointment with her was canceled because she’s deceased. When Janet attempts to look into the circumstances of her death further, she discovers that this patient’s records were mysteriously deleted from their system. With Sara’s resources and aid, Janet soon realizes she’s stumbled into something more than the death of a single veteran, something that someone is willing to kill to keep secret—and the two are determined to solve the case.

A Study in Honor is one of those books that I thought had a great concept but could have been far better executed. Though Janet’s characterization was well done and Sara was intriguing in theory, it was also slow and the promising dynamic between the two main characters never quite gelled. That said, science fiction mysteries that focus on the plot more than the speculative fiction aspects often do not entirely work for me, and a lot of people have enjoyed this far more than I did—so if this sounds like a book you might like, you may want to take my opinion on it with a large grain of salt!

This is Janet’s story, and I thought she herself was the strongest part of the novel. When she first returns to DC, she doesn’t have much of a personal support system—her parents are dead, her sister moved across the country, and the woman she loved is now engaged to another—plus she has PTSD from her wartime experience in addition to the missing arm. Her fear and rage are quite palpable, and earlier parts of the story particularly do a fantastic job of showing her sheer grit and determination as she keeps moving forward: not only the process of finding employment and housing but also managing everyday activities like eating and just getting herself from day to day. Since she can no longer perform surgery, she ends up taking a lesser-paying job as a medical technician for which she’s overqualified. This new role involves asking patients a few routine questions before they meet with a doctor, and the way she goes above and beyond the outlined job description to help and fight for them brings to life her compassion and devotion to justice.

Sara had potential to be fascinating but was a little too mysterious in this first installment to be truly compelling, even though I liked the bones of her personality. As usual for Holmes, she can be uncomfortably direct, and she has a tendency to think she knows the best way of handling things without having any need to consult others. These traits lead Sara to make mistakes that cause friction with Janet, but it also does seem as though she’s a caring person whose heart is usually in the right place.

The seeds were certainly sown for Janet and Sara’s relationship to become interesting, but I felt like most of the interactions between the two main characters bordered on engaging without quite getting there. In particular, I thought that Sara’s inclination to leave notes for Janet instead of speaking to her face to face meant there were some missed opportunities for memorable scenes between them (such as when Sara expressed her regrets about how their first meeting ended). It seemed reasonable for her to do this, but it didn’t have the same impact that dialogue between them could have had.

Even though there was much I liked about the foundations of the novel, the whole never quite came together for me in many ways. A Study in Honor could be mildly entertaining at times, but I thought it dragged at other times. There were more journal entries than I thought were necessary, and there were far too many mundane details about Janet’s new job that could have been cut, such as the specifics of how she logged in to the system. Furthermore, I just wasn’t that interested in the hows or whys of the mystery or the investigation other than wanting to see Janet and Sara get to the bottom of it to prevent further deaths from occurring. The setting was also very much like the present other than the civil war and some of the technology—which is not necessarily a bad thing for a near future setting, but at the same time, I didn’t find a backdrop so similar to the world in which I already live all that captivating.

A Study in Honor is composed of some artful elements, particularly the recreation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson through a feminist lens, and I did think the character of Janet Watson was a success. However, I found the novel was ultimately missing that difficult to define, deeply personal “spark” that would have made me eager to keep turning the pages (though I did finish reading it!).

My Rating: 5/10

Where I got my reading copy: Electronic ARC from the publisher.

Read a Sample from A Study in Honor

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I discuss books I got over the last week—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration (often these are unsolicited books from publishers). Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.

This covers the last couple of weeks since only one book came in the mail the week before. There are no new reviews since the last weekend feature, but I have one in progress that I’m hoping to have up in a couple of days!

Noumenon Infinity by Marina J. Lostetter

Noumenon Infinity by Marina J. Lostetter

This science fiction novel will be released on August 14 (trade paperback, ebook).

The publisher’s website has an excerpt from Noumenon, a previously published novel set in the same world as Noumenon Infinity.

 

Travel to the remotest reaches of deep space in this wondrous follow-up to the acclaimed Noumenon—a tale of exploration, adventure, science, and humanity with the sweep and intelligence of the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Neal Stephenson, and Octavia Butler.

Generations ago, Convoy Seven and I.C.C. left Earth on a mission that would take them far beyond the solar system. Launched by the Planet United Consortium, a global group formed to pursue cooperative Earth-wide interests in deep space, nine ships headed into the unknown to explore a distant star called LQ Pyx.

Eons later, the convoy has returned to LQ Pyx to begin work on the Web, the alien megastructure that covers the star. Is it a Dyson Sphere, designed to power a civilization as everyone believes—or something far more sinister?

Meanwhile, Planet United’s littlest convoy, long thought to be lost, reemerges in a different sector of deep space. What they discover holds the answers to unlocking the Web’s greater purpose.

Each convoy possesses a piece of the Web’s puzzle . . . but they may not be able to bring those pieces together and uncover the structure’s true nature before it’s too late.

A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

This young adult fantasy novel, a retelling of the story of King Midas focusing on his daughter, will be released on August 14 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook).

Hypable has an excerpt from A Touch of Gold.

 

Gold is wealth. Wealth is power. Power is a curse.

King Midas once had the ability to turn all he touched into gold. But after his gift—or curse—almost killed his daughter, Midas relinquished The Touch forever. Ten years later, Princess Kora still bears the consequences of her father’s wish: her skin shines golden, rumors follow her everywhere she goes, and she harbors secret powers that are getting harder to hide.

Kora spends her days locked in the palace, concealed behind gloves and veils, trying to ignore the stares and gossip of courtiers. It isn’t until a charming young duke arrives that Kora realizes there may be someone out there who doesn’t fear her or her curse. But their courtship is disrupted when a thief steals precious items from the kingdom, leaving the treasury depleted and King Midas vulnerable. Thanks to her unique ability to sense gold, Kora is the only one who can track the thief down. As she sails off on her quest, Kora learns that not everything is what it seems—not thieves, not pirates, and not even curses. She quickly discovers that gold—and the power it brings—is more dangerous than she’d ever believed.

Midas learned his lesson at a price. What will Kora’s journey cost?

From author Annie Sullivan comes A Touch of Gold, the untold story of the daughter King Midas turned to gold, perfect for fans of Cinder and The Wrath and the Dawn.

Additional Books:

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I discuss books I got over the last week—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration (often these are unsolicited books from publishers). Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.

It’s been a couple of weeks since one of these features because I was trying to wrap up a book review last Sunday. There was just one book purchase that came in that week, and it’s the first book included below (and it’s one I couldn’t resist buying since I’ve been excited about it ever since I first heard about it!).

In case you missed it last week, the aforementioned review was posted the next day:

  • If Tomorrow Comes (Yesterday’s Kin Trilogy #2) by Nancy Kress — I didn’t find this as engrossing as the first novel in the series and felt there were too many major characters accompanied by too little satisfying character development/arcs, but I did find the planetary setting interesting and enjoyed that this is science fiction in which science is a hero that makes progress possible.

And now, recent book arrivals!

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

Peng Shepherd’s debut novel, which appeared on my anticipated books of 2018 list, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The publisher’s website has a sample from The Book of M—and if you missed it on this site in April, Peng Shepherd wrote an essay about the time-traveling book that made her love SFF and introduced her to the magic of books (literally!).

 

Set in a dangerous near-future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.

One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears – an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.

Ory and his wife, Max, have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day, Max’s shadow disappears, too.

Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.

As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure.

Like The Passage and Station Eleven, this haunting, thought-provoking, and beautiful novel explores fundamental questions of memory, connection, and what it means to be human in a world turned upside down.

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3) by Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers’ third Wayfarer novel will be available on July 24 (hardcover, trade paperback, ebook, audiobook).

The publisher’s website has a sample from Record of a Spaceborn Few, as well as the previously published Wayfarer books:

  1. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee)
  2. A Closed and Common Orbit (Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee and Hugo Award nominee)
 

Return to the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, as humans, artificial intelligence, aliens, and some beings yet undiscovered explore what it means to be a community in this exciting third adventure in the acclaimed and multi-award-nominated science fiction Wayfarers series, brimming with heartwarming characters and dazzling space adventure.

Hundreds of years ago, the last humans on Earth boarded the Exodus Fleet in search of a new home among the stars. After centuries spent wandering empty space, their descendants were eventually accepted by the well-established species that govern the Milky Way.

But that was long ago. Today, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, the birthplace of many, yet a place few outsiders have ever visited. While the Exodans take great pride in their original community and traditions, their culture has been influenced by others beyond their bulkheads. As many Exodans leave for alien cities or terrestrial colonies, those who remain are left to ponder their own lives and futures: What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination? Why remain in space when there are habitable worlds available to live? What is the price of sustaining their carefully balanced way of life—and is it worth saving at all?

A young apprentice, a lifelong spacer with young children, a planet-raised traveler, an alien academic, a caretaker for the dead, and an Archivist whose mission is to ensure no one’s story is forgotten, wrestle with these profound universal questions. The answers may seem small on the galactic scale, but to these individuals, it could mean everything.

Dragon's Code: Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern by Gigi McCaffrey

Dragon’s Code (Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern) by Gigi McCaffrey

Dragon’s Code is an upcoming new book written by Anne McCaffrey’s daughter, Gigi McCaffrey, that is set in the world of Dragonriders of Pern. It will be released on October 2 (hardcover, ebook).

 

A new hero emerges in a divided world as one of sci-fi’s most beloved series—Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern—relaunches with this original adventure from Anne’s daughter, Gigi McCaffrey.

In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Dragonriders of Pern series, Gigi does her mother proud, adding to the family tradition of spinning unputdownable tales that recount the adventures of the brave inhabitants of a distant planet who battle the pitiless adversary known as Thread.

The last time Thread attacked Pern, the world was unprepared for the fight—until the Oldtimers appeared. These courageous dragonriders arrived from the past, traveling four hundred years to help their descendants survive. But the collision of past and present took its toll. While most of the displaced rescuers adapted to their new reality, others could not abide the jarring change and found themselves in soul-crushing exile, where unhappiness and resentment seethed.

Piemur, a journeyman harper, also feels displaced, cast adrift by the loss of his spectacular boyhood voice and uncertain of his future. But when the Masterharper of Pern sees promise in the young man and sends him undercover among the exiled Oldtimers, Piemur senses the looming catastrophe that threatens the balance of power between the Weyrs and Holds of Pern.

When the unthinkable happens, Piemur must rise to the challenge to avert disaster and restore honor to the dragons and dragonriders of Pern. Because now, in a world already beset by Thread, another, more insidious danger looms: For the first time in living memory, dragons may be on the verge of fighting dragons.

Additional Book(s):

Nancy Kress’ Nebula Award–winning novella Yesterday’s Kin grew into a trilogy of the same name, beginning with the expansion of this work into the novel Tomorrow’s Kin. The first third of this expansion is the previously published story of visitors from another planet coming to Earth, and the rest of the book covers the ten years following their departure—including the aftermath of the imminent event of which the aliens warned the people of Earth before they left. It shows how it hit some parts of the world harder than others and its effects on the ecosystem, and it also explores various societal attitudes toward the aliens with many blaming the messengers as the cause of the changes that succeeded their warning.

Beginning shortly after the end of the first book in the series, If Tomorrow Comes is a story of survival and adaptation that is mostly set on the visitors’ planet, now commonly known as Kindred. The United States has completed their starship and gathered a group of ambassadors, military personnel, and scientists—including Marianne Jenner, the main protagonist in Tomorrow’s Kin—to travel to Kindred with the goal of setting up diplomatic and trade relations with its people. Unfortunately, the US was not the only country to successfully build a ship capable of traveling to this solar system: the Russians, who suffered greater losses than most and are among those who hold a grudge against the aliens as the bearers of bad news, arrive and destroy the other country’s ship. Only eight of the crew from the US manage to escape via shuttle and remain alive after reaching the planet’s surface. There, they learn that the Russian ship also attacked three of Kindred’s four major cities, killing about one fifth of its people and ruining many of their hospitals and research centers—plus their own starship.

With most of their contingent dead and no ship to transport them back to Earth, this small group’s focus turns to survival: their own, as their bodies have to undergo the unpleasant process of adjusting so they can breathe the planet’s air and eat its food, but mainly that of Kindred’s people. During their space voyage, they unexpectedly jumped fourteen years and landed on the planet shortly before they will encounter the same event that had such a drastic impact on Earth. However, this will have far more dire consequences for Kindred since most of their people will not survive unless scientists can find a solution quickly—but not everyone from Earth wants to make saving the planet’s people their new mission…

Although I found If Tomorrow Comes to be perfectly readable and interesting, I did not find it as thoroughly engrossing as Tomorrow’s Kin (especially the part composed of Yesterday’s Kin, which remains the highlight of the series thus far). The ideas and science fiction elements were easily the best parts, from the exploration of how Kindred’s almost idyllic society could have come into existence to the integration of science. Yet, the novel’s execution could have been stronger in many ways, especially when it came to its characters.

The most fascinating aspect was Kindred itself: the development of the world and how its people were both similar to and different from Earth’s when faced with the looming potential end of their civilization. Even before twenty percent of their people were killed, they had relatively few people compared to Earth, all of whom lived on one continent with one culture and one government. With their smaller population and land mass, their survival has always been precarious, and a woman who led them centuries ago instituted a peaceful but strictly regulated way of life—traditionally matriarchal due to her influence—that they continue to follow. They are particularly cognizant of protecting Mother World and her resources, and they do not have a military. No one is hungry or homeless since their large family groups tend to ensure everyone is provided for, plus they distribute their wealth. Though Kindred is more harmonious than Earth, its people are not perfect and it’s not a utopia, however. Crime rates are low, but crime does exist—and the threat of extinction has a way of shaking people up, with some of the people of Kindred resenting their visitors for the other ship’s destruction of their cities.

As captivating as I found the worldbuilding, I would have liked to have been shown more of Kindred. The story is primarily centered on people from Earth, both those who recently arrived and those who chose to leave Earth on the alien starship years before, and most information about the planet is conveyed through the former explaining it to the newcomers instead of seeing it firsthand. They do, of course, interact and work with some of the local people and even meet a leader known as the Mother of Mothers, but most of their time on the planet is confined to a small area in which they conduct scientific research or a survival bunker begun by some of Earth’s former residents. These limitations do make sense since part of the conflict revolves around differences between the surviving military personnel, who want the others to remain in a secure area they can protect, and the civilians, who believe they are overreacting and want freedom to move as they please, but I would have preferred to learn less about Kindred through conversation and more through observation.

The biggest weakness, in my opinion, is that it follows a lot of characters without providing enough development for most of them. The most central character was the most interesting to read about and the only one who had an at all satisfying character arc: Leo, a marksman recruited for the expedition to Kindred. He’s an optimist who tries to make the best of the situation when they are stranded on Kindred, doing his best to learn their language and understand their culture. He believes the best course of action is to work with Kindred’s local police, and he grapples with decisions related to loyalty, obedience to authority, and the greater good throughout the course of the novel.

The other characters were not as well done. I did love Isabelle, a smart, compassionate woman gifted at understanding people’s perspectives and mediating disputes, but I was disappointed that she went from briefly being a viewpoint character to being viewed through the eyes of others: mainly through the eyes of the two men involved in a love triangle with her that I really could have done without. (That said, I did rather like that another potential budding romance became a close platonic friendship instead.) Her thirteen-year-old nephew who has spent most of his life on Kindred is another major character and succeeds at being both the most unlikable and the least interesting: he convinces himself that he has an important role in saving civilization that justifies being unethical, beginning with stealing and leading to far more despicable actions. It also follows a doctor from Earth and the previously mentioned protagonist of the previous book, neither of whom seem as prominent as the others and have “big moments” toward the end that are not particularly satisfactory for different reasons.

However, Marianne’s story especially ties into a component I rather enjoyed: the incorporation of science. This is science fiction in which science isn’t just some abstract concept that allows starships to travel to distant planets but is also a problem solving tool. When their plans for remaining on Kindred for a short term go awry, the survivors from Earth use scientific knowledge to determine the best way to adjust. The search for a solution to Kindred’s problem shows the scientific process, the frustration of waiting for an outcome then hopefully trying yet again and the exuberance that comes with seeing results. Science itself is a hero in this story that makes progress possible.

If Tomorrow’s Kin has some flaws, including some of the execution of the resolution and those previously discussed, but it has its strengths as well and offers an intriguing look at how a society like Kindred’s could have come to be—and how they could have reacted to an existential threat. Although I didn’t find it as compulsively readable as the previous volume, I am looking forward to continuing the story in Terran Tomorrow (coming November 2018).

My Rating: 7/10

Where I got my reading copy: Finished copy from the publisher.

Read an Excerpt from If Tomorrow Comes

Previous Related Reviews:

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature where I discuss books I got over the last week—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration (often these are unsolicited books from publishers). Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included.

Last week brought a fantasy debut that sounds excellent, but first, here’s my latest review in case you missed it last week:

  • Review of Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor #2) by Mark Lawrence — Although I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as Red Sister, I still loved it, especially the second half. I’m invested in the characters, and I also appreciated that it had characters with a variety of strengths and nuns who were badass in different ways.

Now, on to the latest book mail!

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Tasha Suri’s debut novel will be released on November 13 in the US (trade paperback, ebook) and on November 15 in the UK.

I’ve been intrigued by Empire of Sand since I first heard of it earlier this year so I was pretty thrilled when I opened a mystery book package and found a copy of it!

 

A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods. Empire of Sand is Tasha Suri’s captivating, Mughal India-inspired debut fantasy.

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda.

Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…

Empire of Sand is a lush, dazzling fantasy novel perfect for readers of City of Brass and The Wrath & the Dawn.

Additional Book(s):

International bestselling author Mark Lawrence’s most recent novel, Grey Sister, is the second installment in the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. The previous volume, Red Sister, was one of the most engaging books I read last year largely because I was so invested in the main character and her story (and the fact that it revolved around a group of badass nuns also certainly worked in its favor!). Though I didn’t find Grey Sister quite as compelling as the first, I did love it as well and could hardly put it down throughout the exciting second half.

Other than the future timeline continued in the prologue and epilogue and the first chapter set toward the end of the previous book, Grey Sister takes place about two years after the end of Red Sister, beginning with Nona’s advancement to Mystic Class. Within the walls of the convent, she must contend with a secret that would surely get her expelled if it were discovered, a highborn novice whose mission in life appears to be getting Nona into trouble, and her upcoming Shade Trial—which seems an impossible feat for someone with Nona’s distinct eyes and lack of a shadow, as it requires hiding in plain sight among her classmates.

Meanwhile, neither the influential Tacsis family nor their hired assassins have forgotten their vendetta against Nona, and those in power are becoming increasingly desperate as the ice extends further into the narrow corridor around the world’s equator. Aristocrats are hatching plans involving using the Church of the Ancestor as their pawn, but farsighted Abbess Glass has a plan of her own—a plan that leads Nona into great danger outside the convent…

Red Sister was one of my two favorite books of 2017, so of course Grey Sister was one of this year’s releases I was most looking forward to reading. Though I loved it as well, I thought the first book was stronger and found the first half of Grey Sister surprisingly easy to put down compared to the previous novel. It was certainly readable with some compelling parts, such as the Shade Trial and the mystery surrounding Abbess Glass’ plot, but it was also unevenly paced with too much focus given to the petty, uninteresting novice who was hostile toward Nona. Many of the secondary characters could have been better developed, and the writing was occasionally awkwardly phrased (plus there were quite a few typos)—although there was also more of the great dialogue often tinged with humor as in the first book, even if it didn’t seem quite as sharply honed to me.

Yet the second part was more consistently intriguing and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened to the characters I’ve become so invested in: Nona, Abbess Glass, Zole, and a certain Grey Sister I’m going to avoid naming because it’s a bit of a spoiler. It contained some phenomenal scenes with fighting and magic, and I particularly enjoyed the theme of strength and power taking a variety of forms. Best of all, I found Grey Sister to be a book I kept thinking about long after I put it down, wondering what happens next and speculating about happenings in the future timeline. Even though I felt it could have used a bit more polish, Grey Sister also stuck with me more than most of the books I read.

Grey Sister reveals more about the Missing, the people who lived on the planet before the four tribes arrived on their ships, but also leaves plenty of questions surrounding them unanswered. It also has more focus on the Noi-Guin assassins, and as can be gleaned from the title, Sisters of Discretion with one of the more prominent characters being a Grey Sister who comes to Nona’s aid. Grey Sisters are just as deadly as the warrior order of Red Sisters, but more of their work is done from the shadows and their weapons of choice tend toward poisons, traps, and throwing stars. Nona herself does not have the subtlety of a Sister of Discretion, but like all novices, she takes Shade classes and her story also ties into learning more about the Grey Sisters. After she’s moved to Mystic Class, she faces the challenge of the Shade Trial in which the goal is to retrieve a box and open it—without being challenged by any of her classmates waiting in the vicinity knowing she’ll be attempting to do exactly that.

The school setting with its classes and array of nuns is fun, and I appreciate how the different powers are handled. Though Nona is unusually powerful even compared to most (but not all!) of the novices, she isn’t automatically the best at everything and some types of magic come to her more easily than others since the range of abilities is vast. Large, forceful, destructive magic comes more naturally to Nona than that requiring delicacy and patience, but when she succeeds, it isn’t always entirely due to her power (though it certainly helps!). As in the first book, she tends to excel by thinking outside the box and knowing herself and how to best use her strengths to her advantage. Yet no matter how powerful a single individual is, big changes ultimately come from people working together—and even with smart ideas and immense magics, Nona still would not have made it out of most of her most major or minor scrapes without her friends and the supportive bonds between them.

There are nuns who expertly wield weapons or extraordinary magic, but many are Holy Sisters who simply serve the Ancestor, including the head of the convent. Throughout Grey Sister, there are several sections following Abbess Glass as she sets a plan in motion, though the precise details are not revealed until later. The abbess is a fascinating women who does not possess flashy abilities but is still a total badass: she does not need to know how to handle cold steel because she is made of steel. Abbess Glass is politically savvy with an understanding of people, and she takes great personal risks and faces the consequences with unwavering courage and a cool demeanor.

An overarching theme is that there is a time for being upfront and forceful and one for fine-tuned deception, and despite all the violence and physical combat, there’s also an emphasis on inner strength. Abbess Glass is the obvious example of this, but though she makes mistakes at times, Nona also faces a challenge that shows some inner strength: restraining her rage when others are tempting her to give in to it and remaining steadfast in her conviction that friendship doesn’t make her weak. She’s the type of person who hates and loves with all of her heart, and although expressing hatred comes more naturally to her than love as she’s not the type to dwell on sentimentality, her actions speak volumes—she doesn’t think twice about putting herself in harm’s way when a friend needs her.

Even if I didn’t think Grey Sister was quite up to the high standard set by Red Sister, especially during the first half or so, I enjoyed reading it—and pondering it afterward—immensely. It contained a plethora of intriguing characters, and I’m looking forward to reading more about them in Holy Sister next year.

My Rating: 8/10

Where I got my reading copy: Finished copy from the publisher.

Read an Excerpt from Grey Sister

Reviews of Previous Books in the Book of the Ancestor Trilogy:

  1. Red Sister