313 pages
English language
Published Jan. 2, 2024 by Flatiron Books.
Save one world. Doom her own.
From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization.
Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future.
Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.
Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a …
Save one world. Doom her own.
From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization.
Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future.
Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.
Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself.
This got better as it went along, but was a bit patchy. It felt like the first quarter of the book could have been removed without changing much.
A story about friendship, betrayal, and the aftereffects of colonization (in space!) with heists.
The aliens are alien, there's some interesting exploration of wormholes and first contact dynamics, and the action is engaging and unpredictable.
A repatriating art thief turned grad student goes on one last job for her dear alien friend Auncle to save xyr species as well as all of humanity.
This was a fun adventure of a book. I really enjoyed Maya and Auncle's deep friendship across species boundaries; that Maya feels seen and connected, even by an alien she can't fully understand. I liked that all of the characters (and species) aren't perfect, and have done things that they regret but still felt like were for the right reasons. The heist sequences were fun, and there was also a dangerous ruins sequence that reminded me of Martha Wells's fantasy novels.
I wish the other crew members had a little bit more depth to them, but overall this was still solidly enjoyable.
