Stardust Grail

Alex Keane reviewed Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

Super Fun, Tense Sci Fi Heist

4 stars

I really enjoyed Stardust Grail.

Maya is a grad student who used to work as an interstellar art thief. She gets called back to throw stars for one last job trying to track down an important artifact for her alien friend, Uncle. Along the way she makes new friends and discovers devastating truths about the universe she thought she knew everything about.

I really enjoyed the characters in this one and their interactions. They felt like the sort of chat you have with someone you work with. I also really liked the variety and diversity of the alien species portrayed in the book.

There's one section of the heist near the end of the book that felt a bit rushed and was a little harder to keep up with what was happening, though that might just have been an issue between me and the audio book.

Overall I really liked …

I really enjoyed Stardust Grail.

Maya is a grad student who used to work as an interstellar art thief. She gets called back to throw stars for one last job trying to track down an important artifact for her alien friend, Uncle. Along the way she makes new friends and discovers devastating truths about the universe she thought she knew everything about.

I really enjoyed the characters in this one and their interactions. They felt like the sort of chat you have with someone you work with. I also really liked the variety and diversity of the alien species portrayed in the book.

There's one section of the heist near the end of the book that felt a bit rushed and was a little harder to keep up with what was happening, though that might just have been an issue between me and the audio book.

Overall I really liked it, it was a fun read and one I'd be glad to recommend to friends.

Tak! reviewed Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

The Stardust Grail

4 stars

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.

enne📚 reviewed Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

4 stars

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.

Kal

rated it

Mar 9