Radiant Star by Ann Leckie: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Radiant Star by Ann Leckie

Radiant Star is part of the Imperial Radch series, but a stand-alone. While it’ll work best if the reader knows the world and the previous events, it can—to an extent—be read as a stand-alone too. It’s set during the timeline of the original trilogy, but it’s only tangentially touched by those events.

Planet Aai is drifting in space without a sun, completely encased in ice. But it’s inhabited, and the city of Ooioiaa is a thriving underneath the ice. The ecosystem is delicate though, and the planet is heavily dependent on outside provisions. The culture and society are delicate systems too, which the Radchaai discover a bit too late after they conquer the planet.

Thirty years after the arrival of the Radchaai, the planet finds itself cut off the rest of the universe. Since there’s no communication and no way to travel in and out of their space, they don’t know what’s happening or how long it’ll last, and there are no provisions. The Radchaai governor realises that food will soon become scarce and introduces the Radch food stable, a fast-growing algae, into the ecosystem. At first, it works fine. And then the ecosystem collapses and the governor has a famine at her hands.

The governor has other problems too. The local religion that worships the Radiant Star, waiting for its return, is fractured into sects that are constantly fighting, and she has to share space with them. An introduction of the last saint—a practice the governor is trying to end—pushes matters to a point, destabilising an already fragile society.

Within this framework of a city on a brink of collapsing, three people emerge. Speaking Savant Keemat, who becomes convinced that they should be the last saint; Jonr, a neglected son of a consoror system who was supposed to be shipped out of the planet before the Radchaai arrived, but who has been stuck in a stasis pod for three decades, only to emerge to a changed world with no place in it; and Iono, whose father is supposed to be the last saint, which pushes him into a personal crisis and questionable choices. Other characters feature too, but these three are the main stories. Everything is narrated by an all-knowing, unknown person years after the events of the book.

The stories are, in a way, about small personal goals that either work or fail. They don’t come to a point simultaneously, and only Keemat gets the ending they wish and work for. Iono, who isn’t a very likable character, gets what he has coming, but also not. Jonr’s story is the one I had highest hopes for, but it ended up being the most neglected one. It doesn’t really lead to anything but a status quo for him, nor does it have any impact on the overall plot. We don’t even get a last chapter or epilogue from his POV, nor do we learn what had happened to the consoror he’s in charge of.

The chaos that the planet finds itself in comes to a surprisingly peaceful closure soon enough. Nothing much changes on the planet in the end. The Imperial Radch has changed, but that doesn’t really impact the story here. All the solutions to the governor’s problems seem a bit like deus ex machina, as the narrator divulges information as they see fit, the actual plot happening behind the scenes. Most of the time, the plot was revealed backwards, after the fact.

This was perhaps the simplest, most straightforward book in the series so far, and most readable and easiest to follow. Ancillaries featured, but weren’t a POV character, so there were no complicated scenes where the reader had to follow many events at once. The plot was simple, about the consequences of meddling with the ecosystem. The characters were mostly grey and a bit difficult to root for, except for Jonr who deserved all the best. The problems solved fairly easily and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the book ended.

This was an engaging book, but it wasn’t mind-blowing like the previous ones have been. But anything Leckie writes in this universe will interest me, and I’ll definitely read more.

The Dragon and the Blade Saint: This Isn’t Where We End Vol. 1 by Garry: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Dragon and the Blade Saint by Garry

This is a light novel with a time travel/transmigration plot. Mitaelshuroxa, an Elder Dragon, has lost bitterly at the hands of the Blade Saint who has butchered her entire people. When he goes for a killing blow, she activates a device that allows her to jump back in time. She intends to kill him before he has a chance to become so powerful even a magnificent Elder Dragon cannot defeat him.

She finds herself on the grounds of a magic academy, in a realm with no dragons, 17 years in the past, still badly hurt and trapped in human form, with almost no mana to defend herself. She’s rescued by Karen, a Guardian (in training) who offers her an asylum at the school. The only catch is, she has to pretend to be a human named El—and wear a dog collar that restricts her power. It’s almost too much to bear, but she doesn’t have to endure it long, because the Blade Saint goes to the same school and a practice duel is conveniently set between them, so she can kill him and leave. Things don’t go as planned though, and instead, she finds herself fighting a stronger enemy with him.

This was a good start to a series, fast-paced and humorous, with no romantic plot whatsoever so far. There are several POV characters, each with their own mission and distinctive voice. El was grumpy and cranky, though she was only 15 in her own realm too, and powerful despite the restrictions. Karen was saved from being annoying by her sense of humour. Villains were truly bad, with their POV chapters too.

The first half had all the annoyances of a light novel with details changing between one scene and the next, and girls’ obsessing with the size of their boobs, but when the Blade Saint, Ca’al finally showed up, the narrative changed gears. He had a good, tragic backstory that was written like it belonged to a different book, and it elevated the story from three stars to four. Fight scenes on the latter half of the book were well-written too.

The volume ends at a natural place with no cliffhangers. But the epilogue sets the stage for the next book, revealing a new villain. I might read more (if there is more), but the first volume formed a satisfying whole, so I can leave it at this too.

There are no translation notes, so this appears to be an English original. I don’t know if the author is western or Japanese, but they can write in the style of light novels well.  

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

How to Fake It in Society by K.J. Charles: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

How to Fake It in Society by KJ Charles

K.J. Charles has a skill of writing historical romances of ordinary people who are interesting without fancy titles or high social status. She gives her characters skills and occupations that are unique and meaningful for the plot instead of being mere gimmicks. And her gay historical romances never solely revolve around the fear of being found out but have their unique obstacles on the way to happily ever after.

How to Fake It in Society is about two men who know they’re not worthy of being loved. One because he’s been brought up to feel insignificant, and the other because he knows his entire life is a lie. They come together at the cross-roads in both of their lives, and each turns out to be exactly what the other needs in his life. But the lies are there and they’re not easy to forgive, as they’re exactly the kind that makes the other realise how unworthy of being loved he is. It takes a drastic turn for the two to find their happily ever after.

Titus Pilcrow has made a meagre living as a colourist, someone who makes oil and watercolours. But now he’s about to lose his shop, because his vindictive ex is his landlord. But his fate takes a drastic turn, when his elderly client pressures him to marry her on her deathbed so that her unworthy nephew won’t inherit a penny. And then she dies, leaving him a fortune.

Enter Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de La Motte, who had quite counted on that fortune. He has a moneylender at his neck, and he needs funds fast. But instead of asking for money from Titus, he ends up befriending him. And it’s an excellent friendship that gives Titus much needed self-confidence and happiness, while making Nico feel like he isn’t a complete scammer. And then it all goes wrong, with no easy way out to happiness.

This was a delightful romance. I loved both men, their unique stories and especially Titus’ enthusiasm for colours. The detailed stories about different colours never felt stamped on just so the author could show her research. They had a role in the story, up to the climax. Bad guys had their comeuppances and good guys got everything lovely. The men came together in the end on their own terms, without lies or compromises. The reader can be sure that their union will last.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Platform Decay by Martha Wells: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Platform Decay by Martha Wells

Platform Decay is book 8 in the Murderbot Diaries. Like most books in the series, it’s more a long novella that only took four hours to read, but it’s a complete and satisfying story, with no cliffhanger ending.

Murderbot has arrived on a humongous planet-circling torus to free Dr Mensah’s family members Farai, Sofi and Naja, who have been captured by Barish-Estranza corporation in retaliation to events in the previous book. They’re already in a safehouse. Murderbot simply has to get there and take them safely back to their escape shuttle. But things get immediately complicated, because the person who has been helping them wants Murderbot to save other people too, and they’re in a completely different part of the torus, to a wrong direction from the shuttle.

The rescue mission takes them through different zones of the huge torus, some of which are civilised and some that are more like the Wild West. Some zones belong to B-E, others don’t, but that doesn’t stop the corporation from chasing them. Transportation turns out to be the greatest problem though. Murderbot isn’t happy with having clingy humans and their emotions to account for. It’s even less thrilled with its own new emotion module that keeps interrupting at worst possible moments.

This was an exciting flight through imaginative environments. Murderbot was mostly its sarcastic self again, with no imminent mental breakdowns anymore, as the emotion module did its job. It was trying new things like direct communication, which went about as well as one can imagine. And it realises that having some emotions isn’t all that bad, and sometimes it’s nice to be thanked and praised. Especially if it comes from small children.

The story isn’t entirely satisfying emotionally though. The setting is new, and the characters are again people the reader hasn’t really met before. They turn out to be nice additions, but the emotional connection isn’t there, like with Mensah, Amena or ART. Their interactions with Murderbot weren’t as funny or poignant either, though an understanding formed between them in the end. But there was Three, the SecUnit Murderbot freed, exercising its free will with unpredictable results. It was nice to follow the bond between the two. And the ending was satisfying, leaving everyone in a good place. I hope we’ll get more books soon.

Out Law by Jim Butcher: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Out Law by Jim Butcher

Out Law is book number 18.75 in Dresden Files series, an odd number considering there isn’t a book n:o 18.5 and it’s a long novella of almost 200 pages. I hadn’t read book 18, Twelve Months, which came out this January (2026), or the novella The Law (2022), which apparently set the stage for this one, and it’s been ages since I read the previous full book, Battle Ground, which came out in 2020. There were a lot I didn’t remember and a lot that had happened in Harry’s life since then, but I was able to read this perfectly fine without knowing all the details. Though now I’m spoiled for some of them, should I go and read the books I skipped.

Harry owes the crime boss Marcone a favour. Marcone decides to collect. A goon of his, Tripp Gregory, wants to get out of the life of crime by starting a charity to help children. But he’s gone about it in a very gangster way, which has landed him in trouble with the IRS, and a bookie who won’t pay up his winnings. Marcone wants Harry to help. Harry is reluctant, because he doesn’t like Tripp. But Marcone appeals to his moral core: you don’t always only get to help the people you like or who deserve your help.

What starts as a straightforward case gets a supernatural twist when someone sends a demonic entity to try and kill Tripp. It turns out, Harry has battled the entity before, and it’s kind of his fault that it’s on the loose. So, now it’s personal.

This was a good and compact, but full story with proper three acts and a good story arc. The old Harry was back, a bit grumpy but one that isn’t crushed with grief, guilt and PTSD. There were funny moments, and good banter. There were many life lessons delivered to Tripp who took them like a five-year-old who has never considered moral questions before. The enemy was powerful, but not overly so; Harry was powerful, but not overly so. I liked this. It returned my love for the series and I might continue with it again.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.