*****This entire review contains spoilers from book 1, Sisters of the Vast Black*****

A year has passed since the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita responded to disaster and witness the atrocities of Central Governance against the isolated colony of Phyosonga III. They, and the few survivors of the colony, pledged silence and fled…but word is spreading of the nuns who disobeyed and lived to see the day, and revolution is sparking everywhere in the outer systems…

I would like to be a person who answers a call when no one else is listening.

After the fantastic debut of Sisters of the Vast Black, I was really, really looking forward to seeing where the story of nuns in space would go.

And yet, this book had…not much happening. There was a lot of thought. A lot of angst. A lot of religious and philosophical overtones that bored me. And an introduction of new characters and a climax that ultimately fizzled away as much as the rest of the plot did.

Which was a disappointment, because the world introduced in Vast Black was complex, deadly, and filled with really fascinating worldbuilding, with an Earth struggling to retain control of humanity through any means possible, the place of organized religion in such remote and isolated areas, and an internal exploration of the many ways a person would enter a religious order. Then there was an intense showdown of both internal and external proportions, complete with a living ship and the false-martyrdom of a women slowly losing her grip (but not the remembrance of the atrocities she committed).

Forsaken Stars, on the other hand, lacks the quiet eloquence that made the first so riveting to read.

Okay, that’s not quite right. It is eloquent, but there was something missing. Like the nuns, who were torn between being a flame in the darkness or slinking off into obscurity, this book didn’t quite seem to know what it was or what it wanted.

There were so many different plot points for such a short book (technically novella), but this view of life post Phyosonga III was ultimately a lot of talk and not much action, as the sisters learn of a convention at a planetary university, discover someone is talking about what happened and turning their old mother into a martyr, and they decide to investigate and lay their trouble at the university’s feet hoping for…support? While also knowing this is a trap and exactly what Central Governance wants. Then there’s the appearance of a long-lost sister (and a whole bunch of backstory), along with the arrival of a wannabe novitiate, both of whom have definite ulterior motivations but also convincing arguments for sanctuary/protection.

Meanwhile, in the fourth system, the sister who left (can’t remember her name, don’t really care), is hanging out with her new girlfriend aboard her ship. There’s lots of angst there, as Former Sister is working through both the trauma of Phyosonga and the leaving of her religious vows, and her trying to figure out her path both on the ship, as a person in general and also what the fuck she’s going to do with the knowledge of what happened with the Central Governance. Then there’s a sideplot but not really of a herd of living ships roaming about the outer fourth system, living wild and free.

These two timelines don’t connect, but do come to a head when Central Governance finds (both) of them, and there is a huge showdown that is again, both internal and external, as the sisters face death from the outside and also potential death from within as they deal with sabotage.

Anywho, the ultimate clash comes down to next to nothing. There is an almost easy-breezy solution for what has been built up throughout the course of the novella as an impossible, no-win situation, followed by a denouement which leaves the characters in practically the same position as they were at the start of the book, although with maybe a touch more resolution on what they are going to do next.

There is a heavy discussion throughout the book of the price of martyrdom (who gets or deserves to be a martyr), the way information is distorted/used to sway minds, and the cost of revolution (both being a figurehead and surviving it), along with what it means to be the lighting fuse of something you never really intended—not to mention what it means to be a Roman Catholic order of nuns who no longer report to the Church. However, all of these discussions and thoughts fizzle in the climax and subsequent denouement, with nothing coming to a resolution but more of the same.

Welp, I wrote more than I intended, and my review is a mess but my thoughts about this book are a mess too. I was very, very excited for this one, and it just did not live up to my internal hype.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

Sisters of the Forsaken Stars releases February 15 from Tor

I was so wonderfully surprised by Sisters of the Vast Black , and when I heard there was to be a sequel? Well, consider me thrilled. And while it did take me some time to get back into the world, I was so glad there was a continuation (and certainly do hope there will be more)! I think the reason for my slight disconnect at the beginning was because we were reading from third person perspective, without really any backstory. And I read the first book like three years ago, so.

That aside, as with its predecessor, this book does a phenomenal job of exploring faith (and not just religious faith- this can include faith in other people, or humanity as a whole, faith in a form of government, whatever) in such a huge universal context. The Sisters (and in some cases, former Sister) see literally the best and worst of humanity, spread across the stars, and it's incredibly difficult at times to reconcile that with the faith constructs they're meant to adhere to.

After all, the Sisters are human, and they have to make their own best decisions at the end of the day. Where that falls into the spectrum of their individual faith, as well as their church-taught faith is something they each must navigate for themselves. The world they're living in is also incredibly unique, and exciting, with biological spaceships, and political and religious upheaval. I cannot wait for more.

Bottom Line: This series is just so unique, and provides such an incredible introspection on faith and belief with the backdrop of the entire universe to assist.

This stunning book is the follow-up to Lina Rather's "Sisters of the Vast Black". I love the metaphysical depth of the author's writing. Her exploration of faith is contemplative and nuanced. the philosophical themes don't detract from other elements of the story such as plot and characterization. The sisters themselves are fleshed out characters, and I love the sapphic representation.

I adored Sisters of the Vast Black so I was elated to learn about the sequel.
It once again splits the plot between different sisters, even Gemma, who left the order in the first book, and her adventures afterwards.
I must admit I wasn't quite as engaged in the beginning. A bit of time had passed between the books, and it took me a second to place events and people.
The plot focusses mainly on the consequences of the sisters' actions, no matter how heroic. While that was exciting, I personally preferred the plot following Gemma and the liveships. I just love that bit of lore about living ships so much!
Overall a successful sequel!

I really liked the first book and even though it was contemplative, there was still plot and character development. This book took the contemplative aspect too far for me and lost any sense of progressive or plot. New issues and people were introduced but very superficially that it was hard to connect to much. I enjoyed the exploration of faith, but it needed structure around it. At the same time, I think this book would have done better with more of a resolution at the end and this bit of the plot at the end of the book felt rushed which was odd in a book that was otherwise very slow. The whole subplot with the liveship research felt pointless and only served to make me like the MCs in that subplot less. . I will likely read a third one if one is planned as this one felt like a bit of a filler.

The basics
Enjoyment: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Start: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Atmosphere:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot:⭐⭐⭐
Ending:⭐⭐⭐
Style:⭐⭐⭐⭐

What I loved
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

This installment seems to be building to something spectacular, but the pacing felt quite a bit off versus the first book. Once you get past that though, the characters are all coming into their own.

I think I'm most partial to Gemma's storyline, but that doesn't surprise me. It doesn't feel like any stakes are quite high enough for what all happened in book 1. I'm still interested in where this all leads, but that interest is slightly dampened at this point.

Rather's quiet space opera of nuns continues in the tradition left by the first—a beautiful cast of dynamic, complex, and searching women are drawn into the sticky webs of an excellently crafted space empire and its outer-lying systems. All of which is condensed into a novella without losing much of any of the scale and depth.

It is a beautiful series and I anxiously await the next installment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be cross-posted to Amazon on publication.

Forsaken Stars depends much too heavily on the groundwork laid by Vast Black, where we got the foundations of a corrupt future (duh, it's humanity), the pervasiveness of religion beyond the bounds of Earth's atmosphere, and the fortitude of humanity everywhere and anywhere they find themselves. We also got a group of complex women, who all became nuns for very different reasons and have different understandings of faith and humanity and the Church and the government and everything else under any sun in the universe.

The first 75% of this book was essentially "wow, that was some thing we did in the last book, but we probably shouldn't tell anyone and we probably shouldn't talk to each other about it and unpack it at all" on repeat. We introduced two new characters who had so little "screentime" that we couldn't even form a passing impression. And then it was over before it could begin.

To say I was disappointed would be a bit of an understatement. Because I really enjoyed Vast Black and hoped Forsaken Stars would continue in the same vein.

An excellent follow up to the strong start set by its preceding novella, Sisters of the Vast Black, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars is a lovely and immersive story about consequences, and rebellion.

First, a note that if you haven’t read the novella that precedes this, you should do so; the plot of that book is integral to the plot of this one. Also, it’s really good. When I picked that book up last year, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did; “nuns in space” isn’t necessarily a plot I immediately look at and think, I’m going to love this. (Although now that I consider my strong positive feelings toward both this series and the Locked Tomb series … maybe it should be??) But it was excellent, and if you haven’t read it yet, you absolutely should.

So I was very excited to read this, and I am pleased to report it did not disappoint. The plot picks up where the last book left off, and explores the consequences of the main characters’ actions in that book. I won’t talk too much about the plot, as I don’t want to give spoilers for either book, but I thought it was well-paced, well-constructed, and the tension and suspense was really well done.

Other aspects of the book were also really strong: the characters are a diverse and compelling crew, and the worldbuilding is fascinating and excellent; details are built into the story super naturally, never relying on extensive exposition.

I do wish that we had gotten to spend a little more time with the characters. The story is told in limited third-person, which bounces between each of the main characters. The book was not super lengthy, and very tightly paced; it worked well for the plot, but even though we learn a lot of really interesting things about the characters, the limited time that can be spent in each perspective felt like it limited the character development as well. I would have loved the chance to spend a little more time with each of our protagonists; it felt like there was a lot of unexplored potential in each POV.

All in all: an excellent read, and I can’t wait for more from Lina Rather (and I SO hope this series will continue)!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an e-ARC, in exchange for my honest review!

I got an ARC of this book.

LESBIAN NUN IN SPACE!!!

That could obviously be my whole review, because there is nothing I have ever wanted more in my life than queer nuns in space. This being book two just made it so much better.

This picks up not long after the first book ends. The sisters are left to try and find peace and their purpose now that they are stuck smack dab in the middle of a potential war. The thing about potential wars is they don’t stay potential for long. The sisters are swept up into a war that started before them and would most likely be the end of them. It was just wonderful.

The sister who left to be with the woman she had fallen in love with, while further from the war was just as stuck. She had to find her own home and her own peace without the sisters. It was so wonderful to see just how complex a novella could be. There were no easy emotions, no easy transitions, and no easy anything. It was wonderful to see the sisters struggling even with the choices they would not undo.

There is clearly more story to be told. There are more nun adventures to be had. Each ending so far has been complete enough to be satisfying, but open enough to allow for more story. I am impressed and excited by both the idea of this story just getting started and the idea of it having a somewhat emotionally messy ending that lends well to the unknown.

"Sisters of the Forsaken Stars" picks up fairly close to the events of book 1. One storyline follows Gemma, who has left the order, on her journeys to find more liveships. The other storyline centers around the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita who have to decide what role they want to play in the unrest that's growing after the events of Phyosongsa III.

The discussions of religion, faith, and legacy throughout "Sisters of the Forsaken Stars" was thoughtful and nuanced. Rather has a gift for giving these big themes plenty of room to breathe in the story while seamlessly blending them with the plot. It was great to see the repercussions of book 1 grappled with in both a material sense and an emotional one, particularly through conversations around how to make sense of the revelations about the Reverend Mother from book 1.

I wish the book had focused only on one storyline. Gemma's struggle to adapt to life after leaving the Order was fascinating but didn't get much page time. I could've happily read an entire novella just about that. The two storylines also seemed to take away some attention from character development, particularly of characters that were new to "Sisters of the Forsaken Stars." Backstories of some characters from book 1 were (partially) revealed but the facts of their lives didn't make me feel like I knew them better as characters.

Overall, I enjoyed "Sisters of the Forsaken Stars" and really appreciate the thoughtfulness and focus on kindness this series has.

I always think it is interesting when sci fi writers take on religion and what it will look like in the future, and I think Lina Rather handles the concept so well. Sisters deals will the fallout from the first book and how that affects the faith of the order. But of course when the government gets involved, things get more complicated.

Sisters of the Forsaken Stars is the sequel to 2019's Sisters of the Vast Black (Reviewed Here), scifi novella featuring a convent of very different nuns traveling the outskirts of human space on a living ship, who found themselves struggling with their pasts, their faiths, and their duties towards religion and to helping other most of all when they find themselves in the middle of a conflict between a corrupt Earth government and a distant colony world. It was a solid story with some very nice themes and pretty good characters...but it was also so short that it didn't really make as much of an impact as it might have otherwise.

Sisters of the Forsaken Stars follows up on that first novella (don't read this one first) with a story that feels more like the middle of a trilogy, and again feels awfully short. Still it's again a solid story, of a group of women now seemingly adrift on the run, unsure what to do now that their circumstances have changed, with their faith challenged, and with their life on the run hindering them from the one thing that kept them together - helping people, especially with the galaxy on the verge of war due to their actions and the actions of the tyrant Earth government. It's again very solid, but again feels almost too short for what it's trying to do, in addition to feeling like a middle chapter in a longer story.




Quick Plot Summary: The Sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are on the run, now on a nameless child ship, after their Reverend Mother and their former living ship, Our Lady of Impossible Constellations sacrificed themselves to help them get away after saving a distant colony from a plague created by the tyrannical Central Government of Earth. They still want to answer their calling - to help people - but how can they do that without being arrested for their actions? But as their faith remains shaken, they soon discover that the story of what they did is starting to spread, in various forms, and that they will not have the option of merely remaining on the run and hiding forever......

Thoughts: Sisters of the Forsaken Stars has some very interesting ideas and character developments behind it, with its main plot following the remaining Sisters on their new nameless child ship, and a subplot dealing with ex-sister Gemma, trying to adjust to life with the woman she loves, but without the cause of helping people (the two plots never fully intersect, with that presumably set to happen in a third book, but their themes work well together). You have a group of women whose faiths were shaken by the atrocities they've seen, whose faiths were shaken by a reveal that their former leader was an ex-war criminal (who then sacrificed herself to save their lives), and who still want to help people....but are deathly afraid of being caught. You then have those people interacting not just with each other, but with various others - a survivor from the colony who wants to use their actions to start a revolution, two cast outs who join their ships for various reasons with potential ulterior motives - and well you have a pretty good story about faith, about healing, about whether redemption is possible, and about how they should all find a path moving forwards and if they can avoid taking a side. This is still very enjoyable while it lasts.

But not only is it seemingly clearly a middle chapter in a three novella story, but this novella itself is so short that you rarely have time for big events and character developments to hit. And so we go from discovery of new things and new developments for 2/3 of the book right to a climax, and it just feels like this novella again could've used more pages to explore things. And so this again doesn't hit the feelings or whatnot enough to really be super memorable, even as it's still fine and good.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Sisters of the Vast Black, and was so happy to get my hands on this. I did end up being a bit disappointed, even though this is a very solid read on its own. I just couldn't help comparing it to the first in the series, which felt so novel - nuns in space! Traveling in ships that are living organisms! Fighting against The Man and slowing down a diabolical plan for creating a biological weapon! This continued the same themes, and I enjoyed seeing how the sisters adjusted to life without their former Mother Superior and without Sister Gemma, who left the order because she fell in love. They're also adjusting to life as legendary revolutionaries for their role in stopping the spread of a weaponized virus, trying to fly under the radar to avoid retaliation from Earth Central Governance, with whom they directly clashed in the first book. I still liked all the characters, and it was interesting to me that part of this took place at a university in the far reaches of space, but it felt somehow less connected or cohesive of a story to me. There is a side plot featuring the former Sister Gemma and the crew of her new ship, who come across a pod of live ships and are able to use them to hide from Earth Central Governance, which was interesting, but didn't seem to connect clearly back to the main story to me. I may just need to read this again - sometimes with sci fi I get a little lost in the world building and get too in the weeds to see the plot clearly. I definitely hope this is a continuing series, and that Lina Rather will be creating other cool new worlds to explore.

I was excited to read the second novella in this series since I loved Sisters of the Vast Black, but this one didn’t live up to expectations. It wasn’t bad, but it felt more like a typical novella where everything was more surface level. The sisters are trying to figure out their place in the universe after the events of book 1. But those events eventually catch up to them and they have to turn and face it in an effort to keep war at bay. I think this one tried to do too much in the varying story lines, which left it rushed and flat. Still an enjoyable novella though.

The adventures of the nuns formerly of the ship Our Lady of Impossible Constellations continue. As they come to grips with all that they've lost, they deal with questions of faith and survival, trust and betrayal. I was so glad to return to this universe and these characters!

Sequel to Sisters of the Vast Black, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars follows the surviving nuns onto their new liveship. On the run from Earth and struggling to survive without the aid of the Church, the sisters are beginning to seek allies and new paths to follow, though now-Mother Lucia is paralyzed with fear and anxiety. Taking on a novice, the sisters travel to a university world, hoping to find support. Less hopeful than its predecessor, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars leans heavily into the consequences of opposing Earth, even for a moment. Tense and angry, this novella gallops by, leaving the reader hoping for another sequel.

History is Written by the Writers

I’m not trying to be tautological when I say that history is written by the writers, cute as it may sound. And I’m not talking about historians. I’m not even professional writers, whether of fiction or journalism or what-have-you. I’m talking about writing history as it happens, taking control of a narrative that is still inchoate. When there are too many facts, and those facts are all too terrible, what narrative do you impose on them? What do you show in a better light, and what do you leave in shadow?

This is the dilemma that formerly-Sister, now-Mother Lucia and her miniscule order are faced with in the aftermath of the first book, Sisters of the Vast Black. They have evidence that the Central Governance conspired to unleash a plague on a group of settlers who were not willing to acquiesce to their rule. The Church learned of this, but refused to act. Only the Sisters stopped this act of genocide, but many still died, and the rest had to flee to even further reaches of space to hide.

If you don’t remember all the details of the first book, never fear: this book integrates its reminders beautifully, without infodumping but with reminders of every helpful detail. I always appreciate when authors can do that, since the past few years have decimated my recall ability. We pick up again only a little while later, to find the sisters in a nervous holding pattern. They have avoided attention thus far, but rumors are growing and their coffers are shrinking. They can barely afford their itinerant ministry, especially now that they have broken from the Church, but they can even less afford to be recognized.

An effective paranoia hums through the novella, keeping the tension high and the world vast. It’s impressive to me how much Rather is able to make us feel and understand about the sheer extent of this interstellar empire, stretched far too thin over distances but also condensed too tightly into ships and stations that must ration every crumb of food and light and air. It’s a world perpetually on the brink, separated from the void by fallible human constructions both physical and social.

Rather doesn’t have a lot of faith in organizations, but she does have faith in people. The victories in this book, and the previous (and hopefully in future books??), are all won by one person speaking to another with kindness. They are not—and, it seems, cannot be—won while dealing with institutions. Institutions do not care. Or, at least their caring is self-serving.

But the Sisters are also an institution, albeit a small one. Their traditions may be in flux given their schism, but they still have to examine their own pull toward conservatism, and what that even means. To conserve—is that the same as preserving life and human dignity, or does it only describe jealously guarding what few scraps they have been allowed? Can they accept new postulates, or reasonably offer refuge when they are themselves in terrible danger? Can they claim to be moral actors if they hide the truth, or is hiding the truth the most moral action, given that the facts they know might reasonably start a war?

Mother Lucia bears this burden most of all, since she is explicitly responsible for those under her care. Command is weighty in Sisters of the Forsaken Stars, and irreducibly complex. All the sisters, though, have their turn at shouldering the burden as events quickly move beyond their ability to control. They can only influence, and try to choose the direction of least possible suffering.

A lot of people who have experienced suffering are told to “have faith.” Sister Faustina especially, like most people who hear that inane phrase, asks “how?” and then sets about giving us some possible answers. Not all the nuns aboard the unnamed ship have faith in the traditional sense, that warm feeling of certainty. Faith, like everything, is fragile in a void, and requires constant maintenance. The daily work as well as the acts of extraordinary grace are both on display here, a remarkable achievement for a novella.

It’s also remarkable how well Rather holds the word “faith” in tension with its many valences. Sisters of the Forsaken Stars is not just about religious faith in an omnipotent god. It is about the faith humans have in one another, and the faith that the universe holds marvels worth studying instead of just resources worth exploiting. The struggle between science and faith is a tired debate, and I’m so relieved that Rather isn’t trying to relitigate it. Both are essential to human survival, both and more. Honesty and curiosity, understanding and forgiveness—all the great things that humans are capable of are just—just—enough to squeak past the greed, violence, and indifference that we so excel at.

Not too bad. I feel like it was a little slow paced for a novella but it still kept my attention. I finished this in a pretty quick time. I would recommend recapping the book before if your like me and forget some details. Might have been a good idea for me to do. 3 ⭐

Sisters of the Vast Black was easily one of my favorite books when I read it. Even though it's a novella it packed such a punch that I couldn't wait for more.

Sisters of the Forsaken Stars picks up not long after the events of the first book. We follow the remaining nuns in their new living ship dealing with the fallout from what they witnessed and have learned about their former abbess.

For such a small book, it feels larger. The characters are all dealing emotionally with something that's hard to manage: questioning whether or not the person they knew really believed the things she espoused but also was expected to lead with. Not knowing if the person they loved and trusted was real or not.

Now they have a new live ship, that hasn't been named and it was nice to see taht at the end, what it meant for them to do it. I love these characters and the author is a phenom. I inhaled this story just like the first. It's a re-read and a purchase.

There's queerness in it and it's so easy, simple, relaxed.

This isn't the kind of story where te queerness is like "LOOK I DID IT!" No, it's just a facet of the character. She exists and she's grappling not with it, but with the shift in her new life after leaving the faith and joining a new deadship.

We get intrigue, distrust, emotional strain and complex interpersonal relationships all in such a small package. It feels like a much bigger book and when it's over, you'll want more.

It's a five (5) star for me.

First 5 star of 2022!