A very enjoyable science fiction adventure set some unspecified time hundreds of years in the future. Main character Maya grew up in a far off colony, then spent a while traveling with an alien named Auncle from a species called Frenro (very different than our own), trying to find and retrieve/steal Frenro artifacts. When the book starts, Maya has gone legit and is a grad student at Princeton - but then Auncle comes back, wanting them to look together for the object of the title, but an Earth government agency is looking for it too.

Part space opera in a complicated world with lots of aliens, part Indiana Jones style quest for an object/heist, part unlikely ragtag crew comes together, this book has it all - action and adventure, world-building, found friendships, more cerebral musings. I loved it! I will say this is not one I would call sci fi for beginners, there is a lot going on here. (Yume Kitasei’s also great debut novel The Deep Sky is one that’s more accessible for new sci fi readers.) But for all my science fiction lovers out there, add this to your list! I’ve already recommended it to my husband and kids. And while the end does wrap things up satisfyingly, I thought it also left room for a sequel and I really hope there will be one!

I'm not sure how to rate this one.

It started brilliantly. Maya is a thirtysomething (yes!!) graduate student coming back to Princeton after a ten-year hiatus doing...art heists. Stealing artifacts from museums and private collections and returning them to their peoples and/or places of origins. She left after an accidental tragedy—ditching her long-time partner and friend and xyr quest for children.

There's commentary on academia and and colonialism and history and climate change and depression and heartsickness and everything else.

When the heist began it kinda started to fall apart, just a little.

What I adored about this was the lore: the worldbuilding, the future, the history of this richly imagined world. The idea that the Infected can see the glimpses of the future and the past. The world itself is queer as hell.

What I struggled with were the action scenes, particularly some epic space battles that I just wasn't really feeling strongly about. Also, some of the characters fell really flat for me (not the aliens—those were fine—it was the humans I had issues with).

What I wanted was a little more exploration on the stakes. Maya is making a choice that is going to end one entire species or another: either her own or the Frenro. Humanity will be cut off from the rest of the galaxy if they don't get the stardust grail. Without the stardust grail, the Frenro will not be able to make children and will slowly die out. I also wanted a little exploration on the Infected and what it means for them.

Anywho, it ended on an interesting note. I enjoyed it. The twists were fun. However, I could definitely tell this was a book written under a deadline. It feels a touch rushed. Which isn't bad, but I just know what with a little more time it could have gone from a four to five star read for me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley

THE STARDUST GRAIL by Yume Kitasei (Deep Sky) is a very well-written stand-alone space adventure. The main character is named Maya Hoshimoto; she is a reformed thief (of sorts!) and a graduate researcher about other life forms. Her best friend is named Auncle, a multi-tentacled creature whose Freno species is at grave risk. They come across new information in the search for a stardust grail which could help the species repopulate or save Earth from being isolated from the rest of space as connecting nodes are increasingly disappearing. With more than one group seeking the grail, Maya and her team (includes Wil, a former CNE government guard, and Medix, a fairly sentient robot) are often in great danger as Maya decides to attempt another heist. They face numerous ethical questions and continue learning about each other, especially cross-cultural emotional differences, as when Auncle says, "I didn't realize the joy could feel so ... sad at the same time." THE STARDUST GRAIL received a starred review from Kirkus ("... covering everything from the rise and fall of alien civilizations to what it means to be a person, this is a luminous work.... Wondrous, new, and altogether alien.") and Publishers Weekly ("Readers will be riveted."). Enjoy the quest! 4.5 stars

Maya used to be an interstellar thief, repatriating cultural artifacts back to their planet of origin. But years ago a job went bad, and now she’s retired, trying to be just a regular graduate student on Earth. When an old explorer’s journal turns up a lead on the one artifact she’s always been desperate to find – one which could ensure that her dear friend Auncle’s species can continue after nearly being wiped out – she can’t resist going after it. But there are competing interests also desperate to find the same artifact for different reasons, but for whom the stakes are just as high.

The author has a very cinematic and engaging writing style - I kept thinking I’d love to see a movie of this book. It would make one heck of an adventure film. Everything from the alien artifacts and alien worlds to the action sequences was vividly described. I didn’t like this one quite as much as The Deep Sky and I can’t put my finger on why – that's not to say I didn’t like it, just that I didn’t love it the same way I did that one. I still liked it well enough to give it 4 stars and a hearty recommendation.

Representation: POC characters (including main character), LGBTQ+ characters

I really enjoyed this author’s debut The Deep Sky, so I was very excited to get to this sophomore novel. And it makes me so happy that I probably enjoyed this one even more than the previous one.

This is technically a space opera heist novel with species level stakes, galaxy spanning adventures, diverse groups of species inhabiting the universe and in some form of contact, and seemingly accessible space travel options - but ultimately it’s a story of friendship, even as unlikely as between different species with all its misgivings and misunderstandings and a hope for more; this is a found family story about what it means to be human, the perils of colonization even when we justify it as for the greater good, the struggle of survival while also trying stick to one’s moral principles, and amidst it all just forging bonds with each other that will last lifetimes. It is both expansive and intimate, with tense thrilling moments interspersed with quiet joyful and humorous ones; violence and gore marred by the realization that while it may be necessary, it’s never without cost; and ultimately about the hubris of advanced species who think they know better for everyone.

I have to say, I loved listening to the audiobook. Katherine Chin is amazing as always, but here she takes it a notch above with her various voices for the different characters and species, making it a truly remarkable experience. Highly recommend the format and the book, especially if you are a fan of thrilling space operas with an intimate touch.

This book is a fun romp, like Dr. Aphra/Indiana Jones fanfiction in a good way. There were some things I didn't quite get, like the pacing was incredibly fast. There was so much that happened in the book, I wish it had been made as a duology, because with the pacing the way it was, it was a struggle at times to see how the characters had earned events that happened in the novel. That being said, there was a lot I liked in the way that Kitasei wrote about artifacts from other cultures and how other sentient species were portrayed. The extreme differences between species was one of my favorite things in the book.

came here for the space heist to return stolen artifacts. stayed for the contemplations on: archives, lost histories and civilizations; the search for knowledge and truth; the nature and purpose of life, and what it inherently means to be alive; and the complex webs that are woven between duty and love and friendship.

the stardust grail is a gift that kept on giving. I think I very much expected to enjoy the book from the outset (there was in fact a point where I briefly wondered if I should have instead picked a career in library studies and archival management), and I did have an enjoyable time throughout, especially with each bit of worldbuilding dropped into the story. but it was really the last 1/5th of the book which was when the story truly went places that I was not expecting it to go, with twists and reveals that literally gave me chills and I will be thinking about for the next week. it is also where I wish we had more time to sit with all these said reveals and teases at really interesting thematic ideas, so they could have been explored a bit further after that. I just want to know more!! what happens after... everything in the end wraps up so fast and it just feels like there should have been maybe another chapter after?

on the same note of wanting more.. this world!! this universe that has been created is just so interesting to me. everything about the Frenro species was so interesting to read about, and there's also so many hints of the hundreds of years of history that we only get hints of but I am just so curious to know more about. and I think it's an incredible accomplishment to make a world feel so large and historied for a standalone novel.

but at the end of the day, to me the story is, despite how grand it is, about connection and friendship. life seeking out life and trying to bridge what feels like are the impossible gaps in the ways two life forms can experience the world so differently, but love each other all the same. it's about independence and self-actualization, about choice. even if knowledge of the future is within your grasp, it's fluid.

some doors are not meant to be opened. but other doors are meant to stay open. and other new doors will be opened.

Kitasei seamlessly combines a fun Sci-Fi heist story with deep themes focused on morality, space and time, sentience, diversity of life forms, and their experiences and values.

The premise is amazing. I love the whole moral complexity of the "what lengths would you go to to save the world", and this ups the ante by basically asking that question but adding multiple worlds and species! To save one, you may end up destroying another, and that is where things get extra dicey. So suffice it to say, the stakes were very high. I think the only things that kept me from fully loving this are twofold: One, it started off a little slow, and two, I think some of the worldbuilding confused me a bit. I got the general idea, but the more technical stuff went a bit over my head. Also, there is a fabulous guide to the other species in the back of the book, which I definitely think would have been handy during the reading, so keep that in mind!

I found the characters, especially main character Maya, to be a particularly strong aspect of the book. Maya was giving me some "badass women of The 100" vibes, which I am here for all day. She would have fit right in with her "no good choices" and her aptitude for intergalactic quests. Obviously, here for it. The second half of the book especially sucked me in, as not only was the action ramping up, but it was clear that decisions were going to need to be made.

Bottom Line: If you are into a bunch of cool species and worlds and morally complex decisions, this is one for you!

I really enjoyed Yume Kitasei’s The Deep Sky last year, and I found her sophomore novel even more delightful. The Stardust Grail had me at “anti-colonial space heist” and the book lived up to the blurb!

Kitasei really flexed her world-building muscles with this novel. The main character – “reformed” art thief Maya Hoshimoto – is human, but Earth is just one of many populated planets, and The Stardust Grail hosts a number of alien civilizations. The various life forms and characters that make up this book are fascinating and Kitasei does an excellent job of describing the world of the novel without ever info-dumping. Maya’s deep friendship with Auncle, a frenro alien described kind of like a giant space jellyfish, is heartwarming, and their entire spaceship crew is full of discerningly drawn characters.

Ultimately, The Stardust Grail combines interstellar adventure and interspecies friendships with reflection, compassion, and a quest for the unknown. The novel can stand alone; however, I would note that it’s ending raises new questions that likely will be answered in a sequel.

Huge thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy! I know a lot of my friends will enjoy this one as well.

The Stardust Grail was a great experience. It was fun and full of action, and even though it dealt with some serious subjects it never lost its cozy quality. I see why some people are comparing it to the Becky Chambers books because of that, though this has higher stakes. Altogether this is something I would definitely recommend as science fiction that has adventure and heart. It’s well worth picking up!

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

With a space mystery, a heist, many aliens and a touch of found family, The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei delivers so much in a science fiction stand alone novel. As the author creates a description of earth and its place in the universe in the future, we are wound into the complicated life of grad student Maya. She has a best friend with a problem, and an idea on how to fix it. It is with her that the reader learns the important alien relationships with Earth as she rides this adventure. In addition, the characters searching for the grail are great together. I especially love Maya’s friend old quiet Auncle, a giant jellyfish like creature who unknowingly is both squishy and strong at the same time. These team characters do all the required points for a bona fide space opera. I especially loved the time they spent flying in the big bubble like vehicle and its homey set up. I suggest it is a great read alike for A Long Way to A Small Angry Planet. I would definitely read another adventure with this group! Thank you to Netgalley for a chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

After I finished The Stardust Grail I had two thoughts. First, how the hell had I not heard of this author? Second, this deserves to be a Hugo finalist if not the winner. The last time I felt like this was with Emily Tesh's brilliant 2023 novel Some Desperate Glory, and look, it's on this year's Hugo shortlist!

This book was really fun. It involves intergalactic travel, space wars, and ancient lost artifacts. It really felt like an Indiana Jones adventure in space. There were some parts that I thought the pacing a bit off but overall I enjoyed the book.

The nitty-gritty: Heists, found family and deep space adventure come together in Yume Kitasei's thrilling space opera.

Yume Kitasei has done it again—her sophomore book, after last year’s wonderful The Deep Sky, is just as imaginative and well written, and I may have loved it even more. As the author herself says, this is a fun mix of Indiana Jones and Star Trek, a space opera that’s also an action packed mystery, with the found family trope thrown in for good measure. Readers who are looking for an adventure tale set in a futuristic world will want to take a look at this. And bonus if you love anthropology and museums, since alien artifacts are important to the story.

Maya Hoshimoto is a grad student at Princeton, working on her PhD in comparative culture studies. Although she’s expected to do research and write papers for publication, Maya’s true love is exploration and field work. She’s traveled extensively throughout the many worlds of the galaxy, planets connected to each other by nodes—like worm holes—that allow speedy travel to distant alien worlds. Her idol is an explorer named Dr. Wei Huang, a woman who disappeared a hundred years ago while searching for an alien artifact called the stardust grail. Maya herself has been obsessed with finding the grail, although there isn’t any proof that it actually exists.

One day, however, a new shipment of artifacts arrives in Maya’s department, including a long lost memoir written by Dr. Huang herself. Maya is convinced that clues to the grail’s location can be found in the book, and her chance to test that theory arrives with a message from an old friend, an alien named Auncle who needs her help. The nodes between planets are collapsing, and without the grail—a device that creates those nodes—the connections from one planet to the next will be lost forever. Maya jumps at the chance to leave Earth to search for the grail, but others are also looking for it. If the grail falls into the wrong hands, Auncle and his people would be wiped out. But if Maya finds the grail and gives it to Auncle, Earth could suffer the consequences.

The Stardust Grail is full of layers, much like a Russian nesting doll. I loved joining Maya, Auncle and their crew on Auncle’s ship the Wonder, as they follow the clues from Dr. Huang’s journals to find the grail. This is a grand adventure, full of both wonders and dangers, and Kitasei’s sparkling characters make the adventure all the more fun. Some of the stranger sights that Maya encounters gave me Jeff VanderMeer vibes, and later the story reminded me a bit of Ender’s Game, as there are some exciting, large scale fight scenes in space. The first part of the story has a lighthearted tone to it, as we get to know the characters and the world. But the last section turns very dark, as the crew end up in one of my very favorite locations in the story, a vast, hidden museum called the Encyclopedium. This section veered into horror territory a bit, and I loved every bit of it!

In addition to the fantastic world building (of which I’ve only scratched the surface), the author adds in thoughtful commentary about the meaning of “home” and finding your place in the world. Maya faces some negativity about basically being an immigrant (she was born on an outer planet called PeaceLove and came to Earth to go to college), but she’s not afraid to correct people who are insensitive about it. 

The world building is fantastic, but I loved the characters as well. Maya is such a complex, interesting woman. Her moral compass is quite strong, as she always tries to do the right thing and doesn’t want to hurt anyone. She loves everything about Earth, but she’s also full of curiosity and the desire to learn new things, hence her love of space exploration. But beneath this façade, Maya is also a thief, and her specialty is stealing artifacts from museums. She’s like a modern day Robin Hood, returning priceless objects to their original owners, and in this story, her goal is to find and steal the stardust grail and return it to the Frenro, the alien species it belongs to.

Maya has a unique relationship with Auncle, the Frenro she used to travel with. Auncle is a many tentacled, giant squid-like creature who lives in water, yet somehow the two manage to form a wonderful bond. A big part of the story takes place on Auncle’s ship, which has compartments for both humans and Frenro, giving them the chance to coexist during their travels. We also meet two other quirky characters who make up the crew: Wil, a retired soldier whose arms have been turned into weapons, and Medix, a robot assistant who acts as ship’s medic and reminded me a lot of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Later in the story, they are joined by Maya’s college advisor Liam, who is also looking for the grail but has a completely different agenda. I loved these characters together, especially the way their relationships changed over the course of the story.

If I have any complaints, it’s that I wanted to know more about the past exploits of Maya and Auncle. Kitasei includes a few intriguing flashbacks of their time together in the past, and I suspect there’s a whole adventure that we don’t get to see in this book. Let’s just say I wouldn’t say “no” to a prequel story about these two!


The last part is tense and exciting, and I loved the way the author wrapped up her story. I love a feel-good ending, and Kitasei delivers with some emotional themes about learning from your mistakes and moving forward, as well as the nature of “endings,” which don’t always mean the end. Yes, I shed a tear or two because I didn’t want to say goodbye to these characters.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Yume Kitasei's "The Stardust Grail" invites readers on a thrilling journey through a galaxy teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. The story follows Maya Hoshimoto, once the best art thief in the galaxy, now a graduate student of anthropology haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future. After a disastrous job forced her into hiding, Maya craves a quiet life. However, an old friend presents her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. This object, unseen in living memory, becomes the focal point of a breakneck quest filled with danger and intrigue.

The novel is filled with Kitasei’s signature elements: a space family solving intergalactic mysteries, intricate world-building, and adding to the story this time around, a diverse array of alien species. Fans of her previous work, "The Deep Sky," will appreciate the familiar thematic elements and the addition of alien characters traipsing around the galaxy with human explorers. The universe Kitasei creates is rich and immersive, drawing readers into a complex tapestry of interstellar politics and ancient secrets.

However, despite these strengths, "The Stardust Grail" didn't quite capture me in the same way as "The Deep Sky." The plot felt a bit more disjointed, and I struggled to empathize with the main character, Maya. Her journey, while compelling, lacked the emotional depth that made Kitasei’s previous work so impactful. The visions that haunt Maya cast a dark shadow over the narrative, adding a layer of tension but also contributing to a sense of disarray in the storyline.

The dynamic between the characters, old friends, and new allies, adds richness to the story, though the promise of betrayal looms large. This tension keeps readers engaged, even as the plot meanders at times. The exploration of moral dilemmas—saving one species at the potential cost of another—adds additional stakes to the narrative, though it sometimes feels like the weight of these choices is not fully explored.

Overall, "The Stardust Grail" is an engaging read with plenty to offer fans of Yume Kitasei’s work. While it may not have the same cohesive impact as "The Deep Sky," it remains a compelling addition to her body of work. The blend of science fiction, mystery, and moral quandaries will appeal to readers who enjoy richly imagined worlds and complex character dynamics. Despite its flaws, the novel’s strengths lie in its imaginative scope and the sense of adventure that propels the story forward.

Thank you to Flatiron books and Yumi Kitasei for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Maya Hoshimoto has retired from her life on the run as a thief, but then is propositioned by an old friend to do one last job — Steal a powerful object that will save an her friend’s alien race from extinction.

4/5

Fans of Doctor Who and Indiana Jones, I have your next read.

This is a story about what is right, what is wrong, and who do we choose which is which. As Maya and Auncle wrestle with the consequences of saving one species over another, these two friends find themselves among unlikely allies and high intensity intergalactic battles. It is an interesting commentary on colonization and how far people will go for the ones they care for.

I will say I found the pacing to be a bit slow at times. The world building was overall pretty great, the twists were surprising and the read was overall very engaging. Fan of sci-fi will love this one.

both can be true and I almost wish they discussed that. It would've been interesting to consider it a gift and a curse - like she had to endure the pain of a migraine in order to receive the gift of visions. But for all intents and purposes, Maya doesn't seem to like her migraines (even the vision parts) whereas her Frenro friend Auncle seems to think they're a good thing. There are also moments where the gift comes in dreams. They’re referred to as "dreams of another time". My understanding is that the dreams and migraines are both visions but the dreams happen when she's asleep and the migraines happen when she's awake. It didn't seem like Maya considered the dreams good either though so the ability doesn’t feel like a positive thing to anyone except Auncle. It doesn’t help that the power is unveiled slowly and the reader isn’t given much information about it. I wish there was a better way to incorporate and reveal it because it is both fascinating and crucial to the plot. The author even mentions in their note at the end of the book that she has migraines herself and she references a book that is about migraineurs who can experience hallucinations and distortions of space, time, and body image.

Between the characters, the story, and the world, there is a lot to love about Yume Kitasei’s The Stardust Grail. Overall I really enjoyed the book and I would definitely recommend it to those interested in space, heists, and social commentary.

4.5 stars

3.5 rounded to 4 stars

Buckle up, folks, because ' The Stardust Grail' will take you on one heck of a ride through the cosmos. It is an equal parts exploration of life beyond our own, found family narrative and space heist adventure with the survival of an entire species hanging in the balance.

I personally used to find books labeled as science-fiction intimidating. If you've ever felt that way ' The Stardust Grail' is an excellent introduction into the sci-fi genre. It's a space opera with good world building that is easy to digest and a fun fast paced story. Personally I think it would make a great summer rear. "The Stardust Grail" never takes itself too seriously. Even when grappling with big questions about life and survival, there's this infectious sense of adventure that keeps you hooked.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for letting me take this cosmic journey ahead of time.

A real adventure of a space opera! Maya (a human) and Auncle (a frenro alien described as a potato with tentacles and that I imagined as a jellyfish) are professional thieves. When the book opens, Maya's gone legit and is a grad student on Earth. Then Auncle shows up to offer her one last job on the same day that she's approached by the Earth authorities to steal the same object. So yeah, this is an interstellar heist novel complete with double crosses, unlikely allies, hearbreaking tragedy, and resilient heroes. The action never lets up, even as the worldbuilding deepens.

This was fun.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.