Victories Greater Than Death

Charlie Jane Anders brings a refreshing writing style to a YA SciFi book. The pacing is fantastic and the characters (both human and nonhuman) are believable and enjoyable to read. This book will help open conversations about preferred gender and biases people may have. It is a joy to read and I can't wait to include it in my library!

This upcoming YA book from Charlie Jane Anders was a pleasant read with some touches of a comic-book feel. I could easily visualize the action and the scenes. It has a very fast ramp up to the story that begins on Earth but quickly moves to space and a ton of characters. Maybe too many characters because I had a hard time keeping track of them all. Our main character is Tina, a 16-year old who knows she is an alien but grew up a human on Earth. The story is hers but also includes about a dozen other characters. We know Tina the best but there is some character development for about half of the other characters.

One modern-day aspect of the storytelling is the identification of character pronouns. As we meet each new character, we learn their pronoun. At first this was a little disruptive, only because we don’t usually see this in literature, but it quickly felt like a natural component. I can see this becoming a more common element of storytelling. And it demonstrates to the readers that using a pronoun is right and good.

As a YA novel, Anders models behavior that we might want to cultivate in young people. For example, how to skillfully deal with anger or what to do when someone is crying. Basically, lessons on how to talk. How to talk about gender. How to talk about being trans. Asking permission before touching someone. Also, that it’s okay for girls to like comics.

For the librarians out there (like me), we get a call out when the queen of the Firmament is described – “She’s more like a librarian, in the greatest library that has ever existed. She gathers the knowledge of a million worlds, and she shares it with everyone in the Firmament.”

I loved the greetings used through out the book. There is no simple hello. It’s more like, “Wild weather and safe harbors,” with a response of “Harmless fauna and lush flora.” Super creative, although the never learn the method or rules of these greetings. Maybe in the next book.

One last modeling example that I really appreciated. When Tina was forced to kill some enemies, the ship captain says to her – “Regulations require that you receive counseling after the first such event, and there’s nobody more qualified than me on board.”

So, did I like the book? Yes. But the audience is clearly for the young adult and I would definitely recommend for young adults. It was a bit simple and did drag a little about 3/4 into the story. As the first book in a series, we are left with a bit of a cliffhanger. But it’s not that serious. The story feels complete and makes us curious for more.