Starred review from December 1, 2022

Those raised on Gaea Station know their destiny is to avenge the destruction of planet Earth and to continue the human race. Kyr has excelled in her training; she and her brother Mags are two of the best warriors of their generation. Yet when Mags is placed on a suicide mission, and she is assigned to the nursery to bear sons until she dies, she knows that her best path forward is to turn traitor, in order to become the hero she knows she should be. As she journeys to destroy the Wisdom, the Majoda's reality-warping weapon, she discovers that there are truths beyond what she was told and learns that the enemy are not always those on the other side of a battle. Kyr's character arc is a monumental journey of emotional growth and understanding, grounding the changes and choices throughout her development. Queer relationships and underrepresented characters are woven into the plot and reveal the extreme ableist beliefs that are central to the station. VERDICT The first novel from Tesh ("Greenhollow" novellas) is an intriguing space opera and study of radicalization, indoctrination, and what happens when one breaks free in the most absolute way.--Kristi Chadwick

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Starred review from January 30, 2023
World Fantasy Award winner Tesh (the Greenhollow duology of novellas) jumps from quiet fantasy to ambitious sci-fi in her raw and action-packed full-length debut. Raised on Gaea Station with the last of humanity, Valkyr has been indoctrinated from childhood into intense hatred of the majoda—the alien race that destroyed Earth—and thirsts for vengeance. When Kyr comes of age, however, she’s disappointed to be assigned to Nursery rather than combat, her body designated to breed future supersoldiers. Meanwhile, Kyr’s brother, Magnus, is assigned off-station to certain death. Kyr takes justice for humanity into her own hands to save Magnus—but once she’s away from Gaea Station, the principles she’s been fed her whole life are called into question. Tesh’s sweeping epic wrestles with the nature of hatred, vengeance, and radicalization. The political theme of breaking away from fascist ideology pairs beautifully with smart sci-fi worldbuilding—which encompasses shadow engine technology and time slips—and queer coming of age. This riveting adventure deserves a space on shelves alongside genre titans like Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler. Agent: Kurestin Armada, Root Literary.

Starred review from February 15, 2023
All her life, Kyr has worked to become the perfect soldier. She believes more than anything in the mission of Gaea Station to finish the war against the majoda and its unstoppable technology, the Wisdom, which once destroyed planet Earth. But when her brother Mags disappears from the station, and her assignment goes horribly wrong, Kyr decides to go rogue. Tesh's epic space opera is bound to make waves as one of the best sf novels of 2023. Fans of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power will fall hard for this story of a girl bred to be a killer and desperate to prove herself, only to discover she's fighting for the wrong side. Tesh doesn't make Kyr's inner journey easy, and that's where the genius of this book lies: it is painful for Kyr to confront the ugliness of her world and its neat, binary values. Tesh asks us what humanity should stand for, questions what shape justice should take, and forces us to take a stark look at what Kyr has to give up in order to be better. Her growth is what powers this expansive story with an action-packed pace full of exciting battles and gut-wrenching twists.

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