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The Stardust Grail
Save one world. Doom her own.
From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization.
Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future.
Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.
Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself.
--
CW: violence and gore, xenophobia, xenocide, colonization, vomit, torture, war, infertility, chronic illness, confinement, suicidal thoughts (minor), pandemic, migraines
From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization.
Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future.
Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.
Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself.
--
CW: violence and gore, xenophobia, xenocide, colonization, vomit, torture, war, infertility, chronic illness, confinement, suicidal thoughts (minor), pandemic, migraines
312 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 2024
About the author
Yume Kitasei
6 books538 followersYume Kitasei (www.yumekitasei.com) is a Brooklyn-based Japanese and American writer of speculative fiction. Her stories have appeared in publications including New England Review, Catapult, SmokeLong Quarterly, Baltimore Review, and Nashville Review. She is the author of two novels, The Deep Sky and The Stardust Grail. She chirps occasionally @Yumewrites at Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 346 reviews
June 11, 2024
4.25 stars An absolute delight of a sci-fi novel. Yes, it's a heist book, but it's also a lot more than that in ways that I'm just going to let you figure out as you read because it's such a fun ride to take.
The pacing in this book is great. I'm in the midst of a gnarly reading slump where it feels like I can barely focus on written words for more than 5 minutes at a time, and still this book managed to break through that and had me hooked very fast with the opening chapters and excited to keep going. The highs and lows and the action and the downtime and the discoveries are all just balanced out really well in this story. The core group of characters are fun and varied and feel real and believable (even the one with all the tentacles) and the way we integrate everyone together in the story is, to repeat myself, paced very well.
The action is good, the tension is well timed, there's humor and grief and loss and love and a taste of Found Family and more story than the synopsis preapres you for, which is a GREAT way to do a synopsis rather than revealing far too much in an attempt to hook people in. What can I say? I really enjoyed my time with this book.
Kitasei has a vision of the future in both of her novels now (The Deep Sky set in near future and now The Stardust Grail set in far future) that does so well at striking tones both pessimistic and optimistic, at finding the good in the bleak, and never leaves you too mired in one over the other. And the way she maintains humanity and culture in these stories - and particularly here in The Stardust Grail - is something I really wish we saw more of. So many sci-fi stories - once they escape the bounds of Earth and go interstellar with other planets and aliens and far flung adventures - tend to flatten humanity to one homogenous Human™ culture (often a white, western sense of culture) among the interstellar community, but Kitasei maintains her characters' individuality. Maya may be a spacefaring thief, but she's also a half-Japanese half-American struggling grad student living between two cultures just on the human side, not to mention her otherworldly travels. It's grand in its physical scale and yet still feels grounded and relatable and realistic and human.
I also really appreciate what this story has to say about colonialism and anthrocentrism and again Kitasei strikes a great balance of making the astronomical feel relatable and knowable to the 21st century earth-bound human reading the story.
In case it wasn't clear, I had a great time with this one.
LAST BIT, the audiobook for this one is great! The narrator does a great job with the voices and makes some really cool choices in the style for sections I won't get into here. do recommend if you're an audio reader.
I loved this book so much I asked the author if she'd like to sit down for an interview and she kindly agreed! So here's that conversation.
[I read this book as an Advanced Reader Copy in two forms. The Audiobook, through NetGalley, provided by the publisher; and a physical copy, provided by the author.]
The pacing in this book is great. I'm in the midst of a gnarly reading slump where it feels like I can barely focus on written words for more than 5 minutes at a time, and still this book managed to break through that and had me hooked very fast with the opening chapters and excited to keep going. The highs and lows and the action and the downtime and the discoveries are all just balanced out really well in this story. The core group of characters are fun and varied and feel real and believable (even the one with all the tentacles) and the way we integrate everyone together in the story is, to repeat myself, paced very well.
The action is good, the tension is well timed, there's humor and grief and loss and love and a taste of Found Family and more story than the synopsis preapres you for, which is a GREAT way to do a synopsis rather than revealing far too much in an attempt to hook people in. What can I say? I really enjoyed my time with this book.
Kitasei has a vision of the future in both of her novels now (The Deep Sky set in near future and now The Stardust Grail set in far future) that does so well at striking tones both pessimistic and optimistic, at finding the good in the bleak, and never leaves you too mired in one over the other. And the way she maintains humanity and culture in these stories - and particularly here in The Stardust Grail - is something I really wish we saw more of. So many sci-fi stories - once they escape the bounds of Earth and go interstellar with other planets and aliens and far flung adventures - tend to flatten humanity to one homogenous Human™ culture (often a white, western sense of culture) among the interstellar community, but Kitasei maintains her characters' individuality. Maya may be a spacefaring thief, but she's also a half-Japanese half-American struggling grad student living between two cultures just on the human side, not to mention her otherworldly travels. It's grand in its physical scale and yet still feels grounded and relatable and realistic and human.
I also really appreciate what this story has to say about colonialism and anthrocentrism and again Kitasei strikes a great balance of making the astronomical feel relatable and knowable to the 21st century earth-bound human reading the story.
In case it wasn't clear, I had a great time with this one.
LAST BIT, the audiobook for this one is great! The narrator does a great job with the voices and makes some really cool choices in the style for sections I won't get into here. do recommend if you're an audio reader.
I loved this book so much I asked the author if she'd like to sit down for an interview and she kindly agreed! So here's that conversation.
[I read this book as an Advanced Reader Copy in two forms. The Audiobook, through NetGalley, provided by the publisher; and a physical copy, provided by the author.]
April 28, 2024
Coming at you with another "here's the blurb"/"here are my unvarnished thoughts" review--
I blurbed this book because I really loved The Deep Sky (which I bought simply because it sounded interesting, something that becomes rarer the longer you work in book publishing, because you get to know so much of the behind-the-scenes stuff and you hear about things so early, etc.). Anyway, I loved this one, too, and here's what I said about it blurb-wise:
"Come to THE STARDUST GRAIL for Indiana Jones-style outer space heist adventure, stay for the sensitively drawn characters and thoughtful exploration of other forms of life far beyond our own-- Yume Kitasei's second novel is an engaging, fascinating story that you don't want to miss."
That blurb really hits all the beats of why I loved this book-- Yume Kitasei knows all about a tense, high-stakes plot. The Deep Sky was a locked room thriller in which the "locked room" in question was a spaceship, which made the stakes that much higher; The Stardust Grail is a heist in which the setting for the heist is a system of planets, and the stakes are, you know, the survival of a species.
But despite the HIGH, HIGH STAKES, there is a feeling of intimacy in this story that made it easy to connect to-- the same thing was true of The Deep Sky, which dug into the friendships and history of the people inside the aforementioned locked room. Here, the focus is on a friendship between two people of very different species, and their ways of being are impossibly mysterious to each other, which is sometimes just amusing and sometimes...heartbreaking. It feels like an exaggeration of any friendship between people of different backgrounds, that we can love each other without perfect understanding, but our love doesn't keep us safe from conflict.
This book is a tangle of questions about loyalty and love and understanding and survival, and I feel like describing it that way might for some reason communicate to you that this book is not EXTREMELY FUN, but like. Let me assure you. This book is also extremely fun.
Anyway: read it, please and thank you.
I blurbed this book because I really loved The Deep Sky (which I bought simply because it sounded interesting, something that becomes rarer the longer you work in book publishing, because you get to know so much of the behind-the-scenes stuff and you hear about things so early, etc.). Anyway, I loved this one, too, and here's what I said about it blurb-wise:
"Come to THE STARDUST GRAIL for Indiana Jones-style outer space heist adventure, stay for the sensitively drawn characters and thoughtful exploration of other forms of life far beyond our own-- Yume Kitasei's second novel is an engaging, fascinating story that you don't want to miss."
That blurb really hits all the beats of why I loved this book-- Yume Kitasei knows all about a tense, high-stakes plot. The Deep Sky was a locked room thriller in which the "locked room" in question was a spaceship, which made the stakes that much higher; The Stardust Grail is a heist in which the setting for the heist is a system of planets, and the stakes are, you know, the survival of a species.
But despite the HIGH, HIGH STAKES, there is a feeling of intimacy in this story that made it easy to connect to-- the same thing was true of The Deep Sky, which dug into the friendships and history of the people inside the aforementioned locked room. Here, the focus is on a friendship between two people of very different species, and their ways of being are impossibly mysterious to each other, which is sometimes just amusing and sometimes...heartbreaking. It feels like an exaggeration of any friendship between people of different backgrounds, that we can love each other without perfect understanding, but our love doesn't keep us safe from conflict.
This book is a tangle of questions about loyalty and love and understanding and survival, and I feel like describing it that way might for some reason communicate to you that this book is not EXTREMELY FUN, but like. Let me assure you. This book is also extremely fun.
Anyway: read it, please and thank you.
May 28, 2024
2024 API Month
You had me at anti-colonial space heist. I find the colonization of worlds fascinating, as surely humans aren't the only beings out there. Maya Hoshimoto didn't grow up on Earth, but a mostly Japanese populated colony world. She is infected, which is mentioned often, but not really in a wow sort of way.
Space operas are often hit or miss with me, but I enjoyed the cast of characters in this one. I think this was made better on audio, as the voices truly brought this story to life. I don't want to spoil anything, as many things happen, but I truly enjoyed the ride.
🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio
You had me at anti-colonial space heist. I find the colonization of worlds fascinating, as surely humans aren't the only beings out there. Maya Hoshimoto didn't grow up on Earth, but a mostly Japanese populated colony world. She is infected, which is mentioned often, but not really in a wow sort of way.
Space operas are often hit or miss with me, but I enjoyed the cast of characters in this one. I think this was made better on audio, as the voices truly brought this story to life. I don't want to spoil anything, as many things happen, but I truly enjoyed the ride.
🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio
June 5, 2024
4.5
Come for the heist novel stay for the contemplations of existence and morality.
The Stardust Grail was so much more than I expected it to be. In this book, we follow ex-art thief Maya who is essentially hiding in graduate school after a heist goes very, very wrong. Despite efforts to leave her past behind, Maya is roped into “one last mission” that has the potential to save an entire alien race.
The Stardust Grail grabs your attention with the SciFi heist setup but there is so much to discover in this book. There is found family with a really fun and eccentric cast of characters. Characters navigate discussions of identity and morality. The story explores history and who is remembered as the “good” and “bad” guys. Halfway through the story, the book takes an unexpected, weird turn and from that point on I was completely hooked.
Yume Kitasei has quickly become an auto-buy SciFi author for me. I was a big fan of her debut, The Deep Sky, when I read it last year. What I particularly love about both of her books is the way she creates a sense of culture and how culture and identity are central to these far-future SciFi stories. These elements make the stories rich and engaging.
In The Stardust Grail, the sense of rich cultural identity shows itself both in the human beings and in the other life forms in this universe. The story is not just humans and then everyone else are these generic aliens. There’s a really rich sense of diversity and culture among the other space-capable people in this universe. There is this extensive sense of politics, art, history, and conflict between these people. Human beings are such a small part of the history of the universe as a whole. This book really captures the sense of things being so much bigger than one person. But at the same time, the book highlights the impact of individual choice through this line that recurs throughout the book:
You cannot live in the universe without leaving footprints
I would highly recommend the audiobook if you're interested. There are some cool moments where the narrator plays with voices that really add to the reading experience.
Thank you Flatiron for the advanced reader copy
Links to my TikTok | Instagram
Come for the heist novel stay for the contemplations of existence and morality.
The Stardust Grail was so much more than I expected it to be. In this book, we follow ex-art thief Maya who is essentially hiding in graduate school after a heist goes very, very wrong. Despite efforts to leave her past behind, Maya is roped into “one last mission” that has the potential to save an entire alien race.
The Stardust Grail grabs your attention with the SciFi heist setup but there is so much to discover in this book. There is found family with a really fun and eccentric cast of characters. Characters navigate discussions of identity and morality. The story explores history and who is remembered as the “good” and “bad” guys. Halfway through the story, the book takes an unexpected, weird turn and from that point on I was completely hooked.
Yume Kitasei has quickly become an auto-buy SciFi author for me. I was a big fan of her debut, The Deep Sky, when I read it last year. What I particularly love about both of her books is the way she creates a sense of culture and how culture and identity are central to these far-future SciFi stories. These elements make the stories rich and engaging.
In The Stardust Grail, the sense of rich cultural identity shows itself both in the human beings and in the other life forms in this universe. The story is not just humans and then everyone else are these generic aliens. There’s a really rich sense of diversity and culture among the other space-capable people in this universe. There is this extensive sense of politics, art, history, and conflict between these people. Human beings are such a small part of the history of the universe as a whole. This book really captures the sense of things being so much bigger than one person. But at the same time, the book highlights the impact of individual choice through this line that recurs throughout the book:
You cannot live in the universe without leaving footprints
I would highly recommend the audiobook if you're interested. There are some cool moments where the narrator plays with voices that really add to the reading experience.
Thank you Flatiron for the advanced reader copy
Links to my TikTok | Instagram
Read
December 14, 2023Thank you so much for reading THE STARDUST GRAIL. Whether you enjoyed it or not, I appreciate you giving it a try! I've included content warnings at the bottom of this note if you want them.
I had a lot of fun writing this book (though it was also painful, because as I learned, deadlines are painful), and I hope you have fun reading it.
I was obsessed with Star Wars as a kid (I once could recite the entirety of A New Hope from memory). I used to try to dream myself into that other universe every night, writing fan fic in my head. THE STARDUST GRAIL has elements of all the subgenres of science fiction I enjoy: space opera, a dash of horror, space heist, and yes, a small star war.
But! If you don't read much science fiction, please don't swerve away just because of that - hey, maybe you'll even be surprised to realize you like it! In which case, I'm so excited for you to discover all the amazing books and authors out there.
- Yume
PS I'm sorry there's no spaceship cat. There was in an early draft, but I kept worrying about him bashing his little head every time the ship accelerated.
--
CW: violence and gore, xenophobia, xenocide, colonization, vomit, torture, war, infertility, chronic illness, confinement, suicidal thoughts (minor), pandemic, migraines
I had a lot of fun writing this book (though it was also painful, because as I learned, deadlines are painful), and I hope you have fun reading it.
I was obsessed with Star Wars as a kid (I once could recite the entirety of A New Hope from memory). I used to try to dream myself into that other universe every night, writing fan fic in my head. THE STARDUST GRAIL has elements of all the subgenres of science fiction I enjoy: space opera, a dash of horror, space heist, and yes, a small star war.
But! If you don't read much science fiction, please don't swerve away just because of that - hey, maybe you'll even be surprised to realize you like it! In which case, I'm so excited for you to discover all the amazing books and authors out there.
- Yume
PS I'm sorry there's no spaceship cat. There was in an early draft, but I kept worrying about him bashing his little head every time the ship accelerated.
--
CW: violence and gore, xenophobia, xenocide, colonization, vomit, torture, war, infertility, chronic illness, confinement, suicidal thoughts (minor), pandemic, migraines
June 12, 2024
The Galaxy's greatest art thief turned grad student holds the fate of two worlds in her hands......
Book Information
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei is a 320-page sci-fi novel with a publication date of June 11, 2024. The audio version of the book is narrated by Katharine Chin and spans 13 hours. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy for review.
Summary
Maya Hoshimoto, once the galaxy's top art thief, spent a decade returning stolen artifacts to alien civilizations until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now a graduate anthropology student, she seeks a quiet life but is plagued by disturbing visions of the future. When an old friend offers a mission to find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction, Maya reluctantly accepts, despite knowing no one has seen it in living memory and they aren't the only ones searching. Her quest through a universe of strange life and ancient ruins reveals betrayals and forces her to choose between saving an alien species and potentially dooming humanity and Earth.
My Thoughts
I became a fan of Yume Kitasei's writing after reading her debut, “The Deep Sky”, last year. Her latest work, “The Stardust Grail”, only deepened my appreciation. Though it's been called Indiana Jones in space, I found it more fitting to describe it as a relentless sci-fi adventure with a heist at its core.
The cast of characters is delightfully quirky and varied, each one feeling authentic and well-rounded. The pacing of the book is impeccable, driving the narrative forward without ever feeling rushed. Kitasei has a knack for creating immersive worlds; the cultural and historical details of her universe are meticulously crafted. Kitasei crafts a universe so rich in detail, that you’ll forget you’re reading fiction and feel like you’re part of the adventure. Human beings play a minor role in the grand tapestry of this universe, a perspective that she skillfully maintains throughout the story.
The political and historical intricacies of different planets and species were fascinating, with no clear villains but rather complex characters with understandable motivations. The blend of humor, grief, loss, and love adds depth to the story, making it not just a sci-fi adventure but also a poignant exploration of relationships and emotions. The sci-fi aspects paired with the theme of found family makes it especially engaging.
A central theme in the book is the friendship between two characters from vastly different species. Their relationship is both mysterious and profoundly touching, offering moments of both amusement and heartbreak. This dynamic is a highlight of the novel, adding layers of emotional resonance.
Katharine Chin's narration is nothing short of outstanding. Her ability to bring different accents, genders, and species to life, each with a distinct personality, is truly impressive. Her narration clarified the story’s many layers, keeping the listener engaged and immersed in the vivid world Kitasei created. Despite the complexity of the plot and characters, Chin's performance made it all accessible and gripping.
One of the standout aspects of “The Stardust Grail” is its commentary on anti-colonization, environmental issues, and the importance of interpersonal connections. These are high-stakes issues and the action is intense, but at its heart, the book is a meditation on understanding, forgiveness, and authenticity.
If I had any criticism, and it’s a minor one, it would be the unique pronouns used for different alien species. While this added an interesting layer to the world-building, it occasionally disrupted the flow of the story for me, particularly in the audio version where each pronoun momentarily pulled me from the immersion of the story while I made the required mental adjustment.
All in all, “The Stardust Grail” is a stellar read. Kitasei's ability to blend thrilling adventure with deep, meaningful themes makes this book a must-read for sci-fi enthusiasts. It's an exhilarating journey that leaves you with much to ponder.
Recommendation
If you're looking for a thrilling sci-fi adventure with a heart, “The Stardust Grail” by Yume Kitasei is a must-read. With its quirky characters, impeccable world-building, and deep themes of friendship and understanding, it offers a compelling narrative that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
Rating
4 Alien Stars
Book Information
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei is a 320-page sci-fi novel with a publication date of June 11, 2024. The audio version of the book is narrated by Katharine Chin and spans 13 hours. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy for review.
Summary
Maya Hoshimoto, once the galaxy's top art thief, spent a decade returning stolen artifacts to alien civilizations until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now a graduate anthropology student, she seeks a quiet life but is plagued by disturbing visions of the future. When an old friend offers a mission to find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction, Maya reluctantly accepts, despite knowing no one has seen it in living memory and they aren't the only ones searching. Her quest through a universe of strange life and ancient ruins reveals betrayals and forces her to choose between saving an alien species and potentially dooming humanity and Earth.
My Thoughts
I became a fan of Yume Kitasei's writing after reading her debut, “The Deep Sky”, last year. Her latest work, “The Stardust Grail”, only deepened my appreciation. Though it's been called Indiana Jones in space, I found it more fitting to describe it as a relentless sci-fi adventure with a heist at its core.
The cast of characters is delightfully quirky and varied, each one feeling authentic and well-rounded. The pacing of the book is impeccable, driving the narrative forward without ever feeling rushed. Kitasei has a knack for creating immersive worlds; the cultural and historical details of her universe are meticulously crafted. Kitasei crafts a universe so rich in detail, that you’ll forget you’re reading fiction and feel like you’re part of the adventure. Human beings play a minor role in the grand tapestry of this universe, a perspective that she skillfully maintains throughout the story.
The political and historical intricacies of different planets and species were fascinating, with no clear villains but rather complex characters with understandable motivations. The blend of humor, grief, loss, and love adds depth to the story, making it not just a sci-fi adventure but also a poignant exploration of relationships and emotions. The sci-fi aspects paired with the theme of found family makes it especially engaging.
A central theme in the book is the friendship between two characters from vastly different species. Their relationship is both mysterious and profoundly touching, offering moments of both amusement and heartbreak. This dynamic is a highlight of the novel, adding layers of emotional resonance.
Katharine Chin's narration is nothing short of outstanding. Her ability to bring different accents, genders, and species to life, each with a distinct personality, is truly impressive. Her narration clarified the story’s many layers, keeping the listener engaged and immersed in the vivid world Kitasei created. Despite the complexity of the plot and characters, Chin's performance made it all accessible and gripping.
One of the standout aspects of “The Stardust Grail” is its commentary on anti-colonization, environmental issues, and the importance of interpersonal connections. These are high-stakes issues and the action is intense, but at its heart, the book is a meditation on understanding, forgiveness, and authenticity.
If I had any criticism, and it’s a minor one, it would be the unique pronouns used for different alien species. While this added an interesting layer to the world-building, it occasionally disrupted the flow of the story for me, particularly in the audio version where each pronoun momentarily pulled me from the immersion of the story while I made the required mental adjustment.
All in all, “The Stardust Grail” is a stellar read. Kitasei's ability to blend thrilling adventure with deep, meaningful themes makes this book a must-read for sci-fi enthusiasts. It's an exhilarating journey that leaves you with much to ponder.
Recommendation
If you're looking for a thrilling sci-fi adventure with a heart, “The Stardust Grail” by Yume Kitasei is a must-read. With its quirky characters, impeccable world-building, and deep themes of friendship and understanding, it offers a compelling narrative that will keep you hooked from start to finish.
Rating
4 Alien Stars
June 8, 2024
This was unexpectedly fun and original and creative-- an interstellar heist with the future of multiple civilizations depending on the results. Moral quandaries and alien infections and connected space highways and chases and battles and long-dead alien planets. 4.5/5 rounded up!
The first thing that I loved was the characters. I only had the audiobook so apologies if I misspell, but I adored Auncle (her Fenro alien friend). They were delightfully sweet and excitable and empathetic, and had cute alien phrasings like considering "emotional digestion" or calling Maya zir "splendid, squishable friend" and apparently zir species has 20,043 different emotions they can experience. Maya had a strong personality and voice that I appreciated, and I really grew to like Wil as well, but it was mostly the aliens that did it for me.
I also thought the politics and histories of these different planets and peoples was really interesting, and I could see the motivations behind each of them so there were no true villains, just peoples who -in fighting for their survival and what's right for them- were put in direct odds against everyone else. Which is the kind of nuanced antagonism I appreciate.
This was also, probably, my favourite use of premonitions/prophecy/etc? This is a trope I've complained about a lot in the past, because it's very hard to implement in a way that feels successful for both the reader and the characters. But I really liked how the virus altered Maya and gave her this occasional glimpse into possible futures. It was very dreamlike, so not necessarily 100% true to reality, but could give just the tiniest edge needed to spin the odds in their favor. It never overstayed its welcome and was well-worked into the greater world-building.
And lastly, this book did something I truly love: in the last 25% we get dropped on a planet of a people that have long since died out. Their structures and even statues remain, and complex buildings rife with booby traps and treasure and long-guarded secrets; but even their demise is unfathomably ancient. (This sort of thing has always delighted me-- from being a kid and reading The Magician's Nephew or watching The Fifth Element, to more modern properties like Canaan House of Gideon the Ninth).
Overall I would definitely recommend to fans of properties like Stargate and Firefly. While it has more in common with the complex network of travel and alien histories of Stargate, you're also following a lovable group of -ostensibly criminal- rogues who are fighting to uphold their own morality despite might be technically legal or not.
Audiobook Notes:
I think my love for the aliens is in no small part due to the narration. Even Elephant, who lasted a short time on page, has an outsized proportion in my memories because I just loved the life she breathed into zir.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for granting me an audio ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The first thing that I loved was the characters. I only had the audiobook so apologies if I misspell, but I adored Auncle (her Fenro alien friend). They were delightfully sweet and excitable and empathetic, and had cute alien phrasings like considering "emotional digestion" or calling Maya zir "splendid, squishable friend" and apparently zir species has 20,043 different emotions they can experience. Maya had a strong personality and voice that I appreciated, and I really grew to like Wil as well, but it was mostly the aliens that did it for me.
I also thought the politics and histories of these different planets and peoples was really interesting, and I could see the motivations behind each of them so there were no true villains, just peoples who -in fighting for their survival and what's right for them- were put in direct odds against everyone else. Which is the kind of nuanced antagonism I appreciate.
This was also, probably, my favourite use of premonitions/prophecy/etc? This is a trope I've complained about a lot in the past, because it's very hard to implement in a way that feels successful for both the reader and the characters. But I really liked how the virus altered Maya and gave her this occasional glimpse into possible futures. It was very dreamlike, so not necessarily 100% true to reality, but could give just the tiniest edge needed to spin the odds in their favor. It never overstayed its welcome and was well-worked into the greater world-building.
And lastly, this book did something I truly love: in the last 25% we get dropped on a planet of a people that have long since died out. Their structures and even statues remain, and complex buildings rife with booby traps and treasure and long-guarded secrets; but even their demise is unfathomably ancient. (This sort of thing has always delighted me-- from being a kid and reading The Magician's Nephew or watching The Fifth Element, to more modern properties like Canaan House of Gideon the Ninth).
Overall I would definitely recommend to fans of properties like Stargate and Firefly. While it has more in common with the complex network of travel and alien histories of Stargate, you're also following a lovable group of -ostensibly criminal- rogues who are fighting to uphold their own morality despite might be technically legal or not.
Audiobook Notes:
I think my love for the aliens is in no small part due to the narration. Even Elephant, who lasted a short time on page, has an outsized proportion in my memories because I just loved the life she breathed into zir.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for granting me an audio ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 17, 2024
The Stardust Grail is a captivating space opera with themes pertaining to anti-colonialism, how the depth of connections made with others can transcend species and experiences and the ethics of stealing artifacts to return them to their original cultures.
The worldbuilding in The Stardust Grail is intriguing and the alien species depicted have distinctly unique cultures, appearance and histories, but are not so unusual as to be unsympathetic. No one perspective is presented as morally “right,” as the biases of each species-including discrimination of humans towards one another-infuences their perspectives and behaviors.
The characters are engaging: possessing flaws and motivations that make them relatable. Although some felt slightly more developed than others, their interactions with one another and in relation to the ethical quandaries presented in their overall mission are compelling. The friendship between former art thief turned graduate student Maya Hashimoto and the Frenro known as Auncle is particularly endearing.
While mostly a heist novel, as Maya and her crew travel to different locations in their search for the Stardust Grail in an effort to save an alien species, political influences, questions of morality and even moments of utter horror are also present. Although there are some truly dark moments within the novel, there is also an optimism and a genuine sense of wonder that prevent the story from becoming overly depressing.
The narration by Katharine Chin is also superb. She does a wonderful job of infusing the characters with distinct voices and personalities and her narration contributes to the gripping nature of the novel.
Thank you very much to Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books, NetGalley and Yume Kitasei for providing access to this audiobook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
The worldbuilding in The Stardust Grail is intriguing and the alien species depicted have distinctly unique cultures, appearance and histories, but are not so unusual as to be unsympathetic. No one perspective is presented as morally “right,” as the biases of each species-including discrimination of humans towards one another-infuences their perspectives and behaviors.
The characters are engaging: possessing flaws and motivations that make them relatable. Although some felt slightly more developed than others, their interactions with one another and in relation to the ethical quandaries presented in their overall mission are compelling. The friendship between former art thief turned graduate student Maya Hashimoto and the Frenro known as Auncle is particularly endearing.
While mostly a heist novel, as Maya and her crew travel to different locations in their search for the Stardust Grail in an effort to save an alien species, political influences, questions of morality and even moments of utter horror are also present. Although there are some truly dark moments within the novel, there is also an optimism and a genuine sense of wonder that prevent the story from becoming overly depressing.
The narration by Katharine Chin is also superb. She does a wonderful job of infusing the characters with distinct voices and personalities and her narration contributes to the gripping nature of the novel.
Thank you very much to Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books, NetGalley and Yume Kitasei for providing access to this audiobook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
June 10, 2024
2024 reads: 155/250
i received an advanced listening copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
once the best art thief in the galaxy, maya hoshimoto is now in hiding from her dangerous past life. but she can’t resist a job from an old friend that might mean saving an alien species from extinction. the more she explores the universe, the more her visions of the future cast a dark shadow on those she calls friends.
even though i really enjoy this genre, i rarely read sci-fi books. when i read the description of this one, though, i knew i had to try it out! as a fellow graduate student, i found maya really relatable in this aspect (unfortunately, i cannot speak to the space explorer bit at this moment). i also thought it was interesting how her visions mimicked real-life migraines!
narration: this was narrated by katharine chin, who i’ve only heard in one other audiobook. i really enjoyed her narration and thought it was great for the story and for our main character!
i received an advanced listening copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
once the best art thief in the galaxy, maya hoshimoto is now in hiding from her dangerous past life. but she can’t resist a job from an old friend that might mean saving an alien species from extinction. the more she explores the universe, the more her visions of the future cast a dark shadow on those she calls friends.
even though i really enjoy this genre, i rarely read sci-fi books. when i read the description of this one, though, i knew i had to try it out! as a fellow graduate student, i found maya really relatable in this aspect (unfortunately, i cannot speak to the space explorer bit at this moment). i also thought it was interesting how her visions mimicked real-life migraines!
narration: this was narrated by katharine chin, who i’ve only heard in one other audiobook. i really enjoyed her narration and thought it was great for the story and for our main character!
July 8, 2024
After finishing her first novel, The Deep Sky, I was really eager to read something more from this author and, boy-oh-boy, Yume Kitasei was up to the task again. A wide-ranging stand-alone science fiction novel, about friendship between different cultures, in which the story is central to the development of the characters and even the minor ones are credibly portrayed. I can't wait for the third one to arrive!
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Dopo aver terminato il suo primo romanzo, The Deep Sky, ero davvero ansioso di leggere qualcosa di più di questa autrice e, ragazzi, Yume Kitasei è stata di nuovo all'altezza del compito. Un romanzo di fantascienza autonomo di ampio respiro, sull'amicizia tra culture diverse, in cui la storia è centrale rispetto allo sviluppo dei personaggi e anche quelli minori sono tratteggiati credibilmente. Non vedo l'ora che arrivi il terzo!
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Dopo aver terminato il suo primo romanzo, The Deep Sky, ero davvero ansioso di leggere qualcosa di più di questa autrice e, ragazzi, Yume Kitasei è stata di nuovo all'altezza del compito. Un romanzo di fantascienza autonomo di ampio respiro, sull'amicizia tra culture diverse, in cui la storia è centrale rispetto allo sviluppo dei personaggi e anche quelli minori sono tratteggiati credibilmente. Non vedo l'ora che arrivi il terzo!
June 6, 2024
Sometimes when I read a book that is a bit of a mess with its pacing and structure, I try to look past that to see the potential of the great story that we could have had. But unfortunately here, it was so messy that it was extremely difficult to look past it at all.
(Apologies in advance if I spell any of these names incorrectly, I listened to it on audiobook)
Maya is a student at Princeton in the far future. The child of settlers of a different world, she has a complicated relationship with Earth, who often see her people as simply colonists who view Earth as their true home, while settlers actually take pride in their identity separate from Earth. As a child, Maya was infected with a virus spread by another octopus like alien race, the Fremroe. While this infection killed many humans and aliens alike, Maya survived, and has residual abilities as a result of it, such as being able to mentally connect with other Fremroe or other infected beings, as well as dreaming of both the past and the future. While Maya truly is a graduate student at Princeton, her motivations are really in finding more information on a lost alien artifact, the Stardust Grail, which is said to be the only device that will allow the Fremroe to reproduce, something that is becoming critical as their numbers dwindle. Specifically, she is trying to help her best friend Uncle, a Fremroe and her right hand as they thieve and pillage stolen artifacts across the galaxy, returning them to their rightful owners. They can travel across the galaxy using gates that were created by the Fremroe, but due to the strange nature of Fremroe memory and a kind of hivemind culture, they don't all remember the specifics. So Maya and Uncle set off in a chase to track down the Stardust Grail, joined by Will, a disgraced soldier fighting for the pro-Earth faction, and her med-bot who is trying to become more human. Conflict after conflict, the group gets themselves into dangerous situations as they try to save Uncle's species, but also perhaps the entire galaxy.
Okay so what's to be said about this. Firstly, I want to say that I loved The Deep Sky so much, and I was really looking forward to that quality of a story here, but this is nothing like that. While The Deep Sky is a mystery wrapped in a sci-fi setting, this is Indiana Jones wrapped in a sci-fi setting. And I think the struggle with maintaining both the action and the intrigue was ultimately what made this book suffer. After the first act of the story when Maya and the crew leave Earth, it kicks off a seemingly endless cycle of "go to place to steal something, run away. go to place to steal something, run away. go to place to steal something, run away..." ad infinitum. But to keep it fresh, towards the end it just gets, frankly, absurd. As if a child is coming up with the next story beat, desperately trying to dial up the action and stakes in every paragraph to the point that it seems ridiculous. Get attacked in the temple, someone gets hurt, but actually they're okay. Oh there's a big monster that grabs someone, but they kill it. But they encounter a plasma wall! But they get through it. They leave the temple and face the deadly flora and fauna! But they kill it. Actually they go back into the temple now. Robots!!
It was all just too much, and it ended up feeling like a slog. At about the 50% mark, I couldn't believe that the story was still going, but also not getting more interesting. They had the same goal the whole time, and they just limped along to get to it rather than the story shifting and winding its way to the conclusion. Add to this that I feel the author was really trying to create a Becky Chambers Wayfarers-esque dynamic amongst our characters. That is, make everyone lovable and complex and create dynamic relationships between characters in a very character forward story, but the nature of this story really didn't allow for that. All relationship development was surface level at best, and at worst felt forced.
I don't know, this became exhausting fast and I really wanted to like it. I'll still read anything from the author, but if you really liked The Deep Sky, temper your expectations when you pick this up.
Also the nonbinary character was named Pickle, and I can't get over how nonbinary that name is.
(Apologies in advance if I spell any of these names incorrectly, I listened to it on audiobook)
Maya is a student at Princeton in the far future. The child of settlers of a different world, she has a complicated relationship with Earth, who often see her people as simply colonists who view Earth as their true home, while settlers actually take pride in their identity separate from Earth. As a child, Maya was infected with a virus spread by another octopus like alien race, the Fremroe. While this infection killed many humans and aliens alike, Maya survived, and has residual abilities as a result of it, such as being able to mentally connect with other Fremroe or other infected beings, as well as dreaming of both the past and the future. While Maya truly is a graduate student at Princeton, her motivations are really in finding more information on a lost alien artifact, the Stardust Grail, which is said to be the only device that will allow the Fremroe to reproduce, something that is becoming critical as their numbers dwindle. Specifically, she is trying to help her best friend Uncle, a Fremroe and her right hand as they thieve and pillage stolen artifacts across the galaxy, returning them to their rightful owners. They can travel across the galaxy using gates that were created by the Fremroe, but due to the strange nature of Fremroe memory and a kind of hivemind culture, they don't all remember the specifics. So Maya and Uncle set off in a chase to track down the Stardust Grail, joined by Will, a disgraced soldier fighting for the pro-Earth faction, and her med-bot who is trying to become more human. Conflict after conflict, the group gets themselves into dangerous situations as they try to save Uncle's species, but also perhaps the entire galaxy.
Okay so what's to be said about this. Firstly, I want to say that I loved The Deep Sky so much, and I was really looking forward to that quality of a story here, but this is nothing like that. While The Deep Sky is a mystery wrapped in a sci-fi setting, this is Indiana Jones wrapped in a sci-fi setting. And I think the struggle with maintaining both the action and the intrigue was ultimately what made this book suffer. After the first act of the story when Maya and the crew leave Earth, it kicks off a seemingly endless cycle of "go to place to steal something, run away. go to place to steal something, run away. go to place to steal something, run away..." ad infinitum. But to keep it fresh, towards the end it just gets, frankly, absurd. As if a child is coming up with the next story beat, desperately trying to dial up the action and stakes in every paragraph to the point that it seems ridiculous. Get attacked in the temple, someone gets hurt, but actually they're okay. Oh there's a big monster that grabs someone, but they kill it. But they encounter a plasma wall! But they get through it. They leave the temple and face the deadly flora and fauna! But they kill it. Actually they go back into the temple now. Robots!!
It was all just too much, and it ended up feeling like a slog. At about the 50% mark, I couldn't believe that the story was still going, but also not getting more interesting. They had the same goal the whole time, and they just limped along to get to it rather than the story shifting and winding its way to the conclusion. Add to this that I feel the author was really trying to create a Becky Chambers Wayfarers-esque dynamic amongst our characters. That is, make everyone lovable and complex and create dynamic relationships between characters in a very character forward story, but the nature of this story really didn't allow for that. All relationship development was surface level at best, and at worst felt forced.
I don't know, this became exhausting fast and I really wanted to like it. I'll still read anything from the author, but if you really liked The Deep Sky, temper your expectations when you pick this up.
Also the nonbinary character was named Pickle, and I can't get over how nonbinary that name is.
June 19, 2024
**𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝒀𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒊
Release Date: June 11, 2024
4⭐️0🌶
This is a beautiful soft scifi story of a The Holy Grail retelling. Maya is a professional thief. She leaves her Ivy League schooling to travel the galaxy and steal expensive objects. She decides to come back to Earth and pursue her PhD at her alma mater when an ancient journal appears at the museum intake that she has been looking for for years. This journal is meant to lead her to the space Grail that will teach her how to made more "nodes" or portals to solar systems that have life forms.
This is a futuristic Earth where most people live off-planet due to the poor air quality on Earth. A "node" appeared in the solar system and once explored it was found to go to another solar system that has other higher level sentient life forms. This node leads to a whole system of nodes that lead to many other planets with sentient life forms.
Maya finds that the nodes are dying and she needs to find the Grail in order to save all of the nodes and their current way of life.
I would recommend this book for any fans of The Aurora Cycle Series by Amie Kaufman or Ready Player One by Ernest Cline!
A big thank you to @netgalley for approving me for this ARC!
Release Date: June 11, 2024
4⭐️0🌶
This is a beautiful soft scifi story of a The Holy Grail retelling. Maya is a professional thief. She leaves her Ivy League schooling to travel the galaxy and steal expensive objects. She decides to come back to Earth and pursue her PhD at her alma mater when an ancient journal appears at the museum intake that she has been looking for for years. This journal is meant to lead her to the space Grail that will teach her how to made more "nodes" or portals to solar systems that have life forms.
This is a futuristic Earth where most people live off-planet due to the poor air quality on Earth. A "node" appeared in the solar system and once explored it was found to go to another solar system that has other higher level sentient life forms. This node leads to a whole system of nodes that lead to many other planets with sentient life forms.
Maya finds that the nodes are dying and she needs to find the Grail in order to save all of the nodes and their current way of life.
I would recommend this book for any fans of The Aurora Cycle Series by Amie Kaufman or Ready Player One by Ernest Cline!
A big thank you to @netgalley for approving me for this ARC!
August 14, 2023
I had the privilege of reading a very early draft. It’s a galaxy-spanning caper, set atop a lot of grand world building and ideas. I think Stardust Grail is going to be a lot of fun and I look forward to reading again it in its final form.
May 22, 2024
space 👏🏼 museum 👏🏼 heist 👏🏼
this is my new bible
this is my new bible
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
June 21, 2024
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
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
June 25, 2024
To fans of Becky Chamber, this one is probably worth TBR consideration.
If I had to pitch this, I would say “cozy space heist” despite the long list of TW’s.
Really decent pacing and sweet found family vibes. It maybe didn’t tug my emotions as deeply as I hoped, but I was definitely entertained.
(Also, this cover is just stunning. Kudos to the artist on this.)
3.75/5 (For my mood reading friends… recommended when your TBR needs a hug.)
——
Many thanks to @macmillan.audio for letting me be part of #MacAudio2024
If I had to pitch this, I would say “cozy space heist” despite the long list of TW’s.
Really decent pacing and sweet found family vibes. It maybe didn’t tug my emotions as deeply as I hoped, but I was definitely entertained.
(Also, this cover is just stunning. Kudos to the artist on this.)
3.75/5 (For my mood reading friends… recommended when your TBR needs a hug.)
——
Many thanks to @macmillan.audio for letting me be part of #MacAudio2024
July 4, 2024
Those who have read The Deep Sky and were unenthusiastic about the characterizations, will have the same issue here. It certainly is not her strong suit although I think it was better in this book.
Apparently that is not what I am here for, I loved the story, I bought in part way to the characters which made the universe, complete with aliens, other planets and ships, perfect for my brain.
If you liked the Deep Sky, you will like this one.
Apparently that is not what I am here for, I loved the story, I bought in part way to the characters which made the universe, complete with aliens, other planets and ships, perfect for my brain.
If you liked the Deep Sky, you will like this one.
April 19, 2024
Yume Kitasei is so talented at writing sci-fi!! I loved the Deep Sky and so I obviously had to get my hands on this book. It is so different to the Deep Sky but I loved it just as much!
This caught my attention from the first page. The worldbuilding is done in a way that's informative without feeling info dumpy or overwhelming (which is hard to do imo). I love when scifi has nonhuman aliens and shows us their cultures, so this was right up my alley. This book was so interesting and unique.
The characters are interesting, distinct, and not always likable (which I think makes them more realistic). I enjoyed most of the main cast and really love how different they all were from one another.
I will say that the beginning ~65% or so of this was not as interesting as the ending section. The first 65% was still good and fun and a solid 3.5/4 star, but it just doesn't match up to the ending! The ending section was SO cool. I wanted more of it and wish this book were a bit longer because I wanted more exploration!!
I think my actual rating for this is a 4.5, but I'm rounding up because I had a lot of fun with it. I will definitely be recommending this to friends and will 100% pick up Kitasei's future books!
This caught my attention from the first page. The worldbuilding is done in a way that's informative without feeling info dumpy or overwhelming (which is hard to do imo). I love when scifi has nonhuman aliens and shows us their cultures, so this was right up my alley. This book was so interesting and unique.
The characters are interesting, distinct, and not always likable (which I think makes them more realistic). I enjoyed most of the main cast and really love how different they all were from one another.
I will say that the beginning ~65% or so of this was not as interesting as the ending section. The first 65% was still good and fun and a solid 3.5/4 star, but it just doesn't match up to the ending! The ending section was SO cool. I wanted more of it and wish this book were a bit longer because I wanted more exploration!!
I think my actual rating for this is a 4.5, but I'm rounding up because I had a lot of fun with it. I will definitely be recommending this to friends and will 100% pick up Kitasei's future books!
May 22, 2024
With interstellar travel in danger and an alien species on the brink of extinction maya hashimoto may be the galaxy's only hope. Now in hiding thanks to a job gone bad she is forced out of retirement to help find the Stardust Grail to help save them all. This is the first sci-fi book I have seen migraine representation in and as someone who suffers from migraines I appreciated it so much. The Stardust Grail has such a deep message about anti- colonization, our environment and connections to others. Kitasei’s sophomore novel was stunningly brilliant, historical and a wild ride.
June 13, 2024
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 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.
June 18, 2024
3 Stars. It had the potential to be a 5 star read for me, but it missed the mark. It was very reminiscent of Planetfall by Emma Newman and the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, so of course I enjoyed it, but the following items were why this one didn't fully land for me:
- I did not enjoy Maya as an MC. I did not relate to her and I found her moral superiority to be quite frustrating.
- The Frenro seemed like a copy of Octavia Butler's Oankali species.
- I felt like I was expected to love the reluctant camaraderie of Maya, Wil, Auncle, Liam, and Medix, but it fell flat for me. It felt forced.
- The pacing was another issue. I kept getting closer and closer to the last few pages and was left wondering "how will this be concluded in 10 pages?" It was disappointing because the majority of the book felt like a random goose chase.
That's not to say I didn't like the book. I loved the nodal systems, the chasing of a "grail," and the concept of the Encyclopediam and hunting ancient lost civilizations. I'll still read another book by this author.
- I did not enjoy Maya as an MC. I did not relate to her and I found her moral superiority to be quite frustrating.
- The Frenro seemed like a copy of Octavia Butler's Oankali species.
- I felt like I was expected to love the reluctant camaraderie of Maya, Wil, Auncle, Liam, and Medix, but it fell flat for me. It felt forced.
- The pacing was another issue. I kept getting closer and closer to the last few pages and was left wondering "how will this be concluded in 10 pages?" It was disappointing because the majority of the book felt like a random goose chase.
That's not to say I didn't like the book. I loved the nodal systems, the chasing of a "grail," and the concept of the Encyclopediam and hunting ancient lost civilizations. I'll still read another book by this author.
March 1, 2024
This sci-fi page turner sets a modernized Indiana Jones plot in a loving, thoroughly-built world like those of Becky Chambers. The supporting characters are standouts here, particularly the non-humans. Their approach to existence provides an interesting contrast to our (human) way. I appreciated that, despite the future sounding realistically unpleasant (e.g. the effects of climate change), the author’s fundamental approach to the characters who inhabit the universe is generous. If you want a book with a bleak outlook on human (and non-human) nature, this is not for you.
Thank you Flatiron Books for access to this Advance Reader’s Edition.
Thank you Flatiron Books for access to this Advance Reader’s Edition.
June 7, 2024
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 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.
June 26, 2024
Yume Kitasei has created a detailed and unique future for humanity, but she also set it on the brink of chaos and isolation. She uses a diverse cast of characters from all walks of life, and corners of the universe, to set in motion a heist that could save or damn the universe. Like most space opera’s her characters create a found family with people they may or may not even like very much to begin with. Their love is forged in chaos. Maya grew up on the Peace-Love colony and was once the best thief in the galaxy. Now, she just wants to study anthropology as a graduate student on earth. A galaxy wide virus that infected her in her youth leaves her with the side effects of blackout headaches that come with hyper vivid dreams that may contain the future. Lately her dreams have been about the grail, an object that no one has seen in living memory. When a series of events result in not one, but two requests to hunt for the grail of her dreams, Maya is forced to abandon her schooling and take to the stars. This book has the right amount of humor, heart and action to keep you interested. There are also some deep concepts about colonizing, xenophobia, war and xenocide that make you think a little harder about the true definition of morality and allegiance. It’s really easy to fall in love with this book.
I listened to this book through the Macmillan Audiobook Influencer program and think that Katherine Chin did an excellent job with her reading of this story. She infused action into the words on the page while still showing how important snark and sarcasm are to making dialog and characters shine. She is well versed in the Sci-Fi audiobook world and you won’t be disappointed if you choose to listen to this story.
I listened to this book through the Macmillan Audiobook Influencer program and think that Katherine Chin did an excellent job with her reading of this story. She infused action into the words on the page while still showing how important snark and sarcasm are to making dialog and characters shine. She is well versed in the Sci-Fi audiobook world and you won’t be disappointed if you choose to listen to this story.
July 22, 2024
Second attempt with this author. Thought I was getting along better. A fun look at academia in space.
But it's like you can feel in the book where the outline stopped and the making it up as she went part of the book happened. Suddenly things stop making sense. Suddenly all the plot points from the first half of the book are irrelevant. Characterization goes to absolute hell.
I gave up at 65%.
Content warnings:
But it's like you can feel in the book where the outline stopped and the making it up as she went part of the book happened. Suddenly things stop making sense. Suddenly all the plot points from the first half of the book are irrelevant. Characterization goes to absolute hell.
I gave up at 65%.
Content warnings:
June 25, 2024
"The Stardust Grail" is a Sci Fi space adventure.
The book is pretty interesting, with a makeshift family, plenty of colorful characters, many action scenes, and a solid mystery.
The pace was smooth as well, though sometimes the time moved way too quickly.
Still, it was an entertaining read.
The book is pretty interesting, with a makeshift family, plenty of colorful characters, many action scenes, and a solid mystery.
The pace was smooth as well, though sometimes the time moved way too quickly.
Still, it was an entertaining read.
July 3, 2024
Amazing. I LOVED IT. The plot was beautifully constructed. The characters were fascinating and engaging. Uncle felt a lot like Rocky from Project Hail Mary. The themes were extremely well executed and as complex as they are in real life. With the thoughts of scholarship, academic institutions hoarding cultural artifacts and relics, government overreach, and so many more. I enjoyed reading this book and I look forward to reading more by Kitasei in the future.
July 4, 2024
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!
4.5!
This was so fun! I had liked Kitasei’s debut, but her sophomore novel really scratched some itches for me. I am always interested in a good heist and I think Kitasei’s worlds are very interesting—it’s always refreshing to see such a gender and sexuality inclusive world. In The Stardust Grail, I loved the aliens and different worlds, and Kitasei’s character work is super strong as always. I found this well plotted and the pacing felt very strong, though there was a point where I didn’t realize that we weren’t quite at the end yet and was surprised that there was still more story left. Kitasei does an excellent job with conveying emotion and it makes for a compelling read. Honestly, I had a lot of fun with this and immediately ordered a copy once I finished the audio ARC.
The narrator for this book was also incredible, and I highly recommend it!
4.5!
This was so fun! I had liked Kitasei’s debut, but her sophomore novel really scratched some itches for me. I am always interested in a good heist and I think Kitasei’s worlds are very interesting—it’s always refreshing to see such a gender and sexuality inclusive world. In The Stardust Grail, I loved the aliens and different worlds, and Kitasei’s character work is super strong as always. I found this well plotted and the pacing felt very strong, though there was a point where I didn’t realize that we weren’t quite at the end yet and was surprised that there was still more story left. Kitasei does an excellent job with conveying emotion and it makes for a compelling read. Honestly, I had a lot of fun with this and immediately ordered a copy once I finished the audio ARC.
The narrator for this book was also incredible, and I highly recommend it!
June 26, 2024
3.5 stars - Make note that I don't read a lot of sci-fi.
This was fun and kept my attention the whole time! The heist aspect was definitely my favorite. However, I struggle with alien lifeforms and the descriptions of sci-fi tech/worlds/etc. (Though objectively, it wasn't too complex in this book.)
The characters were my favorite. Auncle, Maya, and Medix, specifically. The narration was incredible, from the different accents to the cadence of speaking. Katherine Chin brought the characters to life!
There was a strong anti-colonialism theme, friendships between very different people (species?), and a heartfelt look into the thoughts and feelings of someone who feels like they belong to two cultures (Maya).
I have a feeling that if I leaned more towards sci-fi with aliens, "first contact," and a slightly cozy feel, I would have loved this book even more. If this sounds like your tastes, give The Stardust Grail a try!
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**content notes: listed by the author in the goodreads summary.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook copy. All opinions and thoughts are fully and genuinely my own.
This was fun and kept my attention the whole time! The heist aspect was definitely my favorite. However, I struggle with alien lifeforms and the descriptions of sci-fi tech/worlds/etc. (Though objectively, it wasn't too complex in this book.)
The characters were my favorite. Auncle, Maya, and Medix, specifically. The narration was incredible, from the different accents to the cadence of speaking. Katherine Chin brought the characters to life!
There was a strong anti-colonialism theme, friendships between very different people (species?), and a heartfelt look into the thoughts and feelings of someone who feels like they belong to two cultures (Maya).
I have a feeling that if I leaned more towards sci-fi with aliens, "first contact," and a slightly cozy feel, I would have loved this book even more. If this sounds like your tastes, give The Stardust Grail a try!
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.
.
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**content notes: listed by the author in the goodreads summary.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook copy. All opinions and thoughts are fully and genuinely my own.
July 11, 2024
I don’t know how to talk about this book and why it was so amazing; description feels inadequate. Scifi hasn’t made me feel this way since I first read the Imperial Raadch series. I texted at least four different people to tell them to read this book while I was reading it. (Five? I think five.) It’s beautifully imagined, tender and achingly humane in a setting where humanity means little. The worldbuilding is rich and compassionate and deftly done, laid out in soft touches that create a very real, almost lived sense of being in the world and future of Kitasei’s imagining. I liked her first book, but this—THIS is a perfect book. I felt active sorrow whenever I had to put it down to do anything else. I absolutely loved it.
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