Excellent. What else can I say about sisters of the Forsaken Stars? This is the follow up to Sisters of the Vast Black, which I gave a very enthusiastic review for a couple years ago. Just like Becky Chambers, this author creates hopeful SF- a future that doesn't sugarcoat problems, but makes you feel better after you've read it. Here we pick up after the events of the last book- it's been a year or so and the Sisters are on the run, having made themselves a target by interrupting some very bad events.  

I loved revisiting the Sisters. Lucia is now the abbess and it just felt like revisiting old friends. I love how small yet vast this setting is- not as expansive, say, as Becky Chambers' universe, but big enough to evoke that sense of awe. Water worlds, planets with strange skies... this is why I read SF. Anyway, the Sisters are on the run, but they have to make a decision- keep running, or make a stand (and stand by their story, because news of what they did is leaking out). 

Just to recap- the Sisters are an itinerant order of nuns who travel on a liveship- an actual living organism that plies the starlanes. They help others in need, but after the events of the previous book they are no longer in the good graces of the Church. They've been keeping a low profile, but things are changing. And meanwhile something is happening in the far reaches of space that could change everything- and one who has left their number is there to experience this.  

I could honestly take more stories in this milieu. There is an exploration of faith- what does that mean when you're such a vast distance away- or not even a part of your religious order now? And don't let the church thing dissuade you from reading this- there are universal aspirations and questions we're dealing with here, not just Catholic ones. And this story moves fast- arguably too fast, for here (as in the first novella) I thought they get places a little too fast- the story moves a little too quick- but honestly- that's my only complaint. Anyway, again, this has to be experienced- it amazes me how much I can care for these characters in such a short time. 

One of my favorite reads of the year- not a surprise- and I really hope we get more stories in this universe. This world and the Murderbot milieu- there's some optimistic science fiction going on at the moment and I need it. The biggest thing for me with this is the sense of hope- and the sense of wonder- that's what I read SF for.   

Travelers 01x02

So Mac is with the team now and they all get to know each other a little. 

Unfortunately they run afoul of law enforcement. And we're rather ominously introduced to a pending antimatter explosion due to happen in 45 minutes. That's inconvenient. The doctor- Delany- in charge looks familiar, she must have been in something I watched. Anyway, the cops who show up (well, one of them) is a Traveler- 3185. I like her- Boyd. She turns up now and then as the series goes. 

The convoy transporting the antimatter unit has to stop because containment is failing. Meanwhile our team are all over it. And wait- do Carly and Mac have a history? Apparently so. Or rather the Travelers who have taken over their bodies do. At any rate, the operation seems to go well. They change history by averting an antimatter explosion, right? Save lots of people. 

Not the truck driver, though- he's one part of history they couldn't change. But wait- is that him after the explosion. 

Mac has a wife of 11 years. Er, the guy who used to be Mac does. Did. Now Traveler 3468 otherwise known as Mac does. This could be an issue. Mac and Carly have a thing. I feel bad for Carly. Her ex is awful. Or the ex she inherited. I like Kat (Mac's wife). The idea of all these people having to step into the lives of previously existing people is fascinating- even more so than the mission plots. 

Things go awry when the Traveler they're supposed to meet (and hand the antimatter off to) dies unexpectedly. Oopsie. We get our first mention of the Director, too. An AI in the future who directs the Traveler program. Apparently it's not infallible. 

Protocol 6, by the way, is - Do not communicate with other Travelers outside of your team unless sanctioned by the Director. Mac breaks that by contacting Boyd. Not very helpful. Also, apparently messages are delivered to Traveler teams through children- pre adolescent children since it's safe to use them (they can be overwritten temporarily without causing permanent damage). Creepy! 

David's in for a surprise when Marcy proves her bona fides by predicting the future. 

Love this.  Marcy tells Philip not to quit today (he's a junkie) since they can't afford to have his hands shaking because of withdrawal. 

It's time to take a pesky antimatter device back to Delany's lab since they can't neutralize it otherwise. 

Delany is the shit. 

And ooh we get one of those creepy ass child messenger things telling Mac that they did good- but don't break Protocol 6 anymore. 

Tuesday Tagline #221

The wanderer gleamed balefully in the sky- was it a new world for Man or a messenger of ultimate destruction?  

Cover Love - JAWS

This week I'm going rogue for Tuesday.