Book Review: Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

  This is a bit of a Beat the Backlist kind of novella.  I found it oddly, on good reads as part of a challenge for novellas and I immediately was thinking SIGN me UP!  Nuns in space? I felt this was going to be bonkers and I really was not incorrect.  

The cover is not bad, but it really really doesn't do the novel any favors.  (the novel is much more interesting than the cover.) 

Lina Rather is a talent to continue watching. Her writing is tight, and concise while still being descriptive and immersive. While she's not writing in the same genre, I feel her style compares to Georges Simenon. Both have short works that are completely immersive with well developed characters and environments despite sparse word counts. 

   No Spoiler summary here: Readers are given the story of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Rita. These sisters serve aboard a spacecraft "Our Lady of Impossible Constellations"  a consecrated ship that happens to be a living, semi-sentient slug like creature. Like many missionaries of old, the sisters have joined the order for various reasons- some of which were related to religious calling, many not so much. The focus of charitable and practical aid looms larger than proselytizing.  I was initially struck by the similarities between these space nuns and early earth missionaries. I thought I was going to be getting a cautionary tale of colonialism but set in space. Instead, I got much more.  The novella opens with discussion of what to do about the living ship's imprinting on another ship, and as the sister's debate and discuss, a distress call arrives from a new colony. The sister's respond and find themselves embroiled in a conflict with Central Governance, the Church and themselves. 

   For me this was such a treat, in 160 short pages, we explore a living space ship made of muscle, viscera and more, the public and private lives of nuns, the ethics of power dynamics in religion, government, and relationships, all while being treated to space adventure that is propulsive and interesting. 

  I couldn't put it down,  but it was also very short, so there was no need to put it down. 

I did not like the sort of abrupt, cliff hanger-y type ending but the good part of reading back list books- is that the second book, which continues the story of our Nuns and their unlikely allies, is already available. I do want more space faring nuns. 

I did do this on audio.  The audiobook was well done and did not detract from the story. 

I really do recommend this one, and I can't wait to read more from this author. 

STATS

First Published: 10/29/2019

Pages: 160 pages

Available as an Audio Book : YES  (~ 4 hours) 

Trigger Warnings:  violence, colonialism, religion, plague, infectious disease

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)