Fantasy Space and Empire story that spans the Universe in time and Space. Three Gods create in harmony. Three human religious factions that think they know better. Three women with choices to make. The Universe is beholden to the outcome. I read this book a few chapters at a time, dipping in and out, but kept coming back to it; I’m glad I did. This book has big ambitions, and for the most part meets them. So, not entirely perfect, but in the whole a worthwhile read. Thank you to Rebellion and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

This should've been right up my alley, but sadly wasn't. I was hoping for something similar to The First Sister, and this did have subtle similar vibes, but overall I wanted more development. I'm not sure if this is a standalone or if there are more books to follow, but as is I think it should've been split into two books at least. There was barely any time to get to know the characters, to care about them, especially Sahar who had so few PoVs. Out of the other two PoVs, Korinne, who is the main character, is the most developed, but I still found it so hard to relate to her and care about her. Aster was probably the coolest character (who eats stars!), though the names of her chapter titles kept changing. Which, while it made sense with the plot, felt a bit out of place. Because Korinna's chapters were all just her name, Sahar's too from what I recall. Either give all of them different titles, or none. Or at least give Aster just one, it was hard to keep track of all of hers when there were so many changes. The romance started off very obsessive, Aster lived in Korinna's head rent free and vice versa. Despite that, I can't say I saw any chemistry there. But I do like the sapphic rep. The pacing was both fast and slow, it would depend on the chapter. There were times where I felt like I had to push myself to continue reading, and times where I thought "ohh this is going well, let's read a few more chapters". Generally though, I don't think this is a hard read that will take people longer to finish, but it can be info dumpy. The magic system wasn't completely clear to me, but that's ok, I'm very much a "vibes" person so I don't need exact explanations for magic systems in books. I think I kind of get the gist? I liked the world building and the plot, there were some interesting ideas there, and I'd be happy to read another book by this author which will undoubtedly be better. *Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Redsight by Meredith Mooring follows three main characters, all with unique gifts under the three goddesses of the galaxy. They must decide whether to overcome centuries of differences to create the world they desire, or remain embedded in the traditional ways of their orders. With both queer and disability representation, this is very exciting upcoming science fiction! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book, thank you NetGalley! I went into this book completely blind and wasn’t sure what to expect at all. Despite this, I didn’t struggle to get into it. I really enjoyed the story and the plot was executed excellently; I haven’t read anything like this before! I really enjoyed the premise of the different Orders who worship a different goddess and each magic was entirely unique. I also enjoyed watching the romance within this book blossom as the characters learnt more about themselves and each other. Overall, the book was very well-paced and consistent. However, there were a few aspects of this book that I struggled with. I found imagery quite difficult due to a lack of in-depth descriptions and world-building, I feel if this was slightly improved upon, the world could’ve been more magical. I also found myself becoming quite confused at times due to some aspects of the magic being under-explained. Other than that, it was a very exciting story!

Once upon a time, there were 3 sister goddesses: the red goddess Vermicula who was eternally feeling, the black serpent goddess Furia who was eternally hungry, and the white light goddess Radiosa whose radiance was enough to take from all. Together they created the universe and each established an order of followers built in their own image. Each of the goddesses created an Order in their own image. Vermicula’s followers are called Redseers. Borne blind, those who have enough power can control Redsight (essentially manipulate an element called tactus) to move through time and space, although it takes a terrible toll on their bodies - making them weep blood from their eyes and their bodies to break down. The Imperium that governs the galaxy places a high value on the Redseers, using them to navigate its warships as they engage in conquest and colonisation. Radiosa’s followers preferred to stay on planets and work for the Imperium as judges, researchers and engineers. Those who work for the Order have the ability to manipulate tactus to see when people are lying and discern the truth. Furia and her followers drew power (tactus) from exhausted stars, depleting the universe as they consumed more and more. This led them into war with the Imperium and the followers of Vermicula and Radiosa, who joined together to seal Furia into a tomb, trapping her for centuries as her followers were forcibly disbanded and slowly died out over the following centuries. But having joined together Radiosa and Vermicula were unprepared when their orders turned against them in turn, conspiring with the Imperium to trap them in their own tombs. Thousands of years later, 20-year-old Korinna is a cleric in the Order of Vermicula who lives on the Order’s headquarters, a ship called the Navitas. Korinna is the weakest member of her cohort, forced into remedial lessons with the former High Priestess, Mistress Vega. While the rest of her year dream of passing their exams and taking roles as navigators on the Imperium’s warships, Korinna only dreams of surviving and maybe taking a job on the Navitas in some horticultural role because those who are deemed unfit to serve Vermicula are recycled, their blood added to the ship’s stores. So Korinna is surprised when Mistress Vega reveals that she has been deliberately holding Korinna back and has hopes of Korinna using her powers to become High Priestess of the Order. To do so, she ensures that Korinna gets a role as navigator on Governor Wu’s warship. A rising star in the Imperium, Governor Wu is set to travel to the Umbra to capture a pirate called Aster Haran who has been laying waste to some of the Imperium’s most powerful warships but Korinna finds herself drawn more to Governor Wu’s adviser, Litia Sarai who grew up in the Umbra and has been advising Governor Wu on what he will find there. But it isn’t long into their mission when things go dreadfully wrong and Korinna finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew and forced to take charge of her future once and for all. Meredith Mooring’s debut SF space opera romance has some interesting ideas, e.g. the use of a visually impaired protagonist, the idea of atomic manipulation and space ships built from asteroids, but the plotting is all over the place with some developments sign posted too early and a credibility defying plot twist in the final quarter, the central romance being under developed and ultimately a sense that nothing that happens to Korinna is earned. I picked this up because I was intrigued by the idea of the protagonist being visually impaired as it is not something I have read a lot of and I saw that Mooring herself is visually impaired so I knew it would be authentic. I am also keen to read more sapphic romance so was keen to see how Mooring handled it. Some of the best elements of this book relate to the fact that Korinna is technically blind - I liked the way she uses a tactile script to communicate and how her control of tactus gives her a separate way of looking at things - in fact, I would have liked to have had this developed further because there was a lot of scope there (although equally I understand that she doesn’t just want this to be an issues novel). Equally interesting is the physical toll that use of tactus takes on Redseer’s body. This is quite gruesome at times, from the bleeding from the eyes to finger nails and skin falling off and I wanted to know if this was just a Redseer issue or whether it also affected Radiosa’s followers and how they dealt with it. Also fascinating is a revelation late in the book that some spaceships are built from converted asteroids but it happens so late in the book and is almost an off-hand point that it doesn’t really get explored. Unfortunately, in general I found the book to be a bit of a mess. The plotting is quite unbalanced with too long spent establishing Korinna’s role and background in the Order. Whereas Korinna’s adjustment to life on Governor Wu’s ship and trying to navigate life outside the Order while also trying to build an alliance with him to fulfil Vega’s desire for her to be High Priestess is severely under-developed to the extent that the time spent building friendships among some of the crew all feels wasted because once Aster Haran attacks, Korinna shows no interest in finding out what happened to them. Then the final third is devoted to the romance between Korinna and Aster and their attempt to strike back at the Imperium, which is all incredibly rushed and dependent on some truly incredible plot twists (one of which really annoyed me because there is literally no attempt at explaining how it might have been possible). For me, the biggest issue with the book is Korinna. She suffers from All Powerful Destiny Syndrome but there is nothing really there to back it up. Mooring wants you to believe that she is smart but also unworldly and I don’t think she gets the balance right between them - certainly not to the point that you see her as Aster sees her because Korinna is so credulous and never really plans anything. For example one development in the final quarter involves her placing her trust in a character who has literally been locked up in a cell and shown nothing but hatred for her and Aster and yet Korinna is surprised when she tries to take revenge for it. Aster is better developed, although a plot twist involving her is literally revealed by Mooring in the first third of the book, which takes away the surprise of the big reveal. I would have liked to have had more scenes between her and Furia because it goes to the central theology of the book and I would have also liked to have understood more what attracts her to Korinna beyond her power because the romance really suffers from that insta-love hand wavey thing and doesn’t really develop beyond that. I should mention that there is a third point-of-view character in the book in the shape of a White Priestess called Sahar who works as a judge on one of the outer planets. For me, she could have been cut out of this book and it would not have lost anything because she is so under-developed to the point that she is nothing more than a plot point there to make certain things happen later on. Ultimately this is a book that had potential - there’s a definite feminist vibe to the themes with the Imperium characters tending to be male and the Orders more female - but the writing just didn’t work for me. It’s one of those stories where I wonder if it would have worked better as a duology rather than a standalone novel because it would have had more room to breathe and for world building and characters to develop. Review copy from publisher.