My last read of 2023 (yes, I only now got to write the review) was a return to Sci-Fi. A spin-off of a trilogy I’ve read a couple of years ago.

The book follows the Asarlaí Wars trilogy with a slight gap (around 6 months). In the trilogy, Vaslisha Tor Dain (usually only called “Vas”) and her crew stopped the return of the Asarlaí, a powerful and insane species bent on domination. Now that she and her crew – significantly expanded during the adventure – have somewhat recovered, trouble won’t wait any longer.

During the first trilogy, the order of Clionea warrior-nuns sacrificed themselves to help Vas and slow down the Asarlaí, but now, they’re stuck in limbo between life and afterlife. Their release can only come if the Order is rebuilt, to which they need to find a mysterious persona, the Pirate of Boagada – who is revealed to have died recently. Thus, the goal is to find his resting place, recover his memories, and use them to find a new candidate for the position. The only guide is Aithnea, the former mother superior, powerful enough for her spirit to linger – at first, only in Vas’ head, though she eventually takes a “digital form” as a self-aware program Vas can move between computers.

Vas is about to start her search and even gets a mercenary job to attend a space pirate meeting. However, she can’t take any of her own spaceships and is limited to a fraction of her crew. The journey leads them to meet quite a strange cast of characters – a lost ship of a species believed to be extinct after their society collapsed, and some other unscrupulous characters, including a brother of Vas’ second-in-command and lover, Deven.

As usual, the meeting itself is full of strange “coincidences” that definitely don’t bode well not just for Vas but also for some of the other participants. Once again, Vas and her crew find themselves being part of a scheme that threatens the universe – it seems that the Clionea nuns held back something destructive, though so far, there are only hints. And, as things go downhill, Vas and her crew end up barely escaping the meeting. They land on a deserted space station where they intend to rest and repair, but end up having their ship stolen. Stranded with no ship and no way to contact the rest of her crew at their homeworld might be the last of their worries, though…

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Read date: 16.-30. 12. 2023
Published: 16. 2. 2021
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,44/4,4
My rating: 85%
Length: 390 pages
My highlights

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As with the first series, the books keeps a relatively steady pace, even if slower at the beginning, and often slowed by mentions of events from the first trilogy – for someone who re-read the original trilogy right before this book, they weren’t necessary. It also expands the backstory by a fair amount and is intended as a direct sequel rather than a separate story.