Reading science fiction is always a bit of a gear shift for me—it’s not my natural habitat, literarily speaking—so bear that in mind when I say it took me a couple of chapters to settle into this read. In fact, with some of the concepts being thrown around in the first chapter, I wondered if I’d bitten off more than I could chew in terms of the story world! I’m happy to say that wasn’t the case at all; once I found my bearings, I was able to settle into Ming’s story as she navigated the new world she found herself in.

Mind you, it wasn’t the world Ming needed to navigate so much as the people. She’s caught between what essentially amounted to different political factions right from the start, and having just woken from twenty years suspended animation—with a significant part of her memory wiped, no less—she had no idea who was who and what was what. The balancing act for Ming was in sorting all of that out while simultaneously proving herself trustworthy, or at least useful, to everyone who had a competing claim on her time or skills. Certainly a fine line to walk, and an interesting one to follow.

I was fascinated by some of the details of the world-building in this story, such as the three-dimensional calligraphy Ming crafted and the way in which Tieg created and used music as a “tone poet,” and I enjoyed watching the story play out to its resolution, but overall I didn’t become as emotionally engaged as I wanted to. While the plot itself wasn’t necessarily predictable, the moments of tension, particularly as the story moved toward the climax, resolved relatively quickly, and so it felt as though there was a cycle of tension but no significant build up. But more than that, there was a lack of internal conflict for the main characters to work through, and that’s a key ingredient for me if I’m going to become emotionally invested in a story. I don’t just want to see characters succeed in their aims; I want to see them grown and change personally as a result.

But as I said, this was an enjoyable read overall, and I’m keen to check out this author’s Firebird series, which I’ve heard plenty of great things about!