As the Ever-Blossoming Empire colonizes ever greater swaths of the galaxy, Fassen Ruust, a young war orphan, desperately struggles to earn their keep in the Fireback resistance and prove their worth as a fighter. Eventually, they catch the attention of one of the resistance’s greatest heroes and are recruited to serve on his special unit. All the while their secret contact with Lu, a teenager from outside both the empire and the resistance who saved Fassen when they were children, provides them with the rare opportunity for friendship, comfort, and a creative outlet in their militaristic and highly transactional society.
Lu lives in a world entirely unlike Fassen’s. Post-scarcity and post-capitalism, it is a place of peace, prosperity, and freedom maintained through secrecy and avoidance of both sides of the war.
When a mission gone wrong exposes Fassen to a darker side of the resistance, they flee to the only safety they can think of — Lu. But as the war follows them right to Lu’s home, both Fassen and Lu will decide what they are willing to give to protect their peace and their ideals.

Okay, so the blurb on the book describing this as a romance is a little… odd. Fassen and Lu’s relationship could be read as a romance (though it’s just as easy, maybe easier, to read it as not) but the narrative is not structured or framed around the relationship in a way that would lead me to describe the genre as romance.
With that out of the way, this story uses the characters as a discussion of what our society should value, and how it should take care of its people, bringing in as well discussions of colonialism, imperialism, and the effects of war. Some of it was well done — the ways the resistance’s single-minded focus on war had them veering into the same mindset as the empire rather than forming a better society; the disregard for the native inhabitants of the battleground planet by both sides. But other sides of these issues were neglected — there’s not much exploration of what the alternative to Fireback’s form of resistance is, Lu’s people have just removed themselves and called it a day. There’s the start of something at the end, but I think the whole ending is too rushed. A character is introduced, gets one quick conversation off with the protagonists and friends, and changes their whole worldview, wrapping up the conflict and turning the whole war around. This kind of resolution fit the themes for sure but was only loosely tied to the plot and the focus of the story up to that point.
I guess I feel like this book touched on too many complex topics for those +character arcs, +worldbuilding, etc. to all be thoroughly explored and wrapped up in one mid-length novel. I wish it was a series instead, which must tell you I did like it somewhat.
(I really want a series so I can have a book from Sertig’s perspective. Let me see her life story.) ( )

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . Fassen Ruust, a fifteen-year-old, is recruited as a child soldier by a rebel army fighting imperial forces. Ruust has great instincts and natural talents, progressing rapidly in the ranks. It's all very Star Wars until the war crimes.

On the side, Ruust maintains a forbidden long-distance zine-writing relationship with Lu, a member of a neutral science utopia hiding from the empire with the help of an artificial intelligence named Field. Lu likes to science, exploring worlds and secretly helping Ruust figure out new technology stolen from the empire.

There are interesting gender diversity aspects, but that all gets lost as the overly long book mires down in muddled action scenes, complex and yet still vague world building, and simplistic nice-people-win-because-they're-nice plotting.

I've enjoyed Blue Delliquanti's previous books, especially the down-to-earth Meal, but this space epic is a fizzle for me. ( )

teen graphic sci-fi body-positive, abiity-positive adventure fiction, standalone (multiple nonbinary and trans characters, brief discussions about binders and hormone availability, nonbinary author/artist)

Lu, a Black tween from a team of researchers and Fassen (they/them), a brown-skinned tween whose rebel family was killed trying to get to safety, and whose pronouns are understood by everyone without having to explain them, become unlikely intergalactic penpals/teen BFFs in a futuristic battleground filled with innocent people, unbelievable technology, and superpowerful AIs.

All the people and names and world building and scene changes had me a little confused, but just roll with it and don't worry too much about it-- you can still enjoy the story without fully understanding it. At the very least you can enjoy visiting a place where everyone welcomes people from anywhere in the gender spectrum, even if they haven't completely solved the need for affordable health care (or water that you don't have to pay for). ( )

So many emotions were felt when reading this. I loved this so much, the art style, the characters, and the story were just chef kiss. It hurt my heart but also built me up. The diversity of everything especially the cast was so amazing. I would read more from this author. ( )

Beautifully illustrated, this graphic novel is a classic sci-fi story in the vein of Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle, exploring themes similar to The Dispossessed and to The Left Hand of Darkness, but with a lot of colorful, kinetic action. What makes a person? What do people deserve? The political and moral questions are advanced, but the reading level is not, and the story is fast-paced and never dry or too dense (much like a great quickbread). I absolutely loved it. ( )