Victories Greater Than Death is a YA (apparently) sci-fi story about Tina who is a clone of an infamous alien Captain who fought, and won, in many battles until she was finally killed by an enemy. The aliens decided to clone her and place her on Earth hidden inside a human body until the time came when they would activate her beacon and call her back to them to continue to fight in the space war.
I won't lie, I struggled with this book. My first struggle was with figuring out the intended age of the audience because it's being classed as YA yet aside from the occasional swear word, the few references to sex, and then the mild sex(?) scene at the end it felt VERY middle grade. My second struggle was with the quality of the writing. This is not what I expected at all from this author which left me disappointed. The writing felt very clunky and awkward. The lack of details, the plot jumping from one thing to another and totally unrealistic things happening again led me to feel like I was reading middle grade. And that isn't a problem, I like reading middle grade but the problem is that I would have the right mindset from the start and would rate it accordingly. So Victories Greater Than Death left me confused as to where to pitch my expectations and how to rate it.
I really liked the total diverse range of characters and the fact that they identified themselves in lots of different ways gender wise and sexuality wise. But the placement of it felt very stiff. For example, every single character in the book introduces themselves as "I am xxx and my pronoun is xxx" which just didn't feel natural at all in the context of what was happening in the scenes.
This book is super fast paced so a lot does happen, which kept me turning the pages. And it was an easy enough read due to the level it's written at. I just had to stop myself from rolling my eyes, sit back and go along for the ride. I genuinely thought I was going to love this book but ended up just feeling meh about it.

Victories Greater Than Death is a wild and chaotic ride. There is a lot happening all the time, we are thrown from one plot element to the next with little explanation; you definitely have to just be open and along for the ride to enjoy this book. But if you do lean back with curiosity, you might be rewarded. But be sure you buckle up because Victories Greater Than Death moves at a breakneck speed.

At its core, Victories Greater Than Death is a story of found family, legacy and making the right choices, even when it’s hard. What makes it special, however, is the world-building. Charlie Jane Anders throws us into a universe that makes the weirdness of Doctor Who pale in comparison. The amount of different alien species we meet is astonishing, I couldn’t keep up 80% of the time. This world is so vibrant and weird, the best way I can describe it is this: Anders’ world feels like all our childhood imaginations and crayon drawings of aliens and space heroes rolled into one. It is colourful and vibrant and absolutely insane, in the best way possible.

There’s weird and gross alien food, lots of new space tech and a lot of alien names to remember. A detail that brought me a lot of joy: everybody introduces themselves with their pronouns!

Like I said, you definitely have to be open to a messy plot and way too much information to take in. It’s not about remembering everything, it’s about experiencing it. I felt that I was right there with Tina and her friends, in this new and confusing but equally exciting world. However, I wished that every once in a while the book had slowed down just a little to let its story (and me) catch a breath. The fast pacing is a lot at times and definitely has the potential to make you just check out because it’s all too much. I wanted to linger in moments, so I could get to know the characters better.

The book also touches on more serious issues like racism, transphobia and eugenics. Sadly, I feel like because of the pacing and the general speed of the story, there was little room to give these issues the attention I think they deserve.


The characters were definitely my favourite aspect of Victories Greater Than Death. I am a sucker for found family dynamics and immediately fell in love with the Earthlings, as the human teenagers refer to themselves at some point.

Again, I would’ve liked to spend more time with them but nevertheless, they’re very close to my heart. I am especially fond of Rachael, Tina’s best friend and artist extraordinaire. I relate a lot to her quiet nature (even though I don’t seem like a quiet person, I know) and she provided a sense of space and breath to Tina’s more chaotic and impulsive character.

Speaking of Tina, her character development surprised me! She easily could’ve just been exactly the kind of hero we expect her to become. Instead, she is more complicated and nuanced than that because the world around her doesn’t need a cookie-cutter hero – it needs a Tina. And as someone who never feels they’re enough and always strives to be something more, her struggle about her identity and legacy hit close to home.

Additionally, her relationship with Elza was incredibly cute. Like everything in this book, it’s messy and complicated but unlike some other threads, we actually get some quiet moments between the two. I especially appreciated how respectful they are with each other’s boundaries. They communicate clearly and most importantly: they always ask for consent. Those interactions sadly aren’t as common in most fictional romances I have encountered, which made me even happier I found them in this book.

Overall, Victories Greater Than Death was a very fun book that was just slightly too fast for me.

In many a book, the main character is the Chosen One with a special destiny which they are often unaware of and thrown into the plot with confusion and complaints of ‘Why me?‘ I’ve always wanted to read a story where the protagonist DIDN’T resist the Call To Adventure and embraced it whole-heartedly like many of the sci-fi nerds among us would if given the chance. Victories Greater Than Death gives me that story I’ve been waiting for with a great subversion where our Chosen One Tina is well-aware that she’s a clone of an alien commander just biding her time growing up hidden on Earth until she’s old enough to rejoin the war. Far from railing against her fate, we meet her impatiently testing out ways of activating the beacon inside her which will summon the aliens to reclaim her!

Of course when Tina is eventually folded back into the conflict between the Royal Fleet and The Compassion (don’t be fooled by the friendly-sounding name, those are the bad guys), she finds herself way in over her head and things do NOT go according to plan. She’s left to inadequately try to fill in the shoes of the bold, indomitable Captain Argentian surrounded by Argentian’s former friends and crewmates who have unrealistically high expectations of her which are rapidly adjusted to resigned disappointment, feeling that Tina will never measure up.

Thankfully when she was taken aboard the spaceship, her best friend Rachael came along for the ride and is a staunch source of support throughout their many perilous adventures. A diverse group of teenage genius recruits from Earth also join the ship to bolster their thinning ranks and train as back-ups for crucial positions. The Earthlings, as they cornily name themselves, form close bonds over the course of the story and become a tight-knit group who would do anything for each other, plus there are a couple romantic relationships brewing in the background for additional drama!

The main thing to know first of all is that the writing and story beats feel aimed at a younger YA crowd, as it is sometimes rather simplistic and glosses over some tension and conflicts that could’ve been explored. Once I adjusted my expectations, I enjoyed this a whole lot more as a sci-fi lite soap opera which has stakes of intergalactic importance, but keeps its focus mainly on Tina’s journey of self-discovery as she wrestles with her failure to live up Captain Argentian’s legacy and has to make do with her own wits, courage and integrity.

My favorite thing about the book is the friendship between Tina and Rachael with their great banter, wordless understanding and unconditional love for each other, and a long history together which is referenced with silly or touching stories from their childhood. They may have the occasional argument or silly misunderstanding, and love interests are introduced for the girls, but the book is based on the rock-solid foundation of their friendship and it makes me so happy to have female BFFs shine like this.

Of course I’m also hugely invested in sapphic romance so I was keen on the developing relationship between Tina and Elza, though it did feel a bit rushed. It’s believable for teenagers to crush on each other at first sight and have their flirtations, but I wish their interactions had been fleshed out more. Elza was delightfully prickly and had her walls up so high, yet allowed herself to be vulnerable to Tina way too quickly.

While I enjoyed the varying representation and diversity afforded by the four Earth teens, I didn’t think they were given enough page-time to be developed properly. There is so much going on in terms of world-building and action and conflict that some of these characters faded into the background and I had trouble distinguishing between them. It also didn’t seem realistic how they settled into life on the spaceship so easily and weren’t ever home-sick; one of the kids came from an abusive family background so of course he was relieved to have escaped, but the others left their lives, loved ones and ambitions behind, and as cool as space is, it didn’t ring true that we didn’t hear about any angst or regrets at joining the mission. I felt it was a bit of a missed opportunity to have interactions with the alien crew, personally I would’ve preferred for the Earth trio of Tina, Rachael and Elza to have formed a unit with a couple of space cadets instead so it wasn’t so human-centric.

Back to judging the book on what it DID provide – thrilling action adventure that is elevated by a villain who has the horrifying power to turn everyone’s memories of a person from affection to revulsion once he touches them. I’ve never encountered that idea in fiction before and it is something that’s stuck with me since I finished reading this; it isn’t bad enough that Marrant kills people, but he removes the ability for their loved ones to mourn for them by tainting their memory! It’s such an insidious mental violation and it made me more afraid for the main characters because even if I didn’t believe the author would kill any of them, there was this other terrible possibility.

In general, I had a blast reading this book – I invested whole-heartedly in Tina’s struggle, I adored the female friendship, all the diversity was fantastic and the plot felt very unique. I’ll definitely be checking out the sequel when it’s released!

*3.75 Stars*

Tina has always known she was an alien and a clone. She has been waiting for her beacon to light up so she can join a spaceship and get on with her life in space. It's definitely not so easy though as she's also being chased by an organisation looking to kill her.

This was a little disappointing to me. The writing felt weird to me, like it was spotty? It seemed rushed at times and it didn't go in depth enough on relationships and friendships. I don't know, it felt a little two dimensional and it jumped too fast in between big moments.
Still, I loved the found family and the characters were pretty cool.
I do really like science fiction...

Victories Greater Than Death is a YA space opera with such a fun premise. Tina is the human clone of an alien commander. In an unusual twist, she is fully aware of this and just waiting for (and sometimes willing!) her destiny to arrive. This main storyline didn't go where I was expecting, and I appreciated that. This was a very human, teenage story of friendship and love with a diverse and delightfully queer cast.

There's some serious high-stakes plot going on, with dramatic battles and epic adventures... but unfortunately, it just didn't click for me. It is almost too fast-paced. The story jumped around a lot, and never gave me enough time to get invested in the characters or what was going on. It's such a shame, because on the surface the cast was brilliant and I SO wanted to feel connected to these bad ass, intelligent, unashamedly themselves characters. I think there is a lot of potential here, and if the series continues, perhaps this will give a chance to revisit these characters and form more attachments.

Recommended for fans of YA space opera. Although it did not quite work for me, that doesn't take away from the great, creative worldbuilding and unique characters. I fully expect this book to tick a lot of boxes for some readers, especially teens. I've read a lot of sci fi and fantasy, particularly YA, but this definitely brings something new.

The opening is familiar enough: a kid, stranded in the here and now (or at any rate, its pre-pandemic but still unlovely stage)*, dreams of the day her real people will come and take her away from all this to be a chosen one in space. The slightly unusual bit is that her best friend and her adoptive mum believe her; they know she really does have a beacon which will activate one day, and a destiny beyond Earth. But the bit I really appreciated was that the mum isn't just there as a convenient prop; Anders has thought through how that must feel for her, knowing even more than most parents that one day your child will go away, as in really away. Such that as the day nears, she swings between trying to make new friends ahead of the aloneness, trying to make some last lovely memories of Earth together, and just sadly drinking alone. In general, the novel is very good at adding these little practical notes - so when the beacon turns on, the starmap looks glorious, but also makes driving really tricky. Alas, as the story progresses through the inevitable checkpoints, increasingly it feels all sizzle, no steak**. The protagonist regains memories of how the interstellar world works, but not the personal memories of her prior self - which can be how amnesia works, but still makes for a very convenient flawed chosen one. The other human kids brought along for the ride are, as per convention, recruited via a game - it may be an app now, but this is still very familiar stuff (though again, a little twist almost rescues the too-familiar material: everyone is given a warning about being whisked off to a life-or-death struggle in space, but they all ignore it, because that's what everyone does with terms and conditions, isn't it?).

Alas, if anything I started to get more annoyed once our heroine gets picked up and the action moves to space. For starters: the aliens all introduce themselves with name and then pronoun. I can understand the appeal of this to readers who, like the lead, have been growing up in some mean hick town with no model for such stuff, but it always makes me itchy when genre fiction, rather than taking the wider opportunity to show how recent Western gender norms aren't the only possibility across the whole sweep of space and time, instead imposes a norm of its own by assuming that everyone everywhere decent will do exactly what early 21st century progressive Westerners do. As such I found myself instantly fond of the Zyzyians - "It's a huge insult to use any kind of pronoun to refer to Zyzyians – like, a battle-to-the-death level insult." But then, further to all this, I realised - these people are all using universal translators. Surely, if they're communicating between species from entirely different worlds, with whole different biological and conceptual frameworks, those should be able to handle pronouns too? Unless they have a pronoun glitch? Do universal translators have a silent '-phobia' in the middle of 'translator'? This even gets lampshaded when one of the Earth kids talks about how weird it sounds in Mandarin, but I was already too bugged by then to accept this as more than handwaving. And equally, it's nice that everyone asks before touching anyone else, that the lead's former self had "husbands and wives and partners", that one greeting in the Royal Fleet is "Strong drinks and unexpected friends" – but this is stuff that would have made a nice framework for an event, back when there were events, rather than enough in itself for a story in which I can invest.

As for the antagonists, and I do like that they call themselves the Compassion, well, they're ex-Royal Fleet. "They betrayed all the ideals that we stand for. They should have known better, but they chose to follow a toxic ideology of total genocide." One assumes there must be more to it than that, not least because I'm not sure 'total genocide' even makes sense, but if that was revealed further along, I didn't get to it. I've not abandoned a book since the Event, though heavens know there've been a few where I should have. It's not hard to parse the psychology behind that – holding on to things as so much slips away, determined to see through what I can, et cetera. But here...I think it was the belated realisation that this was the beginning of a trilogy which finally broke my will, that even if I slogged my way to the end, I wasn't guaranteed a proper resolution. I loved Anders' first novel, and her early shorts, which used what could easily have felt like an excess of whimsy to heartbreaking effect. I skipped the second, because it seemed to be a deliberate exercise in not leaning on her established strengths, and even pre-Event, while I could respect the ambition, I wasn't sure I needed to follow a journey into darkness like that. This one...I'm sure there are YA readers who haven't seen this template done to death, and for whom a progressive run-through of the old structure will be a joy. I wish them every happiness of it. But it's not for me.

*Plague aside, the other clue to it being the recent-ish past is that Squirrel Girl and Ms Marvel are the sidekick's favourite comics. Well, either that or she genuinely rates the post-Wilson run, which seems far more outlandish than any of the space adventure bit.
**I've been vegetarian for more than 30 years, so this really isn't one of my go-to figures of speech. But isn't it curious how sometimes, only one you normally wouldn't reach for will do?

(Netgalley ARC)

I really liked this book (and not just because there's a character called Rachael which always makes me excited!). Victories Greater than Death put a brilliant spin on the chosen one and found family tropes. I loved how diverse and inclusive this tried to be for example when pronouns were stated as soon as we met characters.
The first few chapters were a bit light on sci-fi elements for me but then the action kicked in. Like other readers, I agree that there were a lot of characters to keep track of though and occasionally it was like reading space Wikipedia with its info dumps. This book would be great for young adult readers new to the genre. And after that cliffhanger, I really want more of this 'verse.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Victories Greater Than Death is the YA debut of acclaimed author Charlie Jane Anders , and is an action packed fun filled space adventure with a lot of heart.
The book follows the adventures of one Tina Mains, who is not your average teenage girl- in fact she is the clone of a renowned alien general , in hiding on earth until the interplanetary rescue beacon in her body goes off, and she is whisked away to save the galaxy . The downside is that the beacon will also act like a homing device for some very nasty aliens who want nothing more than to kill her before she can regain all her memories and re-join her army.
When the beacon does go off, Tina and her best friend, introverted artist Rachel are swept up into an adventure more dangerous than either of them could ever have imagined. Time has not been kind to the army that Tina in her former guise of Captain Thaoh Argentian left behind, they are losing the war, and Thaoh's former friend has become a vicious warmonger determined to cleanse the galaxy of life forms he deems less than ideal, and he's not going to let a little genocide get in the way. When Tina fails to fully regain her memories, all seems lost, but Rachel suggests recruiting more humans to the cause, and soon the band of merry adventurers grows. From there the book is an action packed roller coaster as the crew lurches from one danger to the next, learning more about themselves and each other along the way,
On the plus side I loved the variety of representation in this book and how deftly and naturally that was incorporated into the storytelling. The characters are all interesting , and I am sure we will learn more about them as the series continues, the focus here really was on Tina. As it is the first in a series, there is a lot of setting up for what is to come, and this did hamper the pace of the book at times, especially in the first half. This was probably the biggest negative I had, the pacing was slow at first and later felt a little choppy. I did find it interesting to have a heroine who may have been there due to "birth-right" ( Can you call it birth-right if she is a clone? ) but was struggling so much , it was a nice twist on the trope. I am keen to see where this series goes next as I think it has a lot of potential.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Half of me loves what this book is trying to do; the concept, the characters, the representation, the scope of the worldbuilding, internal logic and the imagination behind it is great but the other half struggled with the reading experience. This might be because it is the first in a series so there’s a lot to set up.

The beginning was a little bumpy and almost lost me (up to the 30% mark) but I thought okay it’s a bit like I Am Number Four; alien in hiding on Earth except Tina (our alien) is going to go into space. Minor observation: in what world would a parent, knowing an alien murder squad is coming to kill their child at some point, not train their child in self-defence?

For me, the main issue was the sequencing. There were parts particularly between ending a chapter and starting the next where I just didn’t know what had happened or why we suddenly jumped location. For example, they were captured by an alien race, had half a conversation where they discussed where they would need to go next on their quest for a stone and in the next chapter they were not there but somewhere else and as a reader you don’t know how the rest of that conversation went, how they left or why they are where they are. It meant that some scenes felt unfinished. The plot is driven by the main character being pursued by Marrant - the big bad - but at the end, when Marrant’s plan has failed and there are hints that a far more dangerous force has been unleashed we don’t get any resolution as to why Marrant killed his wife or anything which felt anti-climactic.

I really liked that Tina retains the knowledge of “Captain Incredible” (to quote Elza) but doesn’t regain her memories. Her struggle to live up to the memory of a person she has never met and figure out her own role and identity that doesn’t line up with what she expected is really well done. Her relationship with Elza was all the more textured due to their relatable but very different experiences of self-acceptance. I was really pleased that Tina didn’t just become a perfect warrior but was tried, tested and challenged. I think it’ll be interesting to see how she reconciles different parts of her heritage in future books.

Rachael is my favourite character. Why has there never been a cool resident artist onboard a spacecraft in any of the books I’ve read before? Rachael ties the whole cast (alien and human) and story together with her quiet, thoughtful and determined presence. The rest of the group grew on me but did seem to walk into a room and dump their entire life story (except Elza who was more reticent) on whoever was present which felt a little odd and I’m not sure we needed all of them? Damini’s energy salvaged several scenes but the two male characters lacked personalities and I think I would have been okay with swapping them out for two aliens equally newly initiated to the Royal Fleet. I’m still so confused that none of the humans were interested in immediately returning to Earth at the end!

So I’m a little conflicted. There’s a lot to really love here and I really wanted to be blown away but for me it didn’t quite strike the balance right. I’m hoping the second book will find its stride because I really want more Sci-fi/space operas in the YA genre especially when they have a diverse, inclusive Universe to aspire to!!

I received this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't check before reading this but as acknowledged in the Afterword and is pretty obvious from about five pages in this is an everything bar the kitchen sink bit of YA sci-fi, and for an author so steeped in the current Sci-fi scene, is a well studied bit of wish-fulfilment. Not just within the text, where great galactic battles are fought by a smart diverse set of Earth teens, but also as a metatext, what makes this kind of novel tick. And whilst CJA happily plays in in sandbox of gender expression, sexualities and neuro-diversity, what this book is actually about is imposter syndrome. And so she brazenly plays with a Chosen One narrative being well aware of the flaws of such narratives: our heroine is the reincarnation of a great space captain, hidden on Earth and ready to be rescued but unfortunately her memories are never properly restored. So can she match up to who she is supposed to be, lead the kids who she feels responsible for, and save the galaxy?

I had forgotten how giddy the stakes in a book like this can get, this is a "only you can save the galaxy" story, and is done with plenty of elan. Nearly all of my niggles with it are probably answered with it being YA, some of the relationships, particularly the romantic ones, are telegraphed massively and much of the alien creation is like getting a Russian and putting moss on them. There is a huge range of alien species mentioned, described in a few terms and left alone - which is fine, its not about them - but the imagination does show strengths which are not being stretched here. With all the gung-ho wish fulfilment fun going on, those galaxy ending stakes never quite convince. On the other hand, the alien weapon which not only destroys someone, but also makes everyone hate the dead person is absolute genius in a book like this, fear of death can be overcome but for a teenager fear of people also thinking bad things about you tops it all.

Victories Greater Than Death is much less complicated than I expected it to be, even when its YA credentials were laid out to me. Whilst I think it absolutely succeeds in doing what Anders set out to do, the only real kinks in the formula are cosmetic. (OK, she does at least dodge chapters of sorting hat selection games which makes this better than most YASF). It does manage to meld a pulp and YA sensibility whilst laying out its identity politics in a matter of fact way (all the aliens offer gender pronouns, everyone asks for consent before touching each other). Its lots of fun, and if a success I can certainly see a return to this Universe. But its not really for me, and I wanted a bit more to chew on.

[Netgalley ARC]