This dark science-fiction book was really great. I really love the worldbuilding, the magic system and the characters. Each POV were really interesting. The characters were complex and with The fast paced was really enjoyable. Action, emotions and sapphic, the perfect blend,

To my disappointment, I could not find myself captured by this book. The comparisons to Gideon the Ninth are accurate in the scale of the lore and world-building, but I didn't find either to be as comprehensive or clever. The story also takes a blunt approach to communicating the word-building: very much telling, and very little showing. While this may work for some, it really took me out of the story, and was not complemented by the fast pace. I did enjoy the representation of disability in fantasy, and the thoughtful way the author works blindness into the culture without being disrespectful or appropriative.

This is a book with a lot of potential to be great that delivers in some areas, but really misses in others. I really enjoyed the world building and character work, I felt like it used a lot of familiar sci fi aspects that draw the reader in while also introducing a lot of unique elements that keep the reader on their toes and rooting for the characters. But much of the story felt poorly paced or glossed over. With complex moral choices for characters in difficult situations, especially in a fantastical setting outside of our world, I like to see the characters ruminate on their choices, and dig into who they are and why their brain works the way it does. But the pace at which the story moves really doesn't leave enough time for any of that, and using a lot of telling instead of showing creates a rift between the reader and the characters. So as much as I *wanted* to love them and root for them, since they had all the bones that would make me feel that way, I just didn't have any attachment to them. I wasn't given the chance to feel for them.

When I read adult sci-fi I have some fairly high expectations for adult characters making adult decisions, and I often found the characters frustrating or flat, skimming over important details and leaving me often wanting more. The writing style and quick but detail-lacking storytelling felt more juvenile than what I was expecting. I think this story would have benefitted from being a duology or even a trilogy, allowing this big story room to breathe and really give it some depth that was missing.

I'd give it a 2.5 for basic enjoyment, but I'll round up to 3 because I didn't hate it, I just really wanted to LOVE it. Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

Ahh yes, my weakness: sapphics in space.

Korinna has been raised to believe that she is weak and useless. While she may be a Redseer, a blind priestess with the power to manipulate space-time, she is an outcast of her Order. Her true destiny is revealed as one brimming with power, and she takes her place aboard one of the Imperium’s ships. She is no more than a weapon to her Order, but at least she is something.

Enter Aster. Aster is a space pirate with a vendetta against the Imperium and an inescapable, dark power. When Aster attacks Korinna’s ship, Korinna must reconsider everything she’s been led to believe and choose what side she’ll take in a war that’ll determine the fate of the galaxy.

All I needed to know about the novel to want to read it was that it featured sapphics in space. A truly superb pitch, really. And then we also get an Order of blind priestesses who work with forces of the galaxy as an added bonus. I mean, how fucking badass does that sound? (The answer is very.)

Beginning any SFF novel can be rough. So many new words and worlds and concepts all introduced one after another, and only after can the plot step up and take centre stage. This was very much the case with Redsight, except we never reach that point where the story takes off. Or rather the story features a fast-paced plot, but not enough time is spent exploring the characters and their internal conflicts for the plot to have emotional weight. The result is lacklustre action, because we as readers haven’t formed a strong enough connection to care about what happens to the characters.

Example: There’s a scene in the beginning where Korinna must make a choice with no good options. Instead of seeing her make the choice and struggle with weighing her decision, the story frustratingly skips to afterwards. It felt like a missed opportunity for internal conflict, especially when you consider what she actually ended up choosing to do. For such a monumental decision, it felt brushed to the side too easily.

I almost think that Redsight has the wrong main character. With three POVs, Korinna takes centre stage. She’s naive and any problem she encounters is resolved too easily. Aster, on the other hand? Deeply intriguing as a character. Unfortunately, the characters all come across as juvenile to the point where I kept double checking that this was an adult sci-fi novel. Even characters who are supposedly millennia old lack the maturity and wisdom to actually come across as such.

I’ll wrap this up with one more thing I did enjoy, since this review has been pretty negative. The book does have it’s moments! Redsight features imagery that references Eve in the garden of Eden with the serpent and the apple, and that motif signalling when certain parts of the story start to take a turn made the literature student in me perk up.

The pacing was way to fast. Usually I like fast paced books but with this one I had a hard time keeping up and understanding certain elements of the world building. Things developed so quickly that I didn't have time to wrap my head around them or decide how I felt. I kind of felt like I had whiplash by the end of the book because things kept changing without giving me time to process it.

I liked all three main characters which is pretty are for me. I almost always have one character that drives me totally crazy. But all three women were total badasses with awesome and gruesome powers. Although I loved the characters some of their decisions seemed kind of abrupt and inconsistent to me. One page they would have their minds made up about something and then two pages later they had completely changed their minds with nothing happening to influence this change between decisions.

The main romance had everything I usually love in a book relationship. And I didn't mind that for the two characters it was insta-love, which I usually don't care for. They had a bit of enemies to lovers going for a bit and I wish it would have been explored a bit more! They forgave each other too quickly, and their relationship seemed like it was back and forth with things changing rapidly without much seeming to cause these changes. They love each other one chapter and then they hate each other the next chapter for some reason that was vaguely explored, and then in the next chapter they love each other again without the conflict really being resolved.

The magic system in this book was so cool and unique. Although, as I mentioned everything moved so quickly that I found the magic system a bit confusing and even at the end of the book I was still unsure about how certain parts of it worked.

For the most part I enjoyed this book. But, I wish it had a bit more clarity and some more room to flesh out some of the ideas.

Interesting idea, thinly executed. I'm having a hard time articulating what specifically feel flat for me here -- nothing about it -- the character work, the pacing, the prose -- is bad per se. But something about the writing was...weird. Almost like the sentences on each page were scrambled and put back together in the wrong order, or like each sentence was somehow written independently of the ones that came before or after it. The logical flow, I guess, of how a person tells a story -- that was missing for me, and it made for a disorienting reading experience. My gestalt impression was of a decent book, half-baked.

The book is vivid with characters that are grey and science fiction that is fictioning.
Some of the story is bold and the characters are ... I found it a little difficult to follow their development or changes or even just the suffering. Some of the imagery was disturbing and I had to take breaks between reading this book.

First and foremost, this book is the reason that I started on NetGalley. The story is fun and original and I was incredibly excited.

However, in reading the ARC, it felt unpolished and repetitive. Parts of the story were told to me over and over again. The same words would be used in the same sentence. One sentence would be used several times to talk about the same, traumatic incident. I was not rooting for any of the characters. I believe the middle 100 pages were the best, but I could barely get through the last third of the book.

Here are more detailed observations:
- the slaughter of Korinna’s classmates is told to us, but not described, especially since it was such a huge deal for the beginning of the book.
- page 91: uses “broke up” twice in the same sentence
- page 135: the motivations seem to come out of nowhere since they were not alluded to previously— when had Sahar been digging for answers before?
- page 136: used “radioactive” three times in a row when could have just said glow fish
- page 170: the romance comes out of nowhere, I would have liked more build up or tension
- page 219: missing a word in the sentence about Aster curling her face into Korinna’s shoulder
-page 240: the knocking was described at “countless” and then it says that they had knocked for a third time
- 266: repetitions of “disuse” when describing her voice
- 271: “Bring her in” is such a jarring transition when I am not sure if it was supposed to be, it feels like an inappropriate way of moving the scene along
- 274: it seems like I am missing some scenes here — how did Renatia just appear? There was no scene of her coming or being captured. Very confusing.

I would give Redsight a 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Korinna is a blind priestess with the power to manipulate space-time, but she thinks she is the weakest in her Order. She does eventually earn a spot piloting an Imperium ship which is then attacked by space pirate Aster Haran.

I want to start by saying that so much happens in this book that I think it may have benefited from being a duology instead of a single book. This is a very complicated story with 3 separate religious orders that I feel could have been fleshed out more.

I found the magical system of the world interesting and also very dark. Korinna learning that she's more powerful than she though and gaining confidence. I was not bothered that she fell so fast and hard for Aster, who is quite the badass.

I love having a bisexual protagonist and that the world was queer-normative in general. Although it took a while for the story to really pick up, once things ramped up I couldn't put the book down.

This was an ambitious and well written story, the conclusion felt well earned by the characters!

Thank you Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for the ARC.

3.25/5

Ok, I really think this book needed an epilogue, just to give things room to breathe. I think that's my general issue with the book despite it being a solid read, it felt like too much compressed without giving each element the time it really needed. It made for the pacing to be uneven.

That said, this book had a really interesting plot and some stellar world building. The magic system was also really fascinating and unique. The plot and lore made for a pretty propulsive read, even if the characters fell a little flat for me.

Speaking of characters, they were not bad, but not necessarily the most engaging, though some of them really surprised me. Have to specifically mention Renatia, who somehow ended up being my favourite character. I think the lack of breathing room is what caused some of the characterisation to fall flat as well, as they, and Korinna in particular, seemed inconsistent in their thinking rather than their ideas changing progressively. This also affected the romance, which felt like it developed way too fast for me.

Another minor issue was that the writing sometimes lacked clarity, despite being quite exposition heavy(which I didn't mind because the lore of it was pretty interesting).

Despite my issues, the strong plot and the really engaging lore kept me reading and made for an overall entertaining experience.

All in all, it was a flawed, but solid read with some great representation. If you're looking to pick a science fantasy with a really interesting and unique magic system, this is a good option.

This story was a solid 3.5 stars for me. I really enjoyed the world building because it was interesting and something new for me. The story was fresh and fast paced. If you’re interested in a fantasy sci-fi with great queer and poc representation then this will be right up your alley!

Redsight is a book that hovers somewhere between fantasy and science fiction. It takes place in a setting where magic and technology are one and the same, in a universe created by three goddesses, Radiosa, Vermicula, and Furia. The priestesses and priests of these goddesses are directly descended from them and share their powers, which is based in a magical element called "tactus." At some point in the distant past, there was a falling out between the goddesses and Furia was locked away by the other two, and her Order destroyed.

(This turns out to have been a Bad Idea, despite Furia being the goddess of Entropy/Gravity/Thermodynamics and her priestesses being literal "Star Eaters.")

Our main protagonist is a priestess of Vermincula named Korinna. She has grown up believing that she is not very powerful as a "redseer," but would desperately like to leave the monastery/ship she was raised on to avoid the possibility of being "recycled." (A redseer's blood can apparently strengthen the powers of another redseer.) She does not have much hope of this happening, and is suffering from a great deal of trauma because she has Survived Some Things. The only way for her to leave is to become the navigator (read: navigation and propulsion system) of a starship. She does not have much hope of this happening, because she is very weak.

After encountering a mysterious woman, things take a turn for the strange as Korinna makes a number of discoveries about herself and finds herself in a situation she never expected: serving as the navigator of a warship. This particular warship is being sent out to a region of space known as the Umbra, to hunt down an infamous pirate. While this is going on, a priestess of Radiosa stumbles across some forbidden technology, and the last priestess of Furia is working toward a plan of revenge against the the Orders and Imperium that entombed her mother.

Redsight is basically a high fantasy setting disguised as a space opera. It has some intriguing worldbuilding, but was a little difficult to get into. Some of the characterization felt a little emotionally flat, so it was hard to relate to the characters. The plot takes a few unexpected turns, but not in a "stupid random twist" way. This is a book I think is worth reading for the worldbuilding and some aspects of the plot (especially the romantic arc). However, this is likely to be a "one time read" for me unless there's a sequel.

This review is based on a galley received from NetGalley.

(3.5 stars rounded down)

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this book. The concept sounds incredible - the violent world of queer space priestesses. I may have set my hopes a bit high though. When I first picked this up I struggled to get into it. The start felt slow (I'm not sure it's the pace that I'm describing but something felt slow) and I wondered if it was just the wrong book for me at the time. When I picked it up again I enjoyed it a lot more. I don't know if I was in the right mind frame this time around or if I'd just reached a point where the story picked up, but the book definitely improves. The book still had problems, however.

So the concept is lovely and I was fascinated by the world the author created. I do feel like it may have been a bit much for the available pages though. While the stories do interact, particularly towards the end, there are three characters and it makes the plot feel like it jumps around a bit, especially with just how much is happening all the time. Elements feel rushed as the author tries to get to the end and certain aspects could have used more fleshing out. The romance, for example, was very sudden and while the author clearly put a lot of care into the wold and magic, a lot of what is rather intricate in reality is treated in a kind of hand wavy in the actual text. The representation we get is well-executed but while the characters don't feel like tokens I wish that we had gotten more about them. I feel like at lest some of the issues I had with this book are simply due to a page limitation. I'm not sure if it scheduled to go through another round of editing before it is published or not, but I do wish this book went a bit deeper than it did.

I really enjoyed the blend of magic and sci-fi elements. I did struggle a bit getting into the story but once I did, I couldn’t put it down.

I don’t know if I read this at the wrong time or I wasn’t in the proper mood for some sci-fi, but something about the pacing of this book felt a little off. The premise, the world, the orders, and the setting were all very interesting and fun to learn about. And the main characters all had potential to be amazing but sometimes the way they thought situations through felt like it changed so quickly. One moment, they’re in love, the next they’re possibly going to kill each other or leave, the next they’re rationalising it and in love again. And it felt like there was no development of why they changed their mind so quickly, it just happened and then they moved on. I loved most of the book but something about that in particular threw me off. It was still a good book and I would still recommend it to any sci-fi fans as I can see why people would definitely enjoy this. But something about it just didn’t take my personal fancy unfortunately.

I feel like 3 stars might be more fair but I’m giving 4 because I had a really good time and one of the largest critiques I have of this book is probably the publishing industry’s issue and not the author’s. Namely, this should be at least a trilogy. We do not get time in this book to really understand and get to know the characters and the world because it was written as a stand alone. I wanted more of everything! This is definitely a book for fans of The Locked Tomb and while that series didn’t work for me this is more what I hoped those books would be.

From a sci-fi perspective I loved what did get explained and I’m sure there were things that didn’t make sense compared to real science but I felt like I could get a good grasp on what the author wanted to show. The main characters all have a connection to tactus, which seems to be a bit like The Force (full disclosure I don’t know much about Star Wars) and infrared senses. It manifests differently for each of the three types of priestess/each of the three goddesses.

Korinna is a priestess with Redsight; she is visually blind and uses tactus to experience and control the world. I loved reading from her perspective as written by a blind author because there is little visual description but it doesn’t really seem like you’re missing anything. She (and the other main characters) is quite naive and my main qualms are that she is suddenly thrown into a political quagmire with no real knowledge or guidance and somehow figures it out. This is where a lot of length could be added because I had so many questions about how she managed to succeed.

The other two main characters are less fleshed out and I also wanted more from them. I didn’t really understand Aster’s scope as an ancient being and her relationship to the young Korinna only worked because she seemed very young despite evidence to the contrary. Sahar is a very interesting character with regard to lightbenders seeming to be the only priestesses who are born to normal parents/live in the regular world, but we just didn’t get enough time in the book to really know her.

The characters manage to get through all their challenges mostly unscathed despite no real reason for them to survive beyond being the main characters. The ending is really interesting but kind of closes the door on a sequel. Overall, though, I really want to read more from this author.

This was incredibly well-written--the characters and the world were all so well realized and accessible. I don't normally enjoy a story that switches POVs but I actually enjoyed the way it functioned in this story! I couldn't get enough of the characters and the magic system. I flew through this so quickly and was so saddened when I turned the last page (how could it be over? :( ) I cannot wait for more in this world and more from this author. I can see this being a huge hit this coming spring!

This book is my first sci-fi/fantasy combination, an enjoyable read and wonderful writting.
It includes many things space that might leave you confused, as well as a new magic system and we know those aren't always easy to understand or get used to.
Overall, would recommend

This was amazing! I want more. Meredith mooring is now on my radar. I’d love more immediately! I loved the characters especially, they were really complex and intriguing

Okay, I won't lie -- sci-fi/space-centric books often intimidate me because they usually deal with topics far more clever than I, and I was nervous when I first picked up Redsight for that very reason. The good news? I stopped worrying about being out of my comfort zone almost immediately. Redsight is incredibly well-written and extremely accessible to both the veteran sci-fi enthusiast as well as the relative newbie like myself. Mooring is such a talented and deft writer, and the way that she weaves the story so seamlessly between our three POV characters makes it both an engrossing and easy read, while also thought-provoking and poignant. Korinna and Aster in particular are extraordinarily developed characters with whom I empathized deeply throughout the story, and I was fascinated by the intricate magic system which Mooring has established. The pacing is excellent, tightly-woven and packed with action and tension while also emotionally evocative -- I blew through this book in less than 48 hours! A stunning debut, and one I highly recommend!