A Fire Born of Exile by Aliette de Bodard

I would like to thank Gollancz for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Gollancz

Published – Out Now

Price – £22 hardback £12.99 Kindle eBook

The Scattered Pearls Belt is a string of habitats under tight military rule . . . where the powerful have become all too comfortable in their positions, and their corruption. But change is coming, with the arrival of Quynh: the mysterious and enigmatic Alchemist of Streams and Hills.

To Minh, daughter of the ruling prefect of the Belt, Quynh represents a chance for escape. To Hoà, a destitute engineer, Quynh has a mysterious link to her own past . . . and holds a deeper, more sensual appeal. But Quynh has her own secret history, and a plan for the ruling class of the Belt. A plan that will tear open old wounds, shake the heavens, and may well consume her.

I believe Khan Noonien Singh once said that revenge is a dish best served cold and that in space it is very cold indeed. Revenge in stories is a powerful force indeed. Seeking justice, getting your nemesis to fall and the question of does revenge actually bring satisfaction or destroy you in the process? From gangsters to Shakespeare it’s a rich theme of storytelling and in Aliette de Bodard’s sweeping and elegant tale A Fire Born of Exile we have a fascinating tale of intrigue, character development and internal battles with people being consumed by their baser desire for blood.

There was once a rebellion in the Scattered Pearls Belt far in space and the wider Empire did not seek a. compromise. There was repression and the justice system was one of many weapons used to ensure that control was maintained. In the centre of this was Prefect Duc – a judge who has a unique way to interrogate those with secrets and rarely would mercy be shown after she had completed her work. Duc is now very powerful in the Belt with a reputation that is feared and she now plans her next stage of gaining more power and wealth in her family including shaping her daughter’s Minh’s life in her image. But the space habitat they live on is soon visited by the enigmatic Quynh the self titled Alchemist of Streams and Hills – someone from the Imperial Court, a skilled poet and looking perhaps to gain a little more prestige for their own career. But Quynh is actually hiding her own secrets and a long planned act of revenge is now underway. A simple technologist (mechanic) named Hoa finds herself crossing into these three character’s lives initially to attempt to fix the Duc’s family Mindship but finding out that many dangerous traps are being set and secrets are finally about to be revealed that cohld re-shape the Belt at long last.

This is a really interesting piece eof character-focused space opera that continues to explore de Bodard’s Xuya universe which imagines a future universe inspired by Vietnamese and Chinese culture. Where planets are administered by a vast space bureaucracy and families contain powerful mindships that can present themselves as human-like avatars. In this instalment we get to explore the darker side of the universe a reminder that this is an Empire and there is a strong theme of control and punishment if the Empire feels in any way threatened. In this tale the past haunts all the core characters in interesting ways. Hoa saw her eldest sister cruelly killed by an angry mob during the last uprising. Duc knows their past needs to stay hidden and this makes her a very dangerous opponent and in the centre is Qunyh.

From the opening scenes Qunyh appears to be smart, dangerous and initially just ambitious but as we soon find out she is not quite who she seems. With her angry confidant the strong and angry mindship Guts of the Sea at her side this is very much an infiltration into a significant part of the Empire and a very precise game against Duc and her family is underway. But the moral dilemma is how far can you go with revenge? In this story de Bodard explores Qunyh’s tragic backstory; we admire the web around Duc that is being craftily built and yet Duc is a character we know won’t go without a fight. They’re smart, sharp and can go on the attack in a moment’s notice even to her own family. As Qunyh explored the belt we find a number of competing schemes are underway to cement Duc’s power and privilege and we soon see how far people go to protect that status. As such to achieve the goal Qunyh is pushing themselves to their limits – the trauma of the past left a physical toll and there is a good chance to win Qunyh will sacrifice themselves and their own sense of honour.

Between Qunyh and Duc are the initially deceptively simple Minh and Hoa – Minh just seems a young woman who is testing the boundaries of her mother Duc but knows she can’t escape. Hoa soon enters a relationship with Qunyh and at the same time works for Minh and her friends. I really liked how we slowly delve past their external quietness and revealed quite complex and driven characters. For Minh it’s about what she really wants and escaping a parent’s shadow and Hoa perhaps of all the one person who can see who Quynh really is.

The character work here across the board is subtle. What characters wear; their bots that perform simple functions and the power of touch or a glance are displayed to give scenes a sense of intimacy and character development that I found really powerful. There is less space battle and more battles for people’s soul and love.

A Fire Born of Exile I found a rich and powerful tale of people trapped in their own schemes and trying to stay at the same time the people they want to be. No Empires will be overthrown but these characters their universes will all change markedly in this story. It’s extremely well told and highly recommended!