Every Sky a Grave

May 1, 2020

Elyth is no stranger to impossible tasks. As an acolyte of the First House, she has used the Deep Language to bend minds and destroy planets, all to keep the Ascendence's power secure. But when she is sent by the Paragon to the planet Qel to eliminate a possible corruption of the language, nothing goes as planned. Her ship is shot from the sky, she is hunted through inhospitable forests, and the planet resists her efforts to cause its demise. The source of the corruption she seeks is a man, and meeting him shakes the foundation of her beliefs. Posey ("Legends of Dustwalker" series) sets up a galaxy controlled by a government whose military and mystical arms distrust each other. The language-based pseudo-magical abilities that the First House wields allows agents like Elyth almost too much power, but the dangers she encounters still feel real and suspenseful. VERDICT Fans of Frank Herbert's Dune and Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit should enjoy this series opener that has plenty of action and skillful worldbuilding that doesn't lean on heavy exposition.--Megan M. McArdle, Lib. of Congress, National Lib. Svc. for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2020
Just as the human race has achieved a stable society that stretches from planet to planet, an elite government agency discovers the seeds of a growing revolution in the opening volume of Posey's new series. Long ago, humankind discovered that the key to conquering the universe was language. The Deep Language controls all of reality, and those who can speak it have immense power. An organization called the Ascendance is in charge of the agents who speak the Deep Language, but it works more like a religious group, with the Paragon at the top and her group of agents, called Advocates, following her lead. Elyth, one such Advocate, is tasked with destroying planets where the Deep Language has been compromised, which really means it's her job to put down uprisings against the Ascendance. Using the Deep Language is akin to magic, in that Elyth knows the correct phrase to say in order to fast-track a planet's natural death. The Paragon, pleased with Elyth's work, sends her on a crucial mission to follow a strange speech pattern that shouldn't exist, and at the end of the trail, Elyth finds a man who shouldn't exist, either. The notion of language as the fabric of the universe is pretty clever and works well here because Posey goes to great lengths to keep the Deep Language scenes straightforward and easy to follow. But what does that matter when the stakes are so murky? It's clear that the Ascendance is corrupt, but it's unclear how, unclear why some people are revolting, unclear why any of this matters other than passing mentions of intergalactic travel and vague menace. A series opener with excellent worldbuilding but not enough of anything else.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.