Fortuna

August 26, 2019
Merbeth’s gritty debut, which launches a space opera trilogy, sets the stage for a promising series. Scorpia Kaiser has been trying to get out from under the shadow of her brother, Corvus, for years. Since he left for war, she’s taken over her mother’s interplanetary smuggling business aboard the aging cargo ship Fortuna, which is not as easy as she was expecting. Things get even more difficult when Corvus returns just in time for a smuggling deal to go deadly. Scorpia’s plans to become captain are derailed, and business takes a catastrophic turn. The Kaiser siblings have to work together to make a choice: take responsibility for their family’s involvement in a massacre, or focus on keeping themselves alive until the political fallout blows over. Merbeth’s multiple narrators and plotlines converge beautifully into a suspenseful tale of family. The characters are distinct and grounded, and each interaction is filled with purpose and emotion that brings all of them, regardless of differences, into the fray together. SF fans who have been waiting for a crime family spin on space opera will find nothing but joy in this whirlwind story.

September 1, 2019

Scorpia Kaiser--a bit reckless and, at times, more than a bit drunk--is heir to her mother's smuggling operation, thanks to her older brother Corvus taking off to fight in a war on his home planet. The cargo ship Fortuna may be rundown, but it is the only place the space-born Scorpia can call home. When her mother's last deal takes them right to Titan, the planet where Corvus has been fighting, he is ready to return and take up the reins. But Scorpia and her other siblings discover this deal will take the war off-world, with deadly results. Now the Kaiser siblings must decide if they should blow the secret plans wide open, even if it means being in more trouble than ever before. Family issues bring humor to the heavier themes of xenophobic planets and war crimes, and alternating chapters between Scorpia's and Corvus's points of view provide a broader perspective on this fascinating galaxy. VERDICT Merbeth's space opera takes off in new directions after her previous postapocalyptic books (Bite; Raid). High energy, high stakes, and lots of high notes will give readers who enjoy Catherynne M. Valente's Space Opera a new volume on which to crash-land.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2019
Merbeth's (Raid, 2017, etc.) latest--the first installment of an SF adventure trilogy--follows a family of smugglers as they unknowingly become entangled in a grand-scale conspiracy that could ignite an interstellar war and kill millions. It's been three years since Scorpia Kaiser's older brother, Corvus, left the family business to enlist and fight in a bloody conflict on his war-torn home planet of Titan. But, with Corvus' service officially ended, Scorpia--at the behest of her mother, the Kaiser matriarch--is piloting the family ship, Fortuna, to Titan to reunite her brother with the family. Picking up Corvus wasn't the only mission, however. Her mother is completing a deal with government officials involving highly illegal alien biological weapons that could potentially end the war. As Corvus, Scorpia, and their siblings wait for their mother to return to the ship, they discover that a cataclysm is sweeping the planet, wiping out entire human populations. Forced to leave their mother behind, the siblings barely escape with their lives. Once safely in space, they realize that their mother has been used to wipe out the population of an entire planet--and that this may just be the beginning of a much larger, and deadlier, conflict. While the storyline is a bit predictable, the narrative is powered by a cast of deeply developed characters. Scorpia, in particular, is impressively multidimensional--a barely functioning alcoholic who has major issues involving her demanding mother. The stoic point of view of Corvus--who has witnessed horrors during the war--complements Scorpia's more demonstrative narrative and gives the story a nice tonal balance. The nonstop action and varying levels of tension make this an unarguable page-turner, and the ending, while satisfying, is a perfect jumping-off point to another much larger adventure to come. A wild SF ride--alcohol and family dysfunction not included.

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Lisa Flanagan and Tim Campbell narrate alternating chapters of Merbeth's gritty sci-fi. Flanagan provides the voice of Scorpia, the beleaguered Kaiser family daughter who's always played second fiddle to her brother, Corvus. Scorpia participates in her family's smuggling business, piloting a space transport ship and sometimes smelling of whiskey while she does so. Corvus rejoins the family upon returning from the war on Titan. Once reunited, family members face internal conflict, and deep emotional wounds are reopened. Both narrators illuminate the characters' humanity, giving the story more complexity. Flanagan portrays Scorpia's intelligence and impulsiveness; as Corvus, Campbell captures a fallen soldier who knows how it feels to make difficult decisions. S.P.C. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

October 15, 2019
A devoted but dysfunctional crime family incites interplanetary war in Merbeth's space opera debut, the first in what promises to be an emotional and intrigue-laden trilogy. After Corvus, the oldest Kaiser sibling, abandoned the family to enlist in the military, sister Scorpia has struggled to prove herself capable of taking his place as heir to the family's smuggling business. Three years later, she's mostly succeeded, despite her alcohol-fueled recklessness and smart mouth. Then Corvus returns, battle-scarred but still the favorite. Scorpia knows this next job is her last shot. Corvus wants to escape the horrors of war, but unfortunately, the job their mother sets up makes that impossible. After they unwittingly release an alien biological weapon, the five Kaiser siblings must work together to avert a larger massacre. Merbeth's world building is fascinating?five human-settled planets, each distinct and littered with alien technology?but her multifaceted characters and their troubled relationships give this action-packed family drama its heart. A good readalike for Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books, John Scalzi's Collapsing Empire (2017), and for those who want a grittier version of Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)