A review by witchinmyguy
Seven Devils by L.R. (Laura) Lam, Elizabeth May
This one sits at about a 3.5 for me.
A note to start this all off, I haven’t read a ton of space operas before so my newness to the genre colors this review. But how could I resist the pitch the “be gay, do crime” meme with Mad Max Fury Road vibes?
This is a feminist, girl gang space opera about a rag-tag crew trying to take down a patriarchal empire. You’ve got the former princess of the empire defected to the resistance, a cantankerous mechanic, an escaped sex slave, a deprogrammed soldier, and a child genius -all women- coming together. But in order to accomplish their goal, they will have to face their demons and their past.
So, this series starter is strong in a number of ways though I do have my quibbles. I think the characters are so fun and they are diverse in both identity and personality. There is queer rep everywhere as well as diversity of race and ability. Their banter works and their dynamics often pop off the page. There was a little more work that could have been done on the character dynamics - I felt that the relationship between Eris and Clo could have used a bit more fleshing out - but overall the found family dynamic was well-done and touching. The world in this is quite interesting and brings about some commentary on the current state of our world. While it took me a hot minute to get into the story, once I was in I was invested.
I think my biggest issue and why this book dropped stars for me was the structure, which in turn led to issues with pacing. This book uses a lot of flashbacks and jumps back and forth in time - which is in line with other Laura Lam books I’ve read. They do a decent job in fleshing out the world and characters, but it is jarring when a moment plays out near the climax of the book that has been talked about and hinted at so frequently that I already felt like I knew what happened. While the flashbacks brought value to the story, their placement was sometimes awkward and hampered pacing.
Overall, I think it’s amazing to have a sprawling space opera like this center such a diverse and compelling crew. The ending definitely left me wanting to pick up the sequel, especially since the antagonist is quite interesting. I’d recommend for space opera fans and for those who are new to the genre.
A note to start this all off, I haven’t read a ton of space operas before so my newness to the genre colors this review. But how could I resist the pitch the “be gay, do crime” meme with Mad Max Fury Road vibes?
This is a feminist, girl gang space opera about a rag-tag crew trying to take down a patriarchal empire. You’ve got the former princess of the empire defected to the resistance, a cantankerous mechanic, an escaped sex slave, a deprogrammed soldier, and a child genius -all women- coming together. But in order to accomplish their goal, they will have to face their demons and their past.
So, this series starter is strong in a number of ways though I do have my quibbles. I think the characters are so fun and they are diverse in both identity and personality. There is queer rep everywhere as well as diversity of race and ability. Their banter works and their dynamics often pop off the page. There was a little more work that could have been done on the character dynamics - I felt that the relationship between Eris and Clo could have used a bit more fleshing out - but overall the found family dynamic was well-done and touching. The world in this is quite interesting and brings about some commentary on the current state of our world. While it took me a hot minute to get into the story, once I was in I was invested.
I think my biggest issue and why this book dropped stars for me was the structure, which in turn led to issues with pacing. This book uses a lot of flashbacks and jumps back and forth in time - which is in line with other Laura Lam books I’ve read. They do a decent job in fleshing out the world and characters, but it is jarring when a moment plays out near the climax of the book that has been talked about and hinted at so frequently that I already felt like I knew what happened. While the flashbacks brought value to the story, their placement was sometimes awkward and hampered pacing.
Overall, I think it’s amazing to have a sprawling space opera like this center such a diverse and compelling crew. The ending definitely left me wanting to pick up the sequel, especially since the antagonist is quite interesting. I’d recommend for space opera fans and for those who are new to the genre.