A Review of Yume Kitasei’s The Stardust Grail (Flatiron, 2024)

[lsobiesk]

Written by Stephen Hong Sohn
Edited by Lizzy Sobiesk
 
Yume Kitasei’s The Stardust Grail (Flatiron, 2024) is definitely one of the most entertaining reads of the year. I’ve always loved science fictional narratives that involved space-faring, and this one is no different! The marketing description provides us with some pithy information that can get us started: “Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future. Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it. Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself.”

 

The biggest reviewer compliment I can give to a speculative fiction is about worldbuilding. In this case, I can say unreservedly that Kitasei’s worldbuilding is truly exceptional. There are colonies, interstellar webs, alien races, and underground crypts filled with booby traps. One of the cover blurbs essentially calls this one Indiana Jones in space, which I think is apt. The other thing that Kitasei has to propel the reader is a keen sense of comedy. In this way, Kitasei clearly shows her range as a creative writer. Her first publication (The Deep Sky), which I also loved, is also set in space, but is more of a thriller set in the near future. The Stardust Grail is set in the far future when interstellar travel is possible, but the tone is a mix of action, drama, and comedy. Maya’s a kind of huckster. She’s a failed academic with a keen sense of adventure, so when Auncle, from an alien race called The Frenro (one of six advanced races that have achieved space travel) comes calling for her to help her find the titular stardust grail, she can’t say no. Maya also survived an infection, which gives her a keen connection to the Frenro, and she absolutely believes that Auncle’s desire to find the grail is crucial. A novel like this one doesn’t work without a band of merry characters on this quest, and Kitasei populates her novel with a bunch of memorable ones, including one of my faves, who is a sentient robot who happens to desire to gain more emotional programming elements. The concluding arc is undoubtedly the strongest, only because there are a ton of revelations, including ones that are the hallmarks of posthumanist alien cultural productions. That is, the ways in which these alien beings survive and proliferate and operate in the world are just so different that we do not fully understand what is at stake, especially with respect to space-faring and our desire to remain mobile in the galaxy and beyond. While remaining vague (out of a desire to avoid spoiler), I hope I’ve given you enough information that you’ll consider reading it. This book is the kind you can easily devour on a plane ride, train ride, or relaxing on a beach with an umbrella drink in your hand.

 

Buy the Book Here