Some Desperate Glory (Some Desperate Glory, #1)

by Emily Tesh

A thrillingly told space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and the path you must forge when every choice is stripped from you. Some Desperate Glory is the highly anticipated debut novel from Astounding Award and World Fantasy Award-Winner, Emily Tesh.

All her life, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the destruction of planet Earth. Raised on Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet.

Then Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons, and she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. Alongside her brother's brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr must escape from everything she's ever known. If she succeeds, she will find a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could ever have imagined.

• ISBN13: 9780356521244
• Publish Date: 13 April 2023 (first published 11 April 2023)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Orbit
• Edition: Illumicrate Exclusive
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English
• Special: Sprayed Edges

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

Kyr has spent her entire life on Gaea Station, training hard to become the best soldier she can be. Why? She must avenge the loss of the Earth, which means taking the battle to the aliens that rained destruction upon the human race.

This had always been her goal. Then she and her twin brother got their assignments...and it was nothing like Kyr had expected. This sets off a series of events that will change Kry's life forever – along with everybody on Gaea Station.

My Review:

Okay, if you hand me a book and promise it's a queer space opera, you know I will read it! But seriously, Some Desperate Glory has been in my sights for a while now, and I'm so happy to finally sit down and read it.

Some Desperate Glory is full of action, drama, and Kyr's internal struggle to do right by her people. It's a lot to take in, yet I can see why people are absolutely gushing about this read. Throw in aliens, an evil character or two, and some sympathetic secondary characters, and you've got the perfect story in your hands.

The transition that Kyr goes through is fantastic. She goes from being a protagonist I almost want to root against to somebody I want to cheer for, all in one book. You can imagine how all the secondary characters felt watching that happen!

There's a lot of commentary in Some Desperate Glory, so don't go into this book expecting a light read. Kyr is basically part of a cult, and it takes her a while to fight through the brainwashing she's experienced her entire life.

My biggest complaint about Some Desperate Glory? The novel kept telling us how big and physically impressive Kyr is (I believe the term "built like a tank" came up at least once). Yet she looks relatively small on the cover. Maybe that's a perspective issue, but I would have loved to see them push this description more on the cover.

Highlights:
Supersoldiers
LGBT Lead
Space Opera
Aliens!

Trigger Warnings:
Sexism
Racism
Sexual Assault/Rape
Mental Health/Depression/Suicide

Thanks to Tor.com for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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