Sci-fi Book Review: Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot

Sci-fi Book Review

Title: Bluebird
Author: Ciel Pierlot
Publication Date: February 8th 2022

Publisher: Angry Robot
Genres: Science Fiction

Shelves Female-authored, Female-fronted

While it had some deep thoughts on issues of colonialism, not to mention significant themes of race, class, and religion, Bluebird never felt weighed down by its ideas. What Ciel Pierlot has crafted is a sci-fi novel that's equal parts pulp adventure, high-stakes heist, and long-distance romance. It's a fun read with some interesting characters and well-choreographed fight scenes, and even if it dragged in places, it held my interest through to the end.

Rig is a likable rogue, a young woman caught between her ideas, her love for her librarian girlfriend, her duty to her sister, and her passion for the lost history of her race. She's got a lot going on, but somehow she manages to juggle it all with flair and panache. Ginka is something of an enigma, a cold, superpowered woman with secrets she keeps close to her chest. I had my struggles with her early on, but as we learn more of her story I actually found her the more interesting of the two.

The world-building here is fantastic, with the warring factions of the universe pursuing a brutal war of conquest and extermination, all in the name of their take on a shared mythology. The technology behind it all is interesting, and I appreciated that Pierlot never info-dumped a bunch of scientific jargon, trusting the reader to understand and accept it all. Plot-wise, I felt it struggled at times, trying to do too much with the individual stories of Rig and Ginka, but it all comes together - with some genuinely shocking twists along the way - making for an entirely satisfactory climax. 

I've struggled with science fiction over the past few years, finding it straying too far from the genre tropes and themes I enjoy, but Bluebird managed to be something familiar and new at the same time. Very enjoyable.

Rating: ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀

My sincere thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.