In self defense and law enforcement circles, you’ll hear overwrought metaphors about sheepdogs protecting the flocks from wolves. While I think these are often delusional ramblings, there exists a bit of truth in the metaphor. Society and innocents do need people willing to engage in violence to protect them from those willing to sacrifice them. Think Heart of Gold from Firefly. What makes those stories special isn’t overcoming the odds; it’s the people willing to risk their lives for the innocent that makes or breaks the story for me. In Stina Leicht’s Persephone Station, we get to see a highly competent team defend the innocent. But more than that, we get a likable cast of found family members trying to survive in a brutal world. This big book covers a lot of ground with exciting battle scenes. Start 2021 off right, and pick up a copy of this book.
Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
TL;DR
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht blew me away. The characters, the story, the setting worked, and I hope we get more stories in this universe. Highly Recommended!
© 2020
From the Publisher
Hugo award–nominated author Stina Leicht has created a take on space opera for fans of The Mandalorian and Cowboy Bebop in this high-stakes adventure.
Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.
Rosie—owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner, caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.
Angel—ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will effect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.
Review: Persephone Station by Stina Leicht
Persephone Station opens with a meeting between two groups. It soon becomes clear that one group is human and the other not. The careless destruction of a village shows us who the baddies are. Vissia Corsini, representative of the Serrao-Orlov corporation, wants to renegotiate their contract with the natives, also called Emissaries. Then we meet Rosie, owner of Monk’s Bar and criminal mastermind. Monk’s reminded me of the cantina in a New Hope. People go there to get things done without drawing much attention. Next we meet Angel, former Marine, former student at the Gorin No Gakkō, leader of a ragtag trio of mercenaries, and main point of view character for the book. Angel’s friend, Sukyi Edozie, has come back into her life just as a job for Rosie goes sideways catastrophically. Angel and crew must flee their little slice of heaven to lay low for a while, and Rosie takes the opportunity to task them with defending the Emissaries from Corsini and the Serrao-Orlov corporation. Battles ensue. But the forces driving these actions may not be what they seem on the surface. Underneath the warfare and corporate intrigue, other beings engage in a struggle uniquely their own.
I loved this book. I can’t say that enough. I loved this book. The characters were distinct, believable, and worth getting to know. Angel’s pilot, Lou, was my favorite hands down. For all the shittiness in the world, her upbeat attitude lifted the story from being overly serious. Angel and Rosie drive the novel, and I enjoyed how much we learned about each of them throughout the novel. There’s depth and layers to each of them that make them pop off the page. The world building in this novel intrigued me, and I hope we get more novels here. On the page, we get throwaway lines about mysteries and bigger things happening in the universe. But Persephone Station, is a focused novel. These characters face this crisis; in their minds, they’re not saving the world or changing the galaxy, they’re doing their jobs.
The publisher says that this book would appeal to fans of The Mandalorian, and I think that’s an apt comparison. Though, in my opinion, there’s better storytelling and more depth in Persephone Station.
World Building
The universe of Persephone Station fascinated me. The world of Persephone seems to be run by the Serrao-Orlov corporation, but only one city exists on the planet, or so most people think. The lands around the city are hostile and brutal. An underworld effectively operates on Persephone with more than one crime family. I want to see this city, and I definitely want to see Rosie’s bar. Someone, please, make this a series on Netflix.
The politics of the universe are a bit like our own. Corporations have an outsized influence, but the galaxy isn’t governed by corporations. There exists a United Republic of Worlds with, at least, a marine corps. On the planet, however, it seems like Serrao-Orlov can do as they please as long as they don’t call the Republic’s attention to the planet. Off-planet, other corporations are bigger than Serrao-Orlov. In this universe, do corporations own planets?
Angel’s background in the Gorin No Gakkō, Marine Corps, and becoming a mercenary hint at an actively violent and diverse universe. The Gorin No Gakkō school sounds fascinating; it creates ethical, female warriors. Later in her life, Angel got discharged from the Marines due to side effects from revivification. That’s right, the Marines can bring people back from the dead. We don’t learn a lot about this, but wow is that an interesting concept. The psychological effects of revivification will hopefully be pursued in future volumes. And who are the Marines fighting? We don’t learn because it’s not relevant to the story, but I’d like to know. These details matter. They suggest a bigger stage for stories to be drawn from. I love when authors create a deeper world than the one just told on the page, and the universe of Persephone Station has a lot going on.
Angel, Lou, Enid, and Sukyi
The core of this book is Angel’s small gang of mercenaries. The reader spends most of their time with these four. Angel is the leader; Lou’s the pilot; Enid is the badass; and Sukyi is the friend with a secret from Angel’s past. This core group makes an excellent found family, and they reminded me of Serenity’s crew from Firefly. They work together well but have a relationship that exists outside the job. Their easy manner suggests a long history of working together, and they act like family.
Lou is easily my favorite character from the novel. She’s the bit of fun that the group needs. As pilot and mechanic, she keeps the crew’s transportation up and running. Her attitude and personality stole the show. She adds welcome breaks emotional breaks to the novel.
The Aliens
The Emissaries were the only sentient aliens the characters encounter, but the text hints at others existing in the wide universe. From the extinct race that designed the Emissaries to whatever creates ships that drift empty in the void yet remain death traps, the universe of Persephone Station is alive. These ships, tagged with the code word Dutchman, fascinated me. I want to know more about them. At one point, Vissia Corsini hints about something being ‘out there’ that humanity is not prepared for. Not only is Persephone Station’s universe alive, it’s active.
I thought the Emissaries a cool species, but I’d like to learn more about them. We get a little but not really enough for my liking. They hide themselves to protect their world, and they’re technologically superior to humans with a genetic aversion to violence. Are they evolving? Or do they remain the same species as their original design? What the reader sees is enough to pique interest about this secretive species.
Rosie and Pronouns
Rosie is non-binary, and her pronouns are they/them. As someone who believes it’s only polite to refer to a person by their preferred pronouns, I liked seeing Leicht write these pronouns so clearly. I’ve tried using the single they in my writing, and it always comes out confusing. In Persephone Station, the use of the single they didn’t confuse me once. I have a feeling that this is one of those areas where the audience doesn’t see the effort of the author to be clear and yet natural. Although maybe it comes easily to Leicht. If it weren’t for my own inability to write the single they without confusion, I never would have noticed how well it’s done here. I will study this writing closely to try to improve my own.
Conclusion
Stina Leicht’s Persephone Station is a fun, fast-paced SF novel. There’s something in the novel for everyone; it’s full of enjoyable characters, fun world-building, and a tense plot. Start your 2021 off right and treat yourself to a read of Persephone Station.
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht is available from Saga Press on January 5th, 2021.
8 out of 10!
© 2020