The First Sister by Linden A Lewis

Publisher – Hodder & Stoughton

Published – Out Now

Price – £9.99 paperback £3.99 Kindle eBook

FIRST SISTER HAS NO NAME, AND NO VOICE.

Forced to travel the stars alongside the Gean soldiers of Earth and Mars, she lacks control over her own destiny. Until an enigmatic, and secretive, new captain - Saito Ren - joins her ship and opens her eyes to a dangerous new path.

LITO VAL LUCIUS HAS NO FAITH, AND NO LOYALTY.

An elite Icarii soldier of Venus, he was thrown into disgrace after the sudden disappearance of his partner, Hiro. Then Hiro is discovered alive, and a traitor, and Lito is offered a shot at redemption: but only if he hunts down and kills his former partner in cold blood.

As the war between the Geans and the Icarii reaches a head, Lito and the First Sister must decide what - and whom - they are willing to sacrifice in the name of duty, or for love.

Space opera allows SF to go big and stylish. The civilizations of the future don’t have to follow our rules, can merge cultures and do things we shouldn’t imagine in normal life. In Linden A Lewis’ space opera The First Sister we have two civilisations and unique individuals in conflict. But while stylish I found not quite enough to keep my attention.

First Sister has a plan to escape her fellow Sisters and controlling Auntie but is soon found her brave Captain has betrayed her and instead she is assigned to a ship with a new Captain the enigmatic Saito Ren. First Sister is asked to spy on Ren and an intriguing act of subterfuge develops while her ships prepares for the next war against Venus. On Venus Lito is assigned to a new spy mission with a new partner only to discover his friend Hiro is the target as he is believed to be a spy. These characters paths will now cross

Visually this is quite a spectacle of strange glamour and imagery – silent Sisters, duellists and the rich and powerful. The character mix is also impressive with characters of various genders and sexualities working their relationships out. However, I found this quite an overly familiar space opera of people working out their side can’t be trusted and that people are more powerful than they assume. There are questions as to why the duels are back in fashion and the Sisters came about with a vow of silence but also hear confessions and act as concubines. I felt it all felt a little too much style over substance to keep my attention. Ultimately it felt very by the numbers, and I don’t think I want to progress the series.