To Avenge a Fallen Star by Qilanna Quinn follows Gemma Proctor, a miner on the planet Reva, who enters the Oranos Trials—a government program that takes twenty-year-olds to the capital city of Zion, and subjects them to public elimination tests in exchange for military placement and permanent citizenship. Rami, the authority of the Trials and the man Gemma believes caused her sister’s death, makes her participation in the Trials the only way to get to Rami, so she can assassinate him. As Gemma survives injuries, shifting alliances, and enforced loyalty rituals, her original objective collides with what she learns when her plans collapse. What begins as a targeted act of revenge becomes a fight to uncover who engineered a massive deception, and block a scheme that would destroy the lives of those with no power to escape it. To Avenge a Fallen Star by Qilanna Quinn is an excellent science fiction novel, with an incredibly strong female lead protagonist in Gemma, and a series of twists that I absolutely did not see coming. From its onset, Quinn's world-building is linked to a materially grounded society on Reva, where labor systems and political power are inseparable. Quinn completely ups the ante with the trials. Gemma is a force of strength, completing trials like a tunnel obstacle course with multiple fractures. Even then, medical robots repair her with nanotechnology and return her to the trials, treating her survival as a metric and not a moral event. I love that Quinn uses these scenes in a dramatic display of Gemma's ability. Quinn masterfully demonstrates this again when a choice must be made among the contestants, taking even more agency away in a system that successfully converts survival into collective complicity. With sharp, intelligent writing and snowballing action, I am excited to see what Quinn gives us in book two of this new series. Very highly recommended.

While on a mission to avenge her sister’s murder and spark a political revolution, a young woman learns that she might be a pawn in someone else’s game in Quinn’s SF series starter. Living conditions in the underground city of Perileos on the planet Reva are squalid, but there’s a way out: securing a position on the Oranos Space Station by succeeding in a grueling competition known as the Trials. Now that Gemma Proctor is 20, the medic-turned-miner is eligible to take part, but getting out of Perileos isn’t her top priority—revenge is. Three years earlier, her older sister, Nadine, was murdered after the Trials by Rami Vidar, the game master and director of Zion, the tower fortress where the Trials take place. Gemma’s been preparing for the Trials, trained by Reymond, the leader of rebel group The Dissent. Before she embarks on the Trials’ first challenge—a midnight hike from Perileos to Zion—Reymond gives her a potent poison, hidden in a ring, to kill Rami, whose murder is meant to serve as a catalyst for an uprising against the oppressive United Planetary Systems’ government. All Gemma needs to do is pass the Trials and get close enough to Rami to drop the substance in his drink. Gemma is determined to fulfill her mission with her teammates—Imara, Hawk, Colton, and Christian (with whom she becomes romantically involved)—but later, her world is turned upside down when she learns some unexpected truths. Over the course of Quinn’s novel, Gemma’s justice-driven arc is compelling and sympathetic. The supporting characters are engaging and diverse, although readers may find occasional passages problematic, such as repeated descriptions of Imara, who has Indian heritage, as having “russet brown” skin. The novel’s most notable aspect is Quinn’s well-developed worldbuilding, showcased through richly detailed descriptions of buildings, wildlife, interplanetary politics, and technology, such as a communications device: “A tiny, flexible piece of electroglass sat directly upon her cornea, through which any visual messages appeared. Any auditory messages spoke directly through the biochip behind her ear.” An often bold SF novel about radicalization, resilience, and friendship.