Victories Greater Than Death

May 1, 2021 5:36 PM - by Anders, Charlie Jane

First in a planned series of YA Space Fantasy novels about Tina Mains (secretly a clone of an alien space-hero), her crew of teen smarty pals, and their adventures aboard an intergalactic spaceship in their battle against evil. Swashbuckling space battles, romance, evil space fascists, and friendship above all!
posted by latkes (3 comments total)

This was very fun. My teen who rarely reads books anymore finished in a day when I "accidentally" left it on the dining room table in front of where she eats breakfast. Stakes are high without being stressful, lots of action and adventure, good times.
posted by latkes at 5:37 PM on May 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Please tell me that Tina is not a "chosen one." I am so done with that. (Looking at you, Gideon.)
posted by SPrintF at 1:29 PM on May 2, 2021

Hmm. If anything, it's a bit of a subversion of or gentle critique of the Chosen One trope. Tina Mains is special and unique (she's an alien clone living among humans with a special destiny!) But, that doesn't exactly work out as planned and without giving too much away, Tina's main development journey is realizing she's not ever going to fulfill her understanding of what her special destiny was, and instead she's going to learn about how a group of people together can support each other and bring each of their unique skills in ways that surprise everyone. It isn't a moralizing book, but if there is a message, it's that one person can't do stuff on our own, and also that we're not stuck on particular paths, but can change over time.
posted by latkes at 6:10 AM on May 3, 2021