The Temporal Location of the Radiant Star has always been a source of both conflict and hope for the people of Ooioiaa. However, the imperial Radch see it only as an inconvenience, an antiquated religious site soon to be absorbed into their own, superior culture. But local politics is complicated, and the Radch have made one last concession: One last man will be allowed to join the mummified bodies in the temporal location to become a “living saint”.

But this one decision will ripple out to affect every part of the city. Amidst a slowly worsening food shortage, riots, and a communication blackout from the rest of the Radch Empire, a religious savant will entertain visions of his own sainthood, a socialite will discover zer comfortable life upended, and a young man sold into servitude will find unlikely escape.

‘Radiant Star’ is a standalone novel set in Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch universe. The other Imperial Radch books, ‘Ancillary Justice’,, ‘Ancillary Sword’, ‘Ancillary Mercy’ and ‘Provenance’ are some of my favourite Science Fiction. love both Ann Leckie’s engaging prose and complex, thoughtful world-building, especially when they’re enhanced by Adjoa Andoh’s calm but powerful narration, so I had high hopes for ‘Radiant Star’.

Sadly, it surprised me for all the wrong reasons. Initially, I was impressed by the novel’s bold mix of theology, politics, faith and physics. That’s the sort of thing I normally enjoy; I was looking forward to a complex conflict between an Imperial administration under stress and a cynically opportunistic theocracy, neither of which had a mindset capable of understanding or accommodating the truth behind the Radiant Star.

Sadly, I ended up setting the book aside at 25%. 

Why? 

Because I couldn’t get engaged with the characters or the ideas. Listening to the book at night, I found myself falling asleep while waiting for something that mattered to happen. That’s never been my experience with either Ann Leckie or Adjoa Andoh. 

‘Radiant Star’ didn’t work for me. The pace was glacial. The storytelling style was oddly distant. The authorial voice resembled a slightly smug anthropologist commenting on the failure of cultures to understand one another. There was no character whose fate I could bring myself to care about. There was a great deal of telling and very little engagement with the actors. I realised that I was not looking forward to listening to more of the book because I was bored.

Maybe the book explodes into action at the 30% mark. I’ll never know. I do know that I’m very disappointed with my experience of this book.