Tarnished Are The Stars by Rosiee Thor
CW: Violence, Murder, Parent Death, Manipulation, Oppression, Disease, Child Death, Arranged Marriage, Assult, Description of Surgery, Parental Abuse, Ableism, Classism, Sexism
3.5/5
Tarnished Are The Stars was Rosiee Thor's debut novel from 2019. This book has been praised for its representation of W-L-W romance and including an asexual/aromantic P.O.V. character. In the time between this novel and Fire Becomes Her (2022), the first book of Thor's that I read, I can see that the author has greatly improved in their writing skills. That being said, I still quite enjoyed the story and I'm glad I took the time to read it.
On the planet of Earth Adjacent, people are suffering from heart disease. The only solution for the infected is a mechanical heart. Unfortunately, technology has been banned on the planet, forcing those affected into hiding. Anna is good at mechanics, but she is also reckless. She sneaks into the settlement to help those that might need her skills. One such client is Nathaniel, son of the Commissioner. He's the only one in the settlement with tech for a heart, and neither of them is quite sure why. Nathaniel wants to impress his father by dealing with Anna as an outlaw, but that proves difficult. Things are thrown into further confusion when the Queen, who has been living a lavish life in a spaceship near the planet, sends her spy into the mix. That is Eliza, a loyalist to the Queen and politically obligated to marry Nathaniel. Anna, Eliza, and Nathaniel, despite all odds, will have to figure out what the future holds for them.
One of the things that this book does very well is avert the love triangle trope. Yes, there are three main characters of a similar age. Yes, one is of a different gender while the other two are of the same. Thor refused to take it there, though. Nathaniel and Eliza were picked for each other, but Nathaniel has never felt romantic nor sexual attraction for anyone. Eliza has exclusively felt such attraction for her own gender. Anna and Eliza meet at an inconvenient and unexpected moment, but they are still drawn to each other immediately. As a reader, the love story of this book was made better by witnessing Nathaniel witnessing it. He could tell how they felt before either of the women could. Ultimately, Eliza and Anna could have a chance at love without hurting Nathaniel.
The lore of the story was built quite well! I would use the phrase "world building", but I don't think everything that entails was particularly successful. The political backstory was exciting, realistic, and easy to follow. The cultural effects of leaving Earth and long since finding a new home were evident and made sense. I also appreciated the cultural divides from space-dwellers, those in the settlement, and those in hiding. It had the right balance of transitioning from a singular culture to working at new ones for a while. The problem falls in making the current world clear to the reader: I had trouble imagining how large the planet was, what it might look like, the ratio of people between each aforementioned group, etc. This is unlike in Fire Becomes Her, which provided clear and vivid descriptions of its physical and social setting. Thor has certainly improved on world building in those 3 years!
Thor has also improved on pacing since. Tarnished Are The Stars felt completely rushed. Everything happens in a matter of weeks when months would have worked better. The story needed time to breathe whilst building tension. The Queen had suggested to Eliza that her mission on Earth Adjacent would take months. I do like things not going as expected for characters in a story, but if the cost is realism, I don't want it. There is even a moment when Eliza moves a deadline sooner, which felt unnecessary. I believe the pacing is what most of the negative critiques have to point out. Having read this after a later book of the same author, I know it won't turn me away from them. They have already improved and will continue to do so!
If you want good queer rep in a space/sci-fi novel, Tarnished Are The Stars is a worthy choice! It's not perfect, but it will likely make you feel validated or at least leave you attached to the characters. There are twists to leave you guessing and misunderstandings to draw you in. If you end up liking it, Fire Becomes Her will be there waiting for you after!
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