Persephone Station by Stina Licht
Stina Leicht’s SF novel, Persephone Station (2021), is filled with action, suspense, and great descriptions. From a hold-your-breath opening to the tear-jerking ending, the book leads us through capers-gone-wrong, double-crosses, asymmetrical warfare, decades-old rivalries and witty banter.
Persephone is described as a “hell-planet.” Behind the artificial barrier around the one human city, everything in the environment wants to kill you; the atmosphere, the flora, and the fauna. Within the human city you can make a living if you’re flexible about obeying the law, and Angel and her crew can be flexible. Angel and her folks are former military, working for a benevolent crime boss who goes by Rosie. When a planned assassination for Rosie goes unexpectedly wrong, Angel encounters a mysterious woman, Kennedy Liu. In short order, Rosie has singled out Angel, her crew, and her AI dropship Kurosawa for a vital, dangerous operation that is probably a suicide mission. As Angel gets further in, she discovers everything she learned about Persephone was a lie.
The villain of Persephone Station is a corporate CEO with ties to Rosie, and a deep secret. Angel has been sent to help the sapient and technologically sophisticated natives of Persephone who have remained hidden for reasons I won’t go into due to spoilers. Kennedy Liu has her own goals and mission. Sometimes she seems to be helping Angel, and other times is an antagonist. She was my favorite character in the book—her loyalties and motivations are clear, yet you can’t ever completely trust her to help the protagonist, even while you understand her reasoning.
Stina Leicht
After a slam-bang opening, the book spends some time on “housekeeping”—assembling everyone, gathering weapons, and so on, but by the second half, the action is brisk and fascinating, especially as Angel and her crew discover the truths of Persephone. Kurosawa, an AI ship, is a great character, and its dialogue with Angel’s brilliant pilot Lou is priceless.
As you’d expect, Rosie has secrets, Kennedy has secrets, and Angel has a loss which she has spent her life trying to recoup. The characters are as complex as they need to be, and action scenes are almost cinematic.
Everyone’s secrets make the plot complicated, but not so complicated that it slows down the action. The native Persephoneans are fascinating, a group of people you can’t help but root for. Stakes are high and not everyone makes it out alive. This was definitely an enjoyable book, delightful summer reading.
Rosie—owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner, caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.
Angel—ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed-up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will affect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlove Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.