Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Following her division’s defeat in an intracompany war that resulted in her delivering 200 termination notices, atier Isthmus Isako, a combination of advisor and sometime-assassin, finds herself suddenly reassigned to the director of the opposing division after watching her boss resign. On the planet Aquilo, a colony long since disconnected from Earth, resigning means stepping outside the airshield—with a severance payout going to the surviving kithfamily members. Isako’s subsequent offer to resign is stalled by one final contract: prevent her deceased boss’ rival from ascending to the Board of Directors by any means possible. This contract leads Isako on an adventure involving a former partner turned ronin, a former apprentice working for an unconventional director, assassination attempts, and planet-altering secrets, shattering Isako’s idealized view of both their civilization and her role as atier. Lee’s (Untethered Sky, 2023) layered world building and surprising twists in this unusual dystopian setting will keep readers on edge as Isako moves from her years-long, work-obsessed isolation to reconnecting with family and friends prior to her (planned) demise. This stand-alone samurai sf stands out.

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Isthmus Isako is an atier, an elite contractor who is both bodyguard and strategist to the world's wealthiest and most powerful people. When her latest contract ends with her client's surprise resignation via a deathwalk onto their planet's perilous landscape after a bloody corporate takeover, Isako plans to follow him in order to cement her legacy and her family's financial benefits. However, the director of the winning division calls upon Isako, offering a final contract, and Isako knows that she cannot refuse. Her investigation of a proposed board member brings to light much more than dirty laundry: a mountain of corporate secrets, a former apprentice's mysterious death, and synthetic second stages of life, all of which could upend the way of life for all of humanity across the stars. Intriguing secondary characters, dilemmas of honor and duty, and exciting action scenes will enthrall readers. VERDICT Lee's (Untethered Sky) latest stand-alone is an homage to those lost in the fallout of nefarious capitalist schemes. This complex space opera is a fast-paced ride of espionage and ruthless corporate samurai, featuring a delightful 50-something protagonist.—Kristi Chadwick

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This brilliant space opera from Lee (Untethered Sky) instantly immerses readers on the planet of Aquilo, whose population is divided between the reunionists, who believe all energy should be devoted to connecting with any other surviving humans, and the terraformists, who want to prioritize making Aquilo habitable. At present, surviving Aquilo’s atmosphere is only possible within a huge enclosed structure that retains oxygen and heat. Anyone deemed unnecessary is “retired,” or cast out beyond the protective airshield to die. Against this harsh backdrop, Isthmus Isako is a corporate samurai under exclusive contract to Forest Greves, a leader of the reunionists. It’s Isako’s job to inform Greves’s employees when they need to retire. But after Greves voluntarily retires himself as a gesture of protest against his rivals, Isako’s fate is uncertain. She’s given a chance to continue working—and living—by Savannah Minto, Greves’s triumphant opponent, though the opportunity comes with a catch. Lee enhances her vivid worldbuilding and riveting plot with evocative prose (“Freeday dawns crisp and cold, the sky a pale blue gray like the sclera of an anemic eyeball”). The story stands alone, but readers will be left hoping for future visits to this gorgeously crafted world. (May)