Book Review:Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

Sisters of the Vast Black

by Lina Rather

Paperback, 160 pages

Published October 29th 2019 by Tor.com

If I told you this was about space nuns I am not sure it would sell you but this is another great Tor novella. I have been waiting for this book since Tor first tweeted about it months before release. My first thought was that Lina Rather might be trying to walk in the hallowed footsteps of catholic science fiction like the Sparrow. While these two book are very different the ancient religion in the future colony thing is totally there. Unlike Mary Doria Russell it is clear that Rather is a true blue Science Fiction writer and not an author who would shy away from the label. I mean let me be clear weather Russel considers it sci-fi or not The Sparrow is 100% genre. Sorry, this not about the Sparrow but I think this novella is a great companion.

So the Tor novellas are almost always good so what are the strengths of Sisters of the Vast Black? The world-building in this novella is a strength and the story sounds more appealing if you explain that the Nuns travel inside a giant space whale to disease-ridden colony worlds no one else would set foot on. That sounds cool, right? I would have been more impressed if Nnedi Okorafor had not just used this form of space travel in a Tor novella Binti just a few years back. The setting and characters, however, are really compelling. I certainly would read more stories and novels about the Sisters of the Order of Saint Rita on Our Lady of Impossible Constellations.

While it sounds campy it is a pretty serious science fiction novel and one of the strengths for me was how simple but effective the prose was. The world feels lived in. I liked that there was some mystery about the earth and the war but it lives lots of room for more stories in this universe. I want to read more from this author and this universe.