Publishers Weekly
★ 04/08/2024
Kitasei’s outstanding sophomore outing clears the high bar she set in The Deep Sky, combining a high-stakes space adventure with exquisitely crafted worldbuilding and plausibly imagined interspecies communication. Maya Hoshimoto, a doctoral student studying comparative cultures, is haunted by her past as a notorious art thief who pulled off daring, dazzling heists until finally being caught. After escaping from prison alongside Auncle, a member of the tentacled Frenro species, creators of the Interstellar Web that connects the universe’s solar systems, who have “a sort of peripheral vision of the past and future of certain versions of the universe,” she’s lying low. Maya’s life is upended again, however, when she learns that a lost record of an expedition in search of the stardust grail, an artifact essential to the continued survival of the Frenro, has resurfaced, even as an unknown force has begun to destroy the nodes linking the universe’s solar systems. These developments take Maya back into space, and to a reunion with Auncle, to find the last remaining grail, and avert disaster. Kitasei makes the duo’s search more than a MacGuffin hunt, ensuring emotional involvement by gradually revealing the morally ambiguous choices Maya made in the past and might be tempted to repeat. Readers will be riveted. (June)
From the Publisher
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Lithub, Bookshop.org, The Messenger, The Nerd Daily
"Kitasei’s outstanding sophomore outing clears the high bar she set in The Deep Sky, combining a high-stakes space adventure with exquisitely crafted worldbuilding and plausibly imagined interspecies communication." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Broad in scope, covering everything from the rise and fall of alien civilizations to what it means to be a person, this is a luminous work, vacillating between the highs and lows of human experience and how they might translate across alien worlds." —Kirkus, starred review
"Star Trek meets Indiana Jones in this anti-colonial space heist from The Deep Sky author Yume Kitasei. The Stardust Grail blends horror, adventure, and fantastical whimsy. . . Fans of Ryka Aoki, Ann Leckie and Becky Chambers will find much to love in this fast-paced, expansive adventure." —BookPage
"Kitasei writes an emotional roller coaster of a space quest, highlighting friendship, family, and the ostracism of those believed to be different. The prose is as intimate as the universe is wide." —Library Journal
"Come to The Stardust Grail for Indiana Jones-style outer space heist adventure, stay for the sensitively drawn characters and thoughtful exploration of other forms of life far beyond our own—Yume Kitasei's second novel is an engaging, fascinating story that you don't want to miss." —Veronica Roth, New York Times bestselling author of Chosen Ones
"The Stardust Grail is a puzzle box of a book, one that invites readers into an ambitious and endlessly imaginative adventure. A strange, surreal, and startlingly tender glimpse into worlds beyond our own." —Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief
"The Stardust Grail is a boisterous journey, rife with protean planets, intriguing spaceports, and remarkable life forms. The stakes are high. The characters are engaging and delightful. The plot is fast-paced and action-packed. But at its core, the book is also an exploration of understanding, forgiveness, and the importance of being true to our friends, and ourselves. For any fan of space adventures, this book is a must-read.” —Emily Jane, USA Today bestselling author of On Earth as it Is on Television
Library Journal
03/01/2024
Maya Hoshimoto is a thirtysomething graduate student at Princeton University. She left behind her life as an art thief, one who specialized in stealing alien artifacts and returning them to their civilizations. Now that she's in hiding because of her disastrous—and deadly—last job, Maya plans to stay on Earth for the near (and far) future, but then her old friend Auncle, who is a member of the alien species called the Frenro, asks for her help to find a powerful object that has been missing for over two centuries, an object that could save the Frenro from extinction. Maya joins Auncle and their crew on this quest, but there are others who are also looking for the object, and even more who are willing to destroy the object and the Frenro entirely. Plus, Maya is having visions of a future that seems to hold betrayal and the possible destruction of humanity. VERDICT Kitasei (The Deep Sky) writes an emotional roller coaster of a space quest, highlighting friendship, family, and the ostracism of those believed to be different. The prose is as intimate as the universe is wide.—Kristi Chadwick
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-03-23
A reformed thief sets out on one final heist across the universe.
After her last attempt at stealing alien artifacts went disastrously wrong, Maya Hoshimoto has settled down, interning in Princeton’s archives and working on her graduate degree while her friend and partner in thievery, Auncle, remains among the stars, searching for the grail that might save xyr dwindling race. When Maya happens upon a field notebook key to finding the grail, she resists only momentarily before returning to Auncle. But Auncle and Maya are not the only ones on the hunt. The nodes that connect Earth to other planets and space-capable people are degrading, and the Earth’s military coalition wants the grail to save the nodes. With Earth’s military and Princeton and Yale faculty on their heels, Maya and Auncle race across many worlds following in the footsteps of a human explorer who disappeared more than 100 years ago. Along the way, they grapple with the vast gap between cultures that developed on separate planets, the ethics of theft and museums, and what it means to be human—or alien—all while trying to cause as little destruction as possible. Broad in scope, covering everything from the rise and fall of alien civilizations to what it means to be a person, this is a luminous work, vacillating between the highs and lows of human experience and how they might translate across alien worlds. Sympathetic, flawed characters demonstrate how individual actions can reverberate through the past and future.
Wondrous, new, and altogether alien.
