Synopsis:
Mission: Impossible meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in this fun and fast-paced spy-fi adventure series featuring a tough yet conflicted secret agent, cloak and dagger intrigue, and a charming cast of alien characters.
When galactic danger calls, Agent Lilline Renault answers.
Strange signals pulse from an icy planet in a remote star system. Enter Lilline Renault, GAM-OPs secret agent extraordinaire. To ordinary citizens she’s Keely Larkin, an adventure company guide with a flair for the daring and a penchant for writing trite poetry.
When a terrifying link between high-tech entertainment and ancient cosmic forces rises, Lilline leaps into action. Verses flow as she rockets through space, dons cunning disguises, and infiltrates enemy territory with an arsenal of secret gadgets. To solve the mystery behind a dastardly plan means beating a mastermind at his own game. Lilline will need her best weapon to stand a fighting chance: her instinct
Review:
Looking for something a little different? Lighthearted at times, fast-paced, full of spy hijinks and sci-fi action, Stellar Instinct could be the book for you. Spy-fi is the perfect name for this genre. Stellar Instinct has sci-fi worldbuilding with spy thriller sensibilities, and it’s just a joy to read.
Lilline Renault is a super spy, but she’s really more interested in her poetry, though no one else seems to be very impressed with her attempts at verse. She goes undercover, finding out that a tech genius is behind a plan to basically take over the world. It’s a race against time to save the world…and save the people she loves.
This story shines when we’re spending time with Lilline and her grandmother especially, or when Lilline gets the chance to interact at length with other characters. I will say that many of the side characters didn’t get much of a chance to let us get to know them, so some of those parts fell a bit flat, but I was so enamored of Lilline’s relationship with her snarky firecracker of a grandma.
Like I said, the pace is fast, and sometimes there were moments that felt a bit brushed over–there was emotional weight to be had, but we never quite got it. Some of the reveals as the story went on were also a bit obvious. However, I was along for the ride, and Nevair’s prose and wit kept things interesting, and Lilline was a likeable protagonist. I listened to the audiobook, which was fine. The narrator was sometimes very monotone in her narration, but did well with character voices.
Nevair makes a really interesting choice of having some chapters in 2nd person POV, and while it took a bit to get used to and make sense in the story, I really liked the reasoning behind it as the book moved on. My suggestion is to just let it happen and you’ll start to realize why the author made that choice. Nevair has a good command of prose and the novel is quite well written, so you should be able to speed through it!
This is not a hard-hitting, emotional tale. It’s light, it’s fun, and it hits the spot. I wanted a bit more emotional weight, but I do think this would be a great palate cleanser! So the next time you’re looking for a fun spy-thriller sci-fi adventure, look no further!
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