Beneath A Thousand Skies

Summary:

One star can break a galaxy.

Agent Lilline Renault plays cloak and dagger against her most formidable opponent yet – a ruthless and cunning expert at cards and more deadly arts besides. Her mission: retrieve a stolen asset known as the Star Eye.

Aided by her eccentric agency team and armed with state-of-the-art gadgets, she races to solve a devious conspiracy and bring down her elusive foe. But a specter haunts the agency’s halls, whispering secrets from its past. Allies and enemies alike wear masks in the espionage game. Lilline must decide who to trust if she hopes to take down a sinister and vengeful mastermind before a wave of terror crashes across the stars.

Stellar Instinct was a fantastic entry to this series; but if that book was a glass of Lilline’s beloved Gondau, then To Spy a Star is the ’42 Gondau. It can always be a challenge to be the second book in a series, even in a series of standalones, and with To Spy a Star Nevair has gone ‘here hold my wine’ and hit the throttle.

Now while this is very much a standalone, in that you do not need to have read Stellar Instinct to understand what is going on, with Nevair introducing the key characters in a way that will establish them in the minds of new readers and give a nod and new information to existing readers. Similarly, any details that are necessary to the understanding of GAM-Ops and how Lilline’s world works, are delivered neatly, without rehashing all the events of the first book. At the same time, there are the little details that are there for those who read the first book to enjoy. That can be a difficult balance to achieve, but Nevair does it in a wonderfully integrated and understated way.

Where that ‘punch it, chewie’ throttle hitting can be seen…is everywhere in To Spy a Star. There was so much to love about Stellar Instinct (my personal issue with the second person chapters non-withstanding); and this second outing in the Agent Renault series has taken all those elements that made the first book so good – the characterisation, the subtlety, and the interplay of linguistic and philosophical elements that can be tracked back to Nevair’s debut trilogy; and polished them, until they could light up the night sky. Add in raised stakes, a more complex villain, and the doors to this galaxy and its various factions opening up; and what we get is a book and therefore a series that has very much found its groove.

‘Megalomaniacs were easy to prod, even those with measured, high intelligence.’

This is a book that knows exactly what it is, and what it is trying to do – and you can tell that Nevair is aware of the tropes and expectations of the genre, using them to great effect, but with a wonderful combination of giving them a unique spin that reflects the character of Lilline, and the differing pressures that a sci-fi setting brings to the table i.e. where a round the world chase, becomes a cross-galaxy hunt, with more than border control and available transport to contend with; and also taking moments to turn the mirror on them and directly confront those tropes and expectations and not in a way that would detract from their impact. But, in a way that makes it feel like we – through Lilline and the rest of GAM-Ops- have been in the field for a long time and seen enough to know how things should play out, and also why they won’t with elements specific to the current situation. It just adds another delicious layer to the espionage/thriller aspect of the book, and as a reader it feels like I’m being brought in and made part of the events.

‘This op had what T# agents called the ‘stink’ — the undeniable scent of dubious politics and double-dealing. Operational ‘stink’ made a routine handover complicated and dangerous.’

What, I particularly liked about this step up, is that it is reflected very believably within the characters themselves. Lilline personifies this brilliantly. In Stellar Instinct she absolutely stole the show, both as a highly experienced and talented secret agent and as a struggling writer, and a granddaughter in the shadow (to some extent) of her grandmother; and in how we could see how she had got to that stage, through past mistakes and experiences and successes. In To Spy a Star it feels like she has emerged from chrysalis. Are there still mistakes to make? Misjudgements, with a huge cost? Gambles that could make or break not just herself, but her team, GAM-Ops or the universe itself? Absolutely, but just as this book has very much found its groove, this is an agent who is very much filling the boots (and some very fabulous boots at that) of the top field agent. Who knows the game inside and out, the good and the bad… Lilline knows her capabilities. Knows her team’s capabilities – and we’ve seen that develop and mature to with Pin and the new tech coming from that. And has the skills, confidence and personality to roll with the bad, absorb the losses and the guilt, and know when to roll the dice and gamble on her tools. The Lilline of Stellar Instinct had that, but there is a fresh feeling of confidence here, like a blade newly honed to a fresh edge – helped I think that we kick off the events of the book with things already in motion, the op already underway and Lilline’s instincts screaming that something is wrong.

Pin is another character that captures that feeling of really settling into that groove. She was a character I adored in the first book, and I was absolutely delighted that she got not only more page time but more development in this second book. It’s through Pin that we get to see the gadgets hit another level – which with the stakes rising is much needed, but what I love is that this is no dry technician; but flying chaos. I love how she has absolutely stamped her personality and interests onto the workshop (there is a scene with mines which had me both laughing and wincing simultaneously), and how we get to see that influence permeating the conversations with Lilline and Lauden, both in how they interact with her, but that fact that she has found her voice and can and will be listened to. Also – Nevair uses Pin very cleverly in that side-eye at the genre and it’s expectations, through her study of the regulations; it’s a wonderful way of developing GAM-Ops and how they work, while having some fun, and saying so much about Pin…and in reflection Lilline for who they are often ‘more like guidelines’.

Hoo indeed!

Lauden was another favourite, and I would say rather than ‘maturing and settling into his groove’ what we get with him, is a subtle dissection of who he is and what he stands for. We don’t get to see him stripped bare, which is fitting considering his role and his age, and the fact that there is that essential distance between him and his subordinates. But we’re getting to see some of that distance and those shadows pulled back – and honestly it made me appreciate him all the more. I also like, how in many ways he is a counterpoint to Lilline – we can see perhaps that his position would be the culmination of her career, hell it’s even mentioned – but we also get to see how different they are to the risks they are willing to take, and their approach to the moral backbone of the organisation. It’s a little like the contrast of theoretical and practical, and the idea that no plan survives contact with the enemy. And it shows both Lauden and Lilline in an interesting light.

It becomes even more interesting, when they are both considered alongside our primary villain in this book, because she firmly falls on the far end of the spectrum – the cost doesn’t matter, as long as it ends with the result she wants; with Lilline falling somewhere in between her and Lauden.

However, while that mentality is very much prevalent in the villain – she absolutely can’t be boiled down to that. Nevair has created an incredible antagonist in this book, because on the scale of black and white, she would absolutely fall into the black – her actions leave no other choice, nor does her sadistic enjoyment in the games that she plays; and yet, at no point can I call her anything but compelling and complex. Do I like her? That is honestly a question I don’t think I have an answer to, on one level I abhor her actions, and the motivation for it; and yet on the other hand, there is something about her that is absolutely captivating. I’m as invested in her manipulations and actions, as I am in the efforts to stop her. In the confrontations, I am as invested in her outcome, as I am in seeing her thwarted – and that right there is all down to Nevair’s characterisation. But also, to the fact that she is as integral to GAM-Ops and everything Lilline, Lauden and even Kitty have done and stood for, as they are, which means no matter how you look at her or them, they are all essential elements.

As a final character note, I need to give a shout out to Kitty – who is as fabulous as ever, although oh my god, Lilline has more patience than me, I think! And also, to Tax, who is a wild card character in To Spy a Star, and one that I hope that we will get to see again – he was great fun to read, a fantastic counterpart to Lilline, and of course there are some questions that need answers!

‘What were a few thousand lives? No wonder the galaxy was in a tenuous political and economic state. You needed to make sacrifices to move the larger collective forward.’

It’s fitting with the character growth we’ve seen between Stellar Instinct and To Spy a Star, and even within this book itself; as well as the introduction of a villain who is more than just a ‘bad guy’ but a core, experienced player on the chess board, that the stakes would increase to match that development and oh boy does it. I think what really set it apart in this book, was how Nevair deftly threaded it through so many elements and on so many scales – we have the personal conflict and stakes, from Lilline standing to lose her job and who she is, to Lauden facing his past, and Tax being confronted with the fact that you can’t just drift through life. Then we have the politics and organisation spanning stakes, with GAM-Ops itself on the line, along with the office of Galactic Officer. Then we have the stakes that span entire planets and populations, life spinning in the palm of someone’s hands. And every one of those layers, has its own games playing out, its own triggers and tipping points, and Nevair has weaved them all together, so that one falling would send the others toppling (ala the library scene in the Mummy).

What really draws out the tension and raises the stakes, is that beyond the red herrings, and the flash point moments, we get to see what happens when it all goes wrong. Victory is not assured here. The good guys are on the backfoot. The pillars topple.

It’s messy.

It’s vivid.

It’s compelling.

And because of the characterisation, and also the expansion of the worldbuilding – which I will talk about in a moment, we are invested in every element of it. Every life on the line, whether known, or background, means something to us.

‘Lilline examined the Zark. The pigment augmentation had a haunting effect. It was nothing like a Gej-ti’s translucence and milky skin tone; this was truly ghost-like. A terrifying mutation that left one appearing as if they were bloodless, somehow both alive and dead. The crazy thing was, initiates did it knowing their life expectancy was reduced by half.’

Now the worldbuilding. Once again this is where we see the throttle pushed to twelve. In Stellar Instinct, we were given an interesting and varies universe, within the necessary limitations of a thriller where the worldbuilding is less important that the pacing and the characters and the stakes; and Nevair left us with the impression that if we stepped beyond the boundaries of that story we would find a whole universe. In To Spy A Star, the curtain is pulled back and we get to see this universe expand exponentially – from pleasure ships, to new planets and locations and new methods of travelling between them, to new factions and peoples – we get it all in this book, and all with Nevair’s exquisite attention to the key details and nuance that give that multi-layered feeling, even when only spending a brief time in a place or with a certain people.

This increase in scale of the known universe, matched the rise in stakes – because now we knew more about the universe and those that inhabit it, and therefore there is more for us to care about…and more to be lost.

There were so many new elements that I loved. The Zarks were fascinating, and I love how Nevair built them up throughout the book, going from a rumour to a truth and then diving right into their home world and elements of their society. However, I think the Coleopterian – as limited as our exposure to Slaze was, stole the show for me. Absolutely my favourite addition to this universe.

It’s the worldbuilding that really adds the adventure element here. From our tour of new locations, to Lilline diving through oceans and swamps, and enduring deserts (and sand imps…although not sure enduring is the right word for them); to having to pass through a Nebula to reach a destination; this is a cross-universe romp.

And, you know what. I think ultimately that is why To Spy a Star works so well. Yes, everything is so much more, and the peril is ever more evident, and the cost of failure is high and darker… but at its heart, this book has held on to that spy-fi adventure, high octane, edge-of-the seat feel. It’s fast paced, entertaining and action-packed. So yes, there is more weight to – everything, but boy is it fun to go for that ride.

To Spy a Star was one of my top reads of 2023, and it absolutely holds up after multiple rereads. Each time I’m finding myself picking up on new details, subtle nuances that I missed the first time, and the core story just sucks me right in every time. I often find thrillers lack that rereadability once you know what is going to happen, and where the red herrings and dead ends are, but Nevair has escaped that trap with a richly nuanced galaxy, compelling characters and a story that is as personal as it is galaxy-spanning. This book has absolutely raised the bar for the series, and I am already counting the days until book three comes out – because Lilline Renault and Jonathan Nevair are thoroughly in the game now. If you want a thrill-ride of a book, with all the gadgets of a classic spy story (but better – Hoo) and a rich setting and fantastic protagonist, then this is a book – and a series to add to your TBR.