Fiction Reviews
The Two Lies of Faven Sythe
(2025) Megan E. O'Keefe, Orbit, £9.99, pbk, 316pp, ISBN 978-0-356-52634-8
The Black Celeste is a ghost story. A once legendary spaceship collecting dust in a cosmic graveyard known as the Clutch. Only famed pirateer, Bitter Amandine, knows better and she'll never go near it again… No matter what the cost.
I have to confess that I’ve not read any Megan E. O’Keefe before, so this standalone novel is the perfect introduction to her work, unless you happen to be reading the first books in her 'The Devour Worlds' trilogy or 'The Protectorate' trilogy. It also helps that it is a fast-moving story told over fifty-one chapters, plus an epilogue with the narrative switching between the two main characters, namely the wonderfully named pirate captain Bitter Amandine and Faven Sythe, a cryst-born navigator. A whatsit, you say.
Well, once upon a time in a galaxy, far, far away the Cryst were the only people who could chart paths that allowed travellers to jump between star systems. This made them extremely powerful and extremely rich, but their time and influence faded, and with their numbers dwindling, human-cryst hybrids were created by blending humans with alien technology to facilitate interstellar travel by turning star paths into light drives to allow faster than light travel. However, that ability comes at a price and eventually they solidify into stone-like forms. Faven has just seen her mother succumb to such a fate and would rather put it off for as long as she can, but when her mentor disappears, seemingly in a sort of cosmic Bermuda Triangle, or Sargasso Sea, called the Clutch, a veritable graveyard of spaceships, Faven has no choice but to follow even though she smells a rat as her mentor is not the first navigator to go missing.
The only way to solve the mystery is to venture to the Clutch, but because of a previous experience, Amandine doesn’t want to go there, but Faven has to, thus the two main characters collide as Faven needs to go to the Clutch, and although Bitter is reluctant to take her there, she needs crucial repairs to her ship which taking Faven will pay for, and there is also the additional carrot of a promised starpath she can use, a very handy thing for a pirate to have.
Faven soon ends up in trouble and has to be rescued by Bitter Amandine, not once, but twice as she is saved from a sabotaged ship designed to make her death look like a tragic accident. Clearly, someone wants Faven silenced, and could the culprits be her own people, at the very head of the Choir of Stars?
The two leads make an interesting contrast which is perhaps why they are attracted to each other in the first place. Because of her star-plotting abilities, Faven leads a sheltered, privileged life, so it is a big step for her to venture out from her comfort zone to try and find her missing mentor; while Amandine is a hardened space pirate, living on the edge and by her wits, standing up against the powers that run the galaxy after a failed revolution. Bitter is very much in the vein of romanticised pirates of old and if you are familiar with pirates in popular culture then O’Keefe’s handling of them from dress-sense, to the way they speak, to the weapons they use, even as far as having a safe haven to make deals and restock, will be familiar to you.
The Two Lies of Faven Sythe is a fast-moving space opera, with more than a seasoning of romance. It has intrigue, twists and turns, lively banter, and unexpected revelations, and is an enjoyable romp, not too serious, but a fun, fast ride. My only quibbles would be that there is a lot going on, maybe too much for the length of the novel so that some of the revelations and surprises when revealed (if you haven’t managed to guess them already) don’t have as much impact as they could have; and also the actual romance between the two leads is a bit sudden and quick. There doesn’t seem to be space in the plot to fully develop some of the supporting characters, particularly among Bitter’s crew and some of the other leading pirates, but all in all, if you are looking for something that is fast-paced, with unique world-building, and an entertaining read then, this is the book for you.
Ian Hunter
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