Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

‘Sisters Of The Vast Black’ follows a small group the Sisters of the Order of Saint Rita as they travel the outer reaches of mankind’s colonies in the stars, tending to the sick and carrying out marriages and baptisms. It positions hierarchy as an instrument for centralising power and reducing individual freedom, making people abdicate their personal judgement and do things they would normally be ashamed of.

It avoids being either didactic or polemical while still exploring the nature of personal responsibility, service, duty and different ways in which we come to love those we serve with. The writing is accomplished, confident and accessible. I found it exciting and moving and filled with real people trying to do the right thing. ‘Sisters of the Vast Black’ is her debut novella. I received a free e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my review.I particularly liked her story ‘Extinctions” in Shimmer, which is online and is also included in Shimmer’s 2017 anthology, which I recommend. This is a deeply moving story, and the kind of thought-provoking that will keep readers thinking long after the last page is turned. Its themes are immensely engaging, their particular combination of faith and queerness making for a truly captivating read.

First of all, it is a pleasure to read, written in clear, unfussy prose that largely stays out of the story’s way without becoming dull. There are a lot of reasons I would recommend this novella. The stakes grow ever greater for these spacefaring nuns and all the people they encounter, but Rather’s writing remains eloquently personal. If much of Sisters of the Vast Black’s focus was largely on individual choices, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars zooms out to place more consideration on the consequences choices made by both individuals and groups can have not only on those groups and individuals but on the futures of whole societies. Both novellas do so beautifully, Sisters of the Forsaken Stars building on and expanding the foundations laid in its predecessor.

I have a soft spot for stories that engage with the tensions one so often encounters in the intersections of religious faith, moral requirements, obligations to institutions, and personal dreams, desires, beliefs, and aspirations. Sisters of the Forsaken Stars is a remarkable follow-up to Lina Rather's previous novella, Sisters of the Vast Black.

Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather