THE SPLINTER IN THE SKY by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

5 stars

In this absorbing science fiction and fantasy blend, Enjinen Ijebu makes her living as a scribe for the monks on her home moon, Koriko, Enjinen has developed rare fluency in the dominant language of the Holy Vaalbaran Empire, who conquered and colonized the Koriko moon twenty some years prior.

Few on Koriki can speak or write in the Vaalbaran languge of Orin, as the Vaalarann’s continue to treat Enjinen’s people as savages who they need to repress rather than put on a path to citizenship in the Empire. Koriko is filled with fully masked Imperial Forces Yet whereas the Koriko culture overflows with art, inventions, and creativity, the Vaalbaran’s lack any culture of their own – dressing all in black, living in bleak and black Obsidian rooms, and worship each of their consecutive Emperors as Gods.

In her free time, Enjinen specializes in the art of growing the best tea in the universe- years-long intensive work and creativity with coming up with blends. She lives in a cozy home pod with her nonbinary older sibling Xiang, until one day Xiang has been kidnapped and is disappeared. Enjinen volunteers to be a hostage to the Vaalbaran Emperor in order to search for her sibling and gets sent to the Vaalabaran capital known as the Splinter.

There she gets recruited in two completely opposing roles: serving as an informal advisor for the new Emperor Menkhet during the traditional tea ceremonies she starts hosting for the Vaalabaran nobles, as well as by the ruler of Vaalbaran’s most powerful enemy, the Ominirish Republic.

Enjinen gets swept up into the winds of war and develops an unexpectedly close relationship to the new Emperor, as she races against time to find her beloved sibling and somehow stop the Vaalbaran oppression and abduction of her Koriko people.

Powerfully set amidst the action is deep condemnation of the cultural appropriation by the conquering Vaalbarans, including looting of sacred objects, mangling of spiritual customs for their entertainment value, slavery, racism and the assurance by the conquerors of their own vast moral superiority. There’s also AI prejudice against a non-human species, the Synth (aka the synthetics) who fight for their own personhood.

Given the author’s an undergrad at Harvard- it’s stunning that she’s delivered an absolutely brilliant sci-fi novel with in-depth characterizations, complex relationships and plot twists that continually drive the story forward.

Thanks to Gallery Books, Saga Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.