Good morning bookworms! It’s been a while since I wrote a review but I have been reading. Today I want to talk about a book I read in April called The First Sister. I received it for my birthday from my sister, she picked it specifically because of the title. It was such a unique and interesting book and I’m still thinking about it weeks later.
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis is the first book in a trilogy. The second book releases in August. The First Sister is the main character, she has no name other than First Sister and she can’t speak. She is part of a religious order that provides sisters to Mars’ ships, the sisters take confession from the crew and are there for sexual services. But the First Sister is the exclusive companion to the captain of the ship. No one else can touch her, so she is a bit protected. The sisters can’t speak to anyone other than gestures and they are forbidden to write to anyone. Between them, they use a sign language to communicate. When First Sister meets the new Captain of the ship it is a woman, this doesn’t bother her because she likes both male and female company. But when The Mother, the leader of the sisterhood, asks her to spy on the captain and gives her permission to write to her to learn anything she can, she is scared. While all this is happening on a Mars ship, another story line develops with a soldier on Venus. Lito is assigned a mission with a new partner, but he can’t stop thinking about his old partner Hiro. Hiro is nonbinary and has left a long voice message for Lito to tell him why they have disappeared. As Lito and First Sister try to complete their missions, they learn more about the war between Venus and Mars and what it actually means to be at war.
I loved this book. It is a really cool science fiction fantasy with a lot of interesting tech, including neural implants and a whole race of cyborg beings. Everything was vivid and exciting. I couldn’t put it down. I appreciated the diversity of this story as well. A mute character, a nonbinary one, a bisexual, all these people came together to make an interesting and colourful cast of characters. The story jumping back and forth between a soldier from Venus and a spy for Mars let’s you see both sides of the war as well. Lewis set us up for an epic tale with a twist at the end of book one that has me wishing it was August and I had book two in my hands.
I would highly recommend this one if you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, and LGBQTIA+ stories.
Happy Reading!
Read With Angie 