by Ann Aguirre
Part of Sirantha Jax, book 5
First published 2011
Sirantha Jax is sitting in a courtroom instead of a cockpit. She has the rare genetic makeup that lets her navigate grimspace, the dimension that makes faster-than-light travel possible. During the war against the Morgut, flesh-eating aliens bent on wiping out humanity, she went AWOL. She moved the grimspace beacons herself, cutting off the enemy's path to Earth. It worked. The invasion never came. But the beacons she shifted also destroyed modern interstellar travel, and six hundred Conglomerate soldiers died because of what she did. Now the Conglomerate has charged her with dereliction of duty, desertion, mass murder, and high treason. The trial could end with her execution. Jax has always operated on instinct, made unilateral calls, trusted her own judgment over orders. That quality kept her alive through years of impossible situations. Now that same stubborn independence is the thing the prosecution is building its case around. The question the court has to answer is simple and brutal: when one person saves billions by killing hundreds, what do you call that person?
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, military-fiction, space-opera, adult-fiction, legal-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, gritty, intense, morally-complex, thought-provoking
Tropes: court-trial, greater-good-sacrifice, lone-hero-against-system, military-rebellion
Setting: grimspace, Earth, Conglomerate
307 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Ace
Content warnings: death, violence, war