Emily Tesh: Some Desperate Glory

The Earth was destroyed at the end of an interstellar war. The last remaining humans live in converted warships and try to continue the fight against aliens. 

Or the Earth was destroyed at the end of a war that humans started with the aim to conquer other civilizations and gain territories in a universe that has mostly been very nonaggressive. The majority of the remaining humans have adapted and live happy lives on other habitable planets, but a few bitter terrorists who live on a converter warship strike civilian targets. 

Which is the truth? Well, there are two truths depending on the viewpoint. The story starts from the first point of view and ends with the second scenario. The book tells the story of the most irritating heroine ever, Val, who is programmed to be a suicide terrorist and a good member of the local “hitlerjugend,” and who is ready to do almost anything for her leader. She is sure about her mission, and she is supposed to be very smart, but her actions are very stupid. After she leaves the space station, consisting of repurposed warships, she seems to easily forget her principles as if she had never had them in the first place. It is hard to believe that she could so quickly and so completely forget about her indoctrination. Later, Val befriends an alien, who controls a “God machine” that can analyze realities and futures and which is responsible for the decision to destroy the Earth. It appears that even changing the past is in the realm of its capabilities. 

The book has a very strong YA vibe in it. Teens behave stupidly but are powerful and outthink and outrun the adults, they're almost cartoony main villains. A pretty stupid plot where the heroine is practically unstoppable? Doesn’t that sound like something that is meant for late teens?  

There are some stupidities: there's a very powerful interstellar system that functions in several dimensions, and a smart nerd from a very backward (in comparison) society can hack it easily? And she is able to destroy hundreds of worlds just like that because someone ordered her to, but to destroy one world (The Earth) an antimatter torpedo was needed. The writing was average. And the main character was irritating until the end, even though she went through a redemption story arc. At least the book was science fiction and not fantasy, as many of the nominees have lately been. Perhaps - hopefully - it won’t be among my top choices for the Hugo voting, and the other nominees will be better...

448 pp