The Two Lies of Faven Sythe

O’Keefe (the Devoured Worlds trilogy) flexes her worldbuilding chops in this superior space opera, set in a future in which shards of “sacred cryst,” grown under women’s skins, are “plucked free to be nurtured into a woman, or something like a woman” who serve as spaceship navigators using their special ability to chart paths between stars. Cryst-born navigator Faven Sythe is suspicious when her mentor, Ulana Valset, who was unusually tense at their last meeting, disappears. She breaks several rules to trace the route of Ulana’s spaceship, finding that it traveled into the Clutch, a “dark fist of a dyson sphere seized around a whimpering star,” the home of the abandoned Black Celeste, a legendary ghost ship, where many navigators before Ulana have also vanished. Now Faven partners with “Bitter” Amandine, a pirate with knowledge of the Clutch, to find Ulana—and ascertain whether a conspiracy targeting navigators is at work. Nuanced characterization and a clever mystery keep the pages flying. It’s a thrilling standalone adventure that James S.A. Corey fans will relish. (June)