Shadows of Slavery

Spencer (Soul, Light, and Wings) is more ambitious than successful in his Birthright series kickoff, introducing the Deus, megastrong cosmic beings capable of creating a star in a day, who travel the universe wielding their godlike abilities while remaining hidden from all other creatures. One of the Deus, Lutus, prophesies that an unprecedented war, affecting every mortal, is imminent; his predictions have been accurate in the past, though his friend and fellow Deus, Sorin, doesn’t quite understand how they work, beyond knowing that they “had something to do with gathering information, then running it through an algorithm that supported Lutus’ own natural foreseeing abilities.” This vagueness is symptomatic of Spencer’s expositional style, and it tends to bog down the narrative. Meanwhile, human gladiator Marissa Rhapsody of the planet Aegis, whose strength is “out of proportion to her small size,” stumbles into a crucial role in trying to avert the impending conflict. There’s a massive amount of backstory and explanation here, with multiple major powers—including the Bythos Empire and the Kinship—involved in the political machinations and resulting violence, and keeping the characters and dynamics straight takes enormous effort. Many readers won’t bother to keep trying. (Feb.)