![Persephone Station by [Stina Leicht]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/418VUE+qxeL.jpg)
Space Opera is a genre that has been around for almost one-hundred years. In this century of epic space battles and the triumph over good and evil — of which I read a lot — I have finally found a story that had a super-unique approach, and that is the total gem that is Ms. Leicht’s Persephone Station.
Billing this novel as Feminist Science Fiction is incredibly apt, but I feel it does not fully encompass the level of unique inclusion presented.
Persephone Station is the story of Rosie, bar owner in the singular town of West Brynner on the seriously backwater planet of Persephone. Rosie’s Monk’s Bar caters to a wide variety of regular clients, but it is in the back room where the action happens: where the elite criminal class mingles with the sorts of folks who wish to procure services from them.
Rosie has a unique tie to the planet of Persephone and it is this tie that predicates the involvement of our other main protagonist: Angel de la Reza. Angel is an ex-marine who gathered up a rag-tag group of ex-military, some mercs and a damn good sniper to handle jobs coming out of the Monk’s Bar skirting around the Serrao-Orlov Corporation who recently obtained ownership of the planet.
What happens next pits Angel and Rosie — on different fronts — up against the incredible machine that is Serrao-Orlov in a frantic effort to protect both their own necks and the secrets hidden on Persephone.
This book was just a blast to read. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to The Mandalorian and Cowboy Bebop, but I got a definite Kelly’s Heroes and Magnificent Seven vibe from it. Angel’s team does not mess around when it comes to the job, but the amazing banter and personality quirks are what really make this story so remarkable.
It’s the nuance and the slow unfolding of both the story and the backstories of the characters that I enjoyed the most in this work of Ms. Leicht’s. Hell, even the ship computer systems were a delight to read.
Persephone Station is one of those books that is going to end up on a lot of “best of 2021” lists, and I really wouldn’t surprise if it ended up on the nomination lists for the Hugos or the Lammys.
It’s an amazingly entertaining journey that I heartily recommend. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.