The Nova Vita Protocol series is one I’ve come to enjoy. Kristyn Merbeth’s debut, Fortuna, was a rollicking emotional rollercoaster. Memoria was a stronger follow-up that put the family’s issues on full display as the Kaisers try desperately to right the wrongs of their weapons dealing mother. The finale had some big shoes to fill for me, and unfortunately, Discordia is a slightly disappointing bookend to the series.

The system is still reeling from the events of Memoria. The Kaisers are finally on their own again, out from under the thumbs of the politicians and generals of the various planetary governments. Having stopped the invasion of Nibiru by the remnants of Titan, the Kaisers are on just about everyone’s hit list. Even though they are seen as heroes, the information they know is just too dangerous for the regular public. Forced to the margins of society with their eyes over their shoulders, the Kaisers are once again dragged into stopping another war. This time with the knowledge of the aliens slumbering weapons, they just might stop the system from annihilating itself. That is if they can only get someone to listen to them.

One thing that I will always adore about this series is the dynamic between Scorpio and Corvus. Merbeth keeps their storytelling style differentiated throughout, giving the sections a vibrancy through her character’s eyes. Their word choice and varying anxieties about how to handle situations both personal and system wide are endearing. However, I felt Scorpia was a little more contrived in this outing. She felt like she needed to fall into a few traps to get the plot moving. It wasn’t as if she fully regressed, but there were moments that felt like Scorpia from Fortuna popped in for a moment to get the ball rolling. Corvus on the other hand felt just right, spending his time learning to remember his needs as a human being instead of a soldier. The added crew mate Daniil put this aspect of Corvus into sharp focus, serving as a catalyst and really making his progress feel tangible and uncomfortable.

The story in Discordia is a little weak for me. In its defense, the stakes of the second book hit a really high note and they are hard to follow up, but it still felt thin. The system is on the brink of war between two planets and the Kaisers are once again forced to deal with the repercussions of their mother’s actions. It’s not bad, but it felt more contrived this time around with plot points that sprang up out of nowhere and a few convenient loose ends here and there. I was expecting a more bombastic finish, and while it delivers a satisfactory conclusion it isn’t very showy, and doesn’t quite dig in the way the previous books had. While the Kaiser’s earned some reprieve from their internal issues as a family, I didn’t feel any tension with them as individuals in the grander plot.

The planets and their cultures are still interesting, but the reader isn’t given a whole lot to work with when it comes to Pax. Deva is given the full treatment, getting to see its flashy face and dirty underbelly. But considering Pax and Deva were itching for war given the events of the previous books, I expected more about the workings of Pax. Instead it feels like the wild west with two large cities that are also at odds with each other. The other books gave stronger backgrounds on the uniqueness of each planet that allowed the tensions to fully simmer and be realized. Pax and Deva just felt like they hadn’t had their full turn yet, and wanted to get in the tussle.

Discordia was still enjoyable, but I mostly stayed for the characters. I adored watching Scorpia and Corvus become the people they are through the books. I’m glad they got the conclusion Merbeth follows them to. I wish the last hurrah was a little more forceful, with the characters using their newfound confidences tempered with their lifelong doubts. I wanted the brink to feel like a total collapse was around the corner and that war was inevitable. Instead, it’s a nice story about how the Kaiser’s finally get to break a little free from the cell their mother constructed for them, and that’s not a bad thing, it’s just not what I was hoping for. As a whole, The Nova Vita Protocol makes me look forward to seeing more of what Merbeth has in store for the future.

Rating: Discordia 6.5/10
-Alex

An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.

This is book three in the Nova Vita Protocol and is the end of a trilogy.

The Kaiser family is thrown into another political fight with the Interplanetary Alliance due to their knowledge of the planetary defense systems. The Kaisers wanting some much deserved downtime, collectively groan as they get thrown into helping Nova Vita solve their problems yet again.

Unruly Titans defect from Nibiru and create a splinter group, unlikely alliances form, Merbeth shows us how much she hates us and tears our feelings apart allover the place, Scorpia gets the time out chair while the I.A decides her fate. Corvus does his Titan badassery thing on the radioactive desert planet. Everything seems to get wrapped up except for the Primus. I need more Primus. A series set in the future with a possible reunion would be sweet.

The end of what has become one of my favorite space opera trilogies. I feel sad but hopeful that Merbeth might feel guilty enough and write more about the Kaisers one day. I know I will keep an eye out. Thank you for the adventure!

3.5 / 5 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2021/12/09/discordia-by-kristyn-merbeth-review/

The Kaisers return to space, after the events of Memoria leave them homeless. But while they are together as a family, they are not all together as a crew. Following his betrayal during the war on Nibiru, Orion is back, where he is more or less welcomed with open arms. Daniil, on the other hand, is less so. The former Titan Sergeant may be a war criminal, but his motives are not trusted—even by Corvus, who knows him better than anyone.

Likewise, the crew of the Memoria are not universally trusted or welcomed among the planets of Nova Vita. On Nibiru, the IA has declared them all fugitives and war criminals, despite their hero-status among most of the populace. On Pax, their documents are not accepted, and are still waiting for permission to land on the largely desert world. On Deva, they are… tolerated, so long as they have something to offer: mostly consisting of goods scavenged from Gaia and Titan—the two worlds where they are most welcome. But even that is about to change.

As the system readies for war once again, the Kaisers go from simple war criminals to something more, and are almost universally hunted. Only Pax (which still won’t let them land) isn’t actively trying to capture or kill them. All for the forbidden intel they’ve gathered on the Primus—knowledge that is worth far more than just their lives. But while this information may finally do them in, it may yet save them, and the entire system of Nova Vita as well.

Discordia concludes the Nova Vita Protocol, wrapping up all major storylines with a nice bow and flourish, while leaving a return to the universe possible, if not evident. The story is definitely the reason to read this one, especially if you’ve been following it from Fortuna. I certainly had some issues with the book, but really none with the story itself. If nothing else, Kristyn Merbeth knows how to tell a story, and does her best not to leave anything out when wrapping it all up.

But while I’ve enjoyed the Nova Vita protocol thus far, it hasn’t exactly been perfect. In fact, one of my main complaints thus far has been that the planets don’t really feel like planets. As the Kaisers fly through the system, they visit each world, every time landing in the same city or port, and at no time really exploring anywhere else. Yes, there are a few exceptions to this rule—in Fortuna, we did visit two whole locations on Titan, but then were quickly removed from the planet entirely; in Memoria, there was a bit of roving around Nibiru, but it was mostly just the ocean, and there wasn’t any further description of anything else—but coming into Discordia, it seemed that there was but one city on every planet, and nothing else worth caring about. I am happy to say that this is not the case for the third book …to a point. When landing on Gaia and Deva and Nibiru, we still only land in the same city, but manage to explore a little more of the worlds themselves. But… just the area surrounding the capitals. A little. Pax actually features more than one city, though little description is given to either, so they might as well be the same. There hasn’t been any real effort made to make the planets seem like, well, <i>planets.</i> It more feels like we’re moving between three or four cities, while nothing outside their limits matters.

In fact, while Discordia does try to correct the issues I had with its previous installments, the attempts never seemed all that comprehensive. In fact, it tries to do some many new things, that it kinda gets in its own way. The exploration is one; there is an attempt to expand the worlds, but not all that much. There’re more glimpses into the history of expansion into Nova Vita, but not many. The non-romantic, non-familial relationships do take center stage early in the text, but then are never really revisited. All in all, there <i>is</i> an attempt at expanding the scope of the universe—but it’s a bit of a half-assed attempt.

The romance is another thing I’d like to address. Though Memoria may’ve cleared up Scorpia’s love-triangle, Discordia comes back with its own in the form of Corvus. Now, I’m not a big fan of love-triangles (or romance (as a genre), really), but Corvus’ was done extremely well. Whereas the continuing romance between Shey and Scorpia begins to feel a bit forced, the one involving Corvus is just the opposite. It is subtle and enigmatic, blossoming in the background over all the books, before really becoming something tangible in the latter half of the third. Just as Scorpia’s caused me to lose interest, Corvus’ reinvigorated it. (That said, I did appreciate the effort the author made to illustrate that the Scorpia-Shey thing was far from a storybook romance—that it took time and effort, went thing bad spells and indifference and anger and strife. At the end it did feel more real, though still a bit forced).

TL;DR

Overall… Discordia was quite the mixed bag. It’s certainly a must-read for anyone who’s reached this point of the series, though if you didn’t like the content of the books thus far, you’re not going to be any happier with the conclusion. While the final book in the Nova Vita Protocol did try to address some of my major issues with the preceding entries, it didn’t really try too hard. There’s a bit more exploration of the planets outside their one hub, but not too much and not too far. There’s a bit more detail and lore, but nothing important, and not all that much. The romance replaces one love-triangle with another—although this one is entirely more well done. It’s… urrrgh. Frustrating to describe. I’d recommend Discordia for fans of the series, or those who’ve gotten through Book #2 and want to see where it all ends. For those who’ve yet to start the series… while the story of Nova Vita is strong, it’s really the only thing that is. The rest isn’t bad, exactly… just maybe don’t expect too much.

We reunite with the Kaisers who've solved one planet's problem, but that was really just the prelude to a larger conflict amongst the Nova Vita planets. With three of the planets allying and blackmailing the Kaisers into supporting the false narrative that the new Interplanetary Alliance wants them to, Scorpia wonders how she's going to protect her family, while turning a profit and keeping them all out of the political maneuvering. We again get PoVs from Scorpia and Corvus while the family attempts to save their system and themselves.

It's been a fast ride to the end of this last book in the trilogy. I am so glad that Scorpia has really grown into her Captaincy and role of family protector. She's genuinely thinking about how to take care of everyone on her ship, instead of drinking herself sick nightly. Meanwhile, Corvus is still trying to shed his Titan programming, but is able to begin moving on slowly by forging a new and more peaceful relationship with his former squad mate, Daniil.

I really enjoyed book one, then liked book two, but this was probably my least favourite of the books, even though I really liked Scorpia's development. Actually, that's probably what I liked the most. I found myself skimming text so I could get on to the next plot point, and didn't really find myself caring all that much about the outcome of the planetary conflicts, or how the Kaisers were going to get there. I was genuinely saddened by the loss of two crew mates, and could empathize with Scorpia's heartsickness over them. Of the remaining castmates, Izra is my favourite, and Shey my least favourite across all three books.
Unfortunately, however much I enjoyed spending time with Scorpia and Izra, they weren't enough to hold my interest throughout this concluding book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Discordia is about a space crew that is wanted on all worlds. However they seem to be the most moral of all people. They work to stop a system war.