Redsight is an incredible action/adventure story with twists and turns that catch you right where you're least expecting them, while also being a deep and thoughtful metaphysical commentary on what does it mean to be alive and treat others well. Korinna is an incredible, compassionate character and her story draws so much into the discussion about what the impacts of society are on our conception of disability.

The premise for this is fascinating, and there's so much to love about the ideas that go into it. And indeed, some of the execution is great too - the portrayal of a character with significant sight impairment, and the way she goes from living in an environment tailored to her needs (because she lives in a community full of people who share them) and out into a world not set up for her is really well done. I also really enjoyed the seamlessness of the blend between fantasy and SF, and the author has made it feel genuinely coherent on that front, without straining to justify the parts that might not sit naturally together. Religion and magic and lasers are all happening, and at no point in reading does that combination feel awkward or unnatural.

But all the good, all the ideas, all the inspiration is really let down by the characterisation, the prose and the general craft. "Show don't tell" is a worn-out adage, but it's worn out for a reason. So often, what we are told about the characters in Redsight is undermined - or at least not actively supported - by how they act, and what they say. A character is supposed to be embittered and experienced and jaded, and she often acts just as naively as the young women going out into the world for the first time. A supposedly very intelligent scientist makes ridiculous decisions - which would be fine if the writing gave us an emotional intuition of /why/ she did as she did... but it does not.

It often feels more like a fleshed out story plan than a fully written novel. All the plot beats are there, they all make sense, they all fit into a narrative that flows and would have a decent pace... but there just isn't the depth to it that would support what is happening. There needs to be more time spent with the characters, more work done for their motivations and actions to make sense. I don't mind that they make hypocritical or contradictory decisions - people do that - but the book doesn't show me their motivations enough for me to emotionally understand why they behave as they do, and in something so full of dramatic changes of heart, betrayals, and alliances, it truly truly needed that.

I finished the book and definitely enjoyed some parts - the aesthetics of the main character's order are interesting, I liked how religion melded into her life, there is some good genuine bisexual rep, which is pretty rare - and there are such good ideas at the core of this. But it is constantly let down on pretty fundamental levels, and that's all the more disappointing for how good it /could/ have been.

This can find an audience amongst those looking for a sapphic Dune-light with great disability representation.

DNF at 40%.

Shallow and boring. The protagonist is naive and stupid and does everything she's told, all the time. A lot of telling and not a lot of showing. I couldn't continue.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

When I’m ranting about how stupid a book is to the hubby at 2am, it’s time to DNF the book.

I really wanted to love this, okay??? I kept pushing on past the 20% that is my usual cut-off point, trying to give it a chance to get better.

But it just kept getting worse.

I’ve never encountered this problem before, but I don’t think Mooring…understands space??? I don’t mean in the astrophysicist sense or whatever – I don’t need my sci fi that realistic, and for the most part I wouldn’t be able to tell if an author was getting things wrong about space or not ANYWAY. It’s not like I’m an expert. But Redsight is very much about travelling through space – it’s literally the main character’s entire purpose to move ships through space – and from the way this book is written, the way the characters talk about it and the way the worldbuilding is set up, it’s as if everyone things space is flat. There’s a big chunk of Very Scary space called the Umbra (stupidly obvious name, by the way), which is super dangerous to travel through, and I kept waiting for someone to explain why ships can’t just…go around it. Or under it. Or over it. Or teleport past it, since the Redseers/Navigators seem to teleport their ships around space as a matter of course. But nope, that doesn’t seem to be an option.

???

Same problem: what the hell do you mean, there are ‘borderlands’ in space??? Any borders between different polities are going to have to be three dimensional – probably spherical – not just a line drawn on a 2D map. Space, and thus space-travel, goes in all directions! It’s like Mooring can’t visualise that, and is treating her characters’ travels like they’re moving across a 2D map instead of a 3D one.

So that was all very weird and also maddening.

The MC Korinna is ignorant mostly so Mooring has an excuse to infodump the reader through dialogue – seriously, it makes zero sense that a priesthood of space navigators would be kept so ignorant of how space and wider galactic society work – but she’s also just dumb. This is a character who doesn’t think, doesn’t question, is handed a book written by a literal goddess and dismisses it (without even opening it!) as a dry dusty old tome that can’t help her. A book WRITTEN BY A DIVINITY. That goes way beyond ignorance; that’s a complete inability to take in and process information usefully and draw conclusions or even decent guesses from it.

And I have no time for stupid MCs, even if they are The Most Powerful And Magical Ever. I do not care.

As for the other POV characters…yeah, they’re also naive and one-dimensional and make completely inexplicable decisions.

An attempt was made at intrigue. That is a real and true statement I can make. But is it really intrigue when it’s all either super straightforward or completely irrational???

Two more things: one, Mooring makes the inexplicable decision to have some Really Fucking Important scenes happen off-page, just telling us about them later. In particular, there’s one scene where Korinna has to make a choice where all her options are either horrific or incredibly dangerous for her…and we don’t get to see her make her decision, or the outcome of it. It’s all skipped over, when this is really a defining moment for the character. A life-changing moment. It boggles my mind that Mooring decided to skip it.

And finally, although the idea of the magic, particularly the Redseer/Navigator magic, was very cool, I really didn’t understand how it worked, or what Korinna was doing whenever she used it. I hate ‘hard’ magic systems, I don’t want my magic to be like Maths, I am very happy for it to be strange and mystical. But I still need to know what to picture when magic is happening. I still need to know what the character is doing when she uses her magic. And I had absolutely no clue, at any point. Which doesn’t make your magic feel magical, it just makes it confusing and wishy-washy and hand-wavey. No thank you.

Ultimately, though the premise is very awesome, and the prose is reasonably solid (although I highlighted quite a few paragraphs or bits of imagery that made very little sense…) Redsight reads like it needs a couple more major rewrites before it lives up to its potential. The bone structure of something genuinely epic is in here, but the characters need major work, the worldbuilding could be designed and conveyed much better than it currently is, and the magic could definitely use some fleshing out. As-is, it’s a disappointment.

I unfortunately could not finish this due to the graphic nature of the scenes. However, the premise sounds promising and I know other fantasy and sci-fi lovers will devour this read.

[Thanks to NetGalley & the author for providing me with this ARC]
A gory fast paced fantasy book set in a queer normative world? Count me in!
The book had many aspects that surprised me because a lot of the concepts were very unique and kept me hooked throughout the book. However, the characters are all more than a little naive and this in combination with a redundant story telling made parts of the book a little frustrating. I personally like a writing style that describes more than explains what is happening in the story as it feels much more nuanced and creates an atmospheric setting. More often than not, this book explained what was happening and being said, often even repeating/rephrasing things and conversations.
As this is very much my personal opinion on writing, I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Disclaimer: The ARC was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The ARC category in no way impacts the rating of the book.

I think this was well written, but unfortunately not for me. I believe many of you out there will absolutely love this, but it just read a bit young for my tastes.

This could just be the author's style, but I left the story feeling that I hardly knew our main characters. I would have enjoyed a closer look at them individually, to really be inside their minds. Everything works out a bit too easily, the characters themselves were frustrating because they were so naive. This all lent to the feeling of the book being a bit young for me.

If the book took a moment to slow down and expound upon the character development, I think it would have been more my speed. However, many folks out there love a fast paced, young feeling sci-fi, and it will be right up their alley!

I will not be giving feedback on this book following Meredith's involvement in defending the abhorrent behavior of Cait Corrain as well as accusing a disabled Black author of being ableist.

3.5, rounding up!

Three goddesses. Three priestesses. An unprecedented power… and an unprecedented weapon. When a disturbing attack takes place, three women are drawn together with opposing aims: the engineer, the navigator, and the space pirate.

The magic/science and world building in this is unique and interesting but took me a little while to grasp, both the “why” and the “how” as the exposition was a little choppy for me. The mix of science, religion and body-horror magic has drawn comparisons to Gideon the Ninth, but I think they’re quite distinct tonally and Redsight lacks the humour and in-depth lore/character work of GtN. However, it will be satisfying to anyone looking for a space opera with fresh ideas, sapphic romance and seriously questionable morality. I also enjoyed the perspective of a blind MC. Looking forward to seeing what else MM can deliver next.

Thank you to Solaris and Meredith Mooring for the opportunity to review, Redsight. The story is a good vs evil across space and time. The story is full of magic, battle and loyalty to those we find home with. A great concept, but the story falls a little flat at times, the imagery of space and out of this world element of this book weren’t there for me to push this story to the next level. The characters emotions and dynamics did lack a little depth, felt they were going through the motions at times. I liked the representation in this book – it was very inclusive with queer, disability and multi-ethnicity backgrounds. Sci-fi only feels big when imaginations are big enough to see us all in the stars, this pushed the rating to a 2.5 for me.

I would like to say I am disappointed in recent behaviours of some authors about abusing the review of books, especially as this scandal has emboiled this author. I won’t punish the book, that’s unfair. Sadly the negative press will likely do more harm than my opinion. We should all be remained it is the reader choice not the writer which books are remembered and shelf worthy.

I won't be posting this review on amazon or my bookstagram account.

Redsight by Meredith Mooring follows three main characters, all with unique gifts under the three goddesses of the galaxy. They must decide whether to overcome centuries of differences to create the world they desire, or remain embedded in the traditional ways of their orders. With both queer and disability representation, this is very exciting upcoming science fiction!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book, thank you NetGalley!

I went into this book completely blind and wasn’t sure what to expect at all. Despite this, I didn’t struggle to get into it. I really enjoyed the story and the plot was executed excellently; I haven’t read anything like this before! I really enjoyed the premise of the different Orders who worship a different goddess and each magic was entirely unique. I also enjoyed watching the romance within this book blossom as the characters learnt more about themselves and each other. Overall, the book was very well-paced and consistent.

However, there were a few aspects of this book that I struggled with. I found imagery quite difficult due to a lack of in-depth descriptions and world-building, I feel if this was slightly improved upon, the world could’ve been more magical. I also found myself becoming quite confused at times due to some aspects of the magic being under-explained. Other than that, it was a very exciting story!

Unfortunatley I will not be reading this book or providing a full review in light of author's recent behaviour.

While "Redsight" has every element that should make me fall in love, I just couldn't find a heart for this book. I adored world-building, it should be considered as a one of the greatest aspects of this story. Writing was decent, characters were interesting, basically on every step this book is good. I just couldn't focus on it; maybe it's the space opera element, maybe I just wasn't in the mood. I think I will come back to Korinna, Sahara and Aster, as there's a lot in them to explore, and reading about it was quite pleasant. But for now – three stars from me. I feel the thrill when I think of it, but no the connection.

I’m going to be withholding my review of this book due to Meredith Mooring’s actions. While she has apologised, at this time I really don’t feel comfortable with keeping the review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris for providing me with the eARC. This is my honest review.

2.5⭐️ overall
4.5⭐️ for the world building

Initially I was hesitant to start, but the concept was captivating once I was a couple of pages in. The world building was fresh…if not just a bit bloody. 🙈 but it’s not too bad.

In typical fantasy fashion, more questions than answers surfaced at the beginning, and unfortunately, by the end, satisfactory answers remained elusive.

My struggle intensified with Korinna's relationships, particularly the romantic one, which seemed to blossom out of thin air. The narrative is a jumble—events unfold without clarity, leaving me confused about their occurrences.

Characters shift between distrust and love without clear motives, making it challenging to connect with them or care about their relationships and goals. Regrettably, this lack of engagement made it difficult for me to read.

"Redsight" offers a captivating space opera filled with sapphic romance, space pirates, and a blind witch named Korinna. As a Redseer with the ability to manipulate space-time, she discovers her destiny as a weapon for the Imperium. When attacked by the vengeful pirate Aster Haran, Korinna faces a pivotal choice that could shape the galaxy's future. The narrative unfolds with suspense as she navigates love, loyalty, and her extraordinary abilities. Filled with intrigue and the clash of powerful forces, "Redsight" promises an enthralling adventure for fans of Gideon the Ninth, weaving a tale of magic, destiny, and space-time manipulation.

A fairly standard fantasy, with religious elements baked in. I'd rather play Fire Emblem: Three Houses, or watch Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass.

I will not be reading or reviewing this novel as I am uncomfortable with the author's recent behaviour online, particularly the defense of a white author who targeted the books of authors of colour with falsified reviews.

Fascinating debut sapphic space opera that leans into the boundary between sci-fi and fantasy in the best kind of way. As far as I can tell this is going to be a one shot, but if she chose to, I'm absolutely fascinated to see more in this universe. We have a fascinating blend of the layers of truth hidden in religious orders, dark secrets, a blind protagonist, fantasy implications for space travel via blood magic, space pirates, and just overall, a really well done plot and characters. It can be a bit light on characterization at times, and focuses a bit more on plot, but I overall really liked it, and highly recommend picking this up from Solaris when it comes out in February 2024!