There was so much to enjoy about Dissonant State — a tale infused with character and creativity from author Jo Miles. I would gladly read another work by this author based on this example.

I enjoyed this book. It's not a direct sequel, the main character is Kay, sister to Jasper/Mason from the first book Warped State. Kay has a special ability, she can sense emotions. She uses this to her advantage in her work as a trade negotiator. When she suspects Ravel Corporation has kidnapped her brother, she takes a job with Ravel to try to rescue him. Like the first book, this one is about exposing the evil exploits of Ravel and foiling their plans. The nascent AI ship from the first book is a big part of this story as well, as is the drug-addicted fixer/assassin Grist who was hunting Jasper. Exploring his backstory makes him more sympathetic. This is a nice, optimistic tale about successfully fighting corporate greed, and the developing friendship between an AI and a human.

Jasper/Mason, the anti-planet-despoiling-Ravel-corporation activist we met in Warped State, has been captured by an agent of that corporation, so his sister Kay sets out to rescue him. She gets a job with Ravel, meaning to infiltrate -- which she does, but in the process she's morally compromised, because the job is as a spokesperson for the corporation's latest attempt to take over a planet. Fortunately, she has allies, including Sunny the sentient spaceship from Warped State, who's fed up with doing work they find repugnant and being abused by their pilot, the odious Grist. Sower of Small Havoc, Jasper's love interest, also turns up, part of the organization attempting to thwart Ravel and in the long run destroy it.

As with Warped State, it's impossible not to be reminded of Ann Leckie, with whom Jo Miles shares many preoccupations: tyranny and exploitation of the weak; the nature of personhood; the forms love can take (Sunny and Kay form a deep bond of friendship, and in the happy ending decide to ride off together into the sunset, or the starfield, whatever). JM also takes up the question of means and ends: the Cooperative's ends are laudable, but neither Kay nor Jasper is quite at ease with all their means, and in fact Havoc does a couple of things that shade well into problem territory. One of them backfires, the other doesn't, and I could have wished for more attention to the ethical questions they raise.

The writing is solid and the story's suspenseful, but somehow the characters never come fully to life for me. And I'm not sure I was convinced by Grist's quasi redemption at the end.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.

In a nimble turn, Miles turns away from romance in Dissonant State while still writing a book about love. This time, it's not the love for a romantic partner or the pursuit of a romantic partner, but one of family love. It's also about advocacy, multi-culturalism, and what makes a person "human." All treated with enough subtlety to let us surf the currents of a charming adventure intrigue.

Dissonant State is actually pretty harmonious. It sings true as a sister is forced to infiltrate multiple worlds and a corporation she hates with all her soul to rescue her kidnapped brother, The sister is wonderfully unprepared for any kind of mission as a spy. Worse, she has no allies and actually in her guise as an employee is asked to mislead people towards accepting corporate enslavement and ruin. In working for the corporation, she betrays her beliefs, her people, and puts her planet at risk because she holds a genetic code which, if discovered, could lead to the harvesting of her family.

What separates and elevates Dissonant State is its sense of economics, labor, and advocacy. How far would you go to save people you don't know? Would you put at risk your family to save a planet of strangers? How much of yourself will you compromise to save someone you love?

Jo Miles take on all of this and then goes further, examining what makes a person a person. It is a sign of her skill how well all these minor themes parallel the big ones and create such round characters.

It is always a pleasure when the second book lives up to the promise of the first! Well done Jo MIles!

I've been surprised, delighted, and entertained. I want more.