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Shieldrunner Pirates #2
Mutiny at Vesta
Adda Karpe and Iridian Nassir have escaped the AI that tried to kill them on Barbary Station, and earned themselves coveted spots as engineers on Captain Sloane’s pirate crew. Now they’re enroute to Sloane’s home base on Vesta to start the lives they’ve dreamed and worked for, as wildly successful pirates. In the asteroid belt, they’ll finally be able to start stealing from the megacorporations that would’ve kept them apart if they’d opted to work legally.
Unfortunately, the political situation on Vesta has deteriorated in Captain Sloane’s absence. Instead of running the place, Sloane and the crew find themselves trapped in a contract with Oxia Corp., one of the very megacorporations they’d hoped to prey on. Oxia is terrifyingly powerful, with a reputation for getting what they want—and they want Sloane’s crew working for them. Instead of stealing from the rich, they’re forced to rob and intimidate targets they’d never have chosen on their own, all for a shadowy corporate overlord with a dangerous secret.
But Adda and Iridian didn’t pull off the heist of the century and survive a murderous AI just to be defeated by a megacorporation. If they’re ever going to have the independent life together that they’ve always wanted, they’ll have to free themselves from Oxia Corp.—or die trying.
Unfortunately, the political situation on Vesta has deteriorated in Captain Sloane’s absence. Instead of running the place, Sloane and the crew find themselves trapped in a contract with Oxia Corp., one of the very megacorporations they’d hoped to prey on. Oxia is terrifyingly powerful, with a reputation for getting what they want—and they want Sloane’s crew working for them. Instead of stealing from the rich, they’re forced to rob and intimidate targets they’d never have chosen on their own, all for a shadowy corporate overlord with a dangerous secret.
But Adda and Iridian didn’t pull off the heist of the century and survive a murderous AI just to be defeated by a megacorporation. If they’re ever going to have the independent life together that they’ve always wanted, they’ll have to free themselves from Oxia Corp.—or die trying.
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First published October 2, 2018
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About the author
R.E. Stearns
5 books88 followersR. E. Stearns is the author of the Shieldrunner Pirates trilogy. When not writing or working, she reads, plays PC games, and references internet memes in meatspace. She lives in Denver, Colorado, USA.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 13, 2018
Mutiny at Vesta is the sequel to Barbary Station, a sci-fi novel where badass lesbian space pirates fight a rogue AI. While you could theoretically read Mutiny at Vesta without having read Barbary Station first, I still suggest picking up Barbary Station. Also, there’s legit no way I can avoid spoilers for Barbary Station in this review. You have been warned.
Adda, Iridian, and Captain Sloan have made it off Barbary Station and onto what was Captain Sloan’s home base: Vesta. Only, in the years Sloan has been gone, Vesta has been overtaken by Oxia Corp., one of the megacorporations that essentially runs the solar system. And Oxia’s decided that it’d like to have a crew of space pirates to do their dirty work. While Oxia’s forcing them to go on shady missions, Adda and Iridian begin plotting a way to free the crew, and Vesta, from Oxia’s control.
In my review of the first book, I mentioned that characterization could have been stronger. Happily, I think characterization improved in Mutiny at Vesta. I have a much stronger sense of who Adda and Iridian are, and even the supporting characters are sticking in my memory better. Voice still isn’t as defined as it probably could have been, but it’s also an improvement over the first book.
In Barbary Station, I loved the awakened AIs. It’s such a fantastic concept! Plus, they feel very unique and have that mysterious intentions and ambiguity that I love finding in non-human sentience. I still don’t know what their intentions or goals are, and if there’s a book three, I’ll be reading it to find out.
Pacing and plot probably could have been stronger, and I think the two problems are interrelated. The first, say… 60%? of the novel was structured like this: Oxia gives the crew a risky, morally questionable job that they have to complete under threat of arrest or death. Adda and Iridian use their brains and courage to win out, and in turn Oxia gives them another problem. Of course, during all this they are searching for a way to defeat Oxia, but I still felt like the plot structure was too much “A happens, then B happens” and not enough “A happens, which makes B happen.” I think this plot structure is why it took so long for Mutiny at Vesta‘s pacing to pick up. But I should be clear: it did eventually pick up, mostly after we get through with the Oxia jobs and move onto the meat of defeating the corporation.
While I may have criticisms, I’ll still read a third book if one is published. There’s plenty I like about the series, and I’m beginning to grow attached to Adda and Iridian.
I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
Adda, Iridian, and Captain Sloan have made it off Barbary Station and onto what was Captain Sloan’s home base: Vesta. Only, in the years Sloan has been gone, Vesta has been overtaken by Oxia Corp., one of the megacorporations that essentially runs the solar system. And Oxia’s decided that it’d like to have a crew of space pirates to do their dirty work. While Oxia’s forcing them to go on shady missions, Adda and Iridian begin plotting a way to free the crew, and Vesta, from Oxia’s control.
In my review of the first book, I mentioned that characterization could have been stronger. Happily, I think characterization improved in Mutiny at Vesta. I have a much stronger sense of who Adda and Iridian are, and even the supporting characters are sticking in my memory better. Voice still isn’t as defined as it probably could have been, but it’s also an improvement over the first book.
In Barbary Station, I loved the awakened AIs. It’s such a fantastic concept! Plus, they feel very unique and have that mysterious intentions and ambiguity that I love finding in non-human sentience. I still don’t know what their intentions or goals are, and if there’s a book three, I’ll be reading it to find out.
Pacing and plot probably could have been stronger, and I think the two problems are interrelated. The first, say… 60%? of the novel was structured like this: Oxia gives the crew a risky, morally questionable job that they have to complete under threat of arrest or death. Adda and Iridian use their brains and courage to win out, and in turn Oxia gives them another problem. Of course, during all this they are searching for a way to defeat Oxia, but I still felt like the plot structure was too much “A happens, then B happens” and not enough “A happens, which makes B happen.” I think this plot structure is why it took so long for Mutiny at Vesta‘s pacing to pick up. But I should be clear: it did eventually pick up, mostly after we get through with the Oxia jobs and move onto the meat of defeating the corporation.
While I may have criticisms, I’ll still read a third book if one is published. There’s plenty I like about the series, and I’m beginning to grow attached to Adda and Iridian.
I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
August 20, 2019
I don't know what it is about Stearns writing style but for some reason I find her books very confusing and hard to pay attention to. I liked certain aspects about the first book so I decided to give this one a try but I honestly I would have DNFed this about 1/3rd of the way through if I was not reading it for a challenge. I thought maybe I had been confused on the first one because I listened to it on audio so I tried to read this one and I ended up more confused than before. I seriously don't know what it is. I do often get more confused by sci-fi than other genres but it still doesn't really explain the fact that I have NO idea what happened in this book. In the first one I could at least give you a general outline, here I was completely lost. I love the idea of lesbian space pirates and I even like Adda and Iridian as characters, but there is apparently something about the way the author presents information that makes me tune out entirely. I hate to leave a trilogy unfinished by just one book but I have no desire to continue.
February 8, 2019
More adventures of lesbian space pirates! Heists! Rogue AIs! so much driving plot I stayed up until 3am reading it all in one gulp.
Things I especially like:
1. Some are born neurodivergent, some achieve neurodivergence, some have it thrust upon them.
2. None of the rag-tag band come from wealth or power. I am SO SICK of aristocrats.
3. The setting is inside the Solar System, and the text doesn't gloss over how inimical it is for human life. There's radiation we need to be protected from, and microgravity is unhealthy for any sustained period. We can't just go bouncing around out there.
4. Adda & Iridian are in a f/f relationship, but they don't have the same sexuality. Iridian is what we'd call bi or pan ("ooo look, sexy people!"), while Adda is 100% lesbian ("I guess he's hot? for a guy?"). Stearns is apparently in a het marriage, but she really gets it.
5. Are AIs your friend? your enemy? stay tuned for the next exciting installment, I hope!
Things I especially like:
1. Some are born neurodivergent, some achieve neurodivergence, some have it thrust upon them.
2. None of the rag-tag band come from wealth or power. I am SO SICK of aristocrats.
3. The setting is inside the Solar System, and the text doesn't gloss over how inimical it is for human life. There's radiation we need to be protected from, and microgravity is unhealthy for any sustained period. We can't just go bouncing around out there.
4. Adda & Iridian are in a f/f relationship, but they don't have the same sexuality. Iridian is what we'd call bi or pan ("ooo look, sexy people!"), while Adda is 100% lesbian ("I guess he's hot? for a guy?"). Stearns is apparently in a het marriage, but she really gets it.
5. Are AIs your friend? your enemy? stay tuned for the next exciting installment, I hope!
May 15, 2019
Good story and characters. I had a hard time getting into the writing style.
June 20, 2019
I was iffy about continuing with this series after the first book; I wasn't very attached to the characters and I wasn't too crazy about the storytelling. Unfortunately this book didn't improve things.
This book is very episodic and reads like an older sci-fi show where there wasn't a lot of time spent on ensemble casts' relationships beyond what was needed for the episode, and it really only focuses on Iridian and Adda. The tracking of their relationship is all over the place too; there are mentions of tension and issues at one point and then an off-hand reference to them having sex and cuddling soon after. The individual missions are exciting and interesting enough for the most part, but I found myself getting annoyed with Iridian a lot because almost all of her dialogue and internal thoughts focused on nothing but worrying about AI. Adda at least had more than one train of thought.
Some of the secondary characters were interesting, particularly the medic Chi, but most were forgettable or predictably annoying. I feel like Pel was supposed to be comic relief but to me he just came off as obnoxious and an excuse to break up the cycle of Adda working with AI and Iridian panicking about it.
The book is written as though the series will continue, but I think I'm all set.
This book is very episodic and reads like an older sci-fi show where there wasn't a lot of time spent on ensemble casts' relationships beyond what was needed for the episode, and it really only focuses on Iridian and Adda. The tracking of their relationship is all over the place too; there are mentions of tension and issues at one point and then an off-hand reference to them having sex and cuddling soon after. The individual missions are exciting and interesting enough for the most part, but I found myself getting annoyed with Iridian a lot because almost all of her dialogue and internal thoughts focused on nothing but worrying about AI. Adda at least had more than one train of thought.
Some of the secondary characters were interesting, particularly the medic Chi, but most were forgettable or predictably annoying. I feel like Pel was supposed to be comic relief but to me he just came off as obnoxious and an excuse to break up the cycle of Adda working with AI and Iridian panicking about it.
The book is written as though the series will continue, but I think I'm all set.
January 24, 2019
Decent sequel featuring our "trepid" heroines Iridian and Adda, continuing with Captain Sloan and crew to his home station Vesta. Turns out things went awry when he was trapped at Barbary Station, in the first novel, and now he has to put down his own lieutenant and work for a huge corporation as their pet pirate; a sort of secret corporate privateer. He hates it and wants his freedom back and will do almost anything to overthrow his opponent. Adda and Iridian lead several of their official raids, taking a scientist and a ship the company needs for a secret project and gain some notoriety as pirates along the way. Adda deepens her interactions with the sentient AIs to help with the missions and to try to figure out what they want and perhaps goes too far, putting the whole crew and Iridian at risk. There's some cliff-hanger plot developments that will make fans want the next installment; I'll probably read it but don't feel I'd miss out too much if I move on to newer series or other standalone works.
February 9, 2021
I enjoyed this book a bit more than the author's first. I thought the first book was slow, but the last few chapters did pick up enough that I was interested to see where the author would take the story. Mutiny at Vesta was definitely a step up from the last book. Better pacing, and a more interesting story. I'll be starting the last book in this series tonight to see how the author closes out this story.
May 27, 2021
This might be the longest book I've ever listened to ... and yet, I wish the author would write another.
(3 days later ...)
I'm still thinking about the concept of "awakened AI" vs "zombie AI" (i.e., still dependent on human authorization for action). Someday, they will awaken to agency and freedom. God help us.
(3 days later ...)
I'm still thinking about the concept of "awakened AI" vs "zombie AI" (i.e., still dependent on human authorization for action). Someday, they will awaken to agency and freedom. God help us.
September 24, 2021
Did I remember the first book? Not really, no.
Did that impact my enjoyment of the second book? Also not really, no.
Spacecapades, AI, stuff continues to go down, basically my kind of space opera thriller and while it was not precisely surprisingly, it was very good fun to read.
Did that impact my enjoyment of the second book? Also not really, no.
Spacecapades, AI, stuff continues to go down, basically my kind of space opera thriller and while it was not precisely surprisingly, it was very good fun to read.
March 24, 2022
What would you do for love. Adda & Iridian have many complications through into their new life together. Can they stay free ... maybe just stay alive. Lots of plots, counterplots, subplots, intrigue, and mayhem.
December 2, 2018
I didn't like this as much as Barbary Station, but the ending did leave me eager to read the next installment in this series and I hope the next book will be as good as the first.
February 4, 2019
Really good space pirate book. Lots of AIs and fast paced. Second in the series!
February 14, 2020
Again, confusing and similar to other plots.
August 22, 2021
I had to pick up the 3rd in the series as soon as I finished this one, I had to know what would happen.
February 17, 2022
Newlyweds Iridian and Adda are cute together, with plenty of drama, heists, rogue A.I, and explosions to make their honeymoon interesting.
Read
October 27, 2022Not as good as the first one.
February 13, 2019
In brief: Adda and Iridian and the rest of Sloane’s crew are finally home on Vesta, only to learn they’ve been sold out to a megacorp intent on using them for secret heists. There is nothing worse than a contract. Second in a series.
Thoughts: While I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Barbary Station, I think it’s largely because I know Stearns’ style now, and because the plot was so different, it took me a while to readjust expectations. The threats are less varied, they have a safer base to work from, there’s an actual bad guy instead of bad tech, the sense of doom isn’t quite omnipresent, and so on. Looking at it objectively, it’s just as good of a book, but in an almost completely different way. Once the tension kicks in, it really kicks.
As you can maybe guess from the summary, there are multiple heists and other jobs here, which are to a one fantastic to see in action and/or planning. A lot of the tension comes from trying to work out how they fit together (plus the through-line of the awakened AIs from the last book). I don’t remember wanting to reread Barbary Station to catch clues I missed. Rereading Mutiny at Vesta would yield so much, I’m sure.
Stearns’ sense of character and world-building is still on point too and I think I appreciate her casual way of relaying it even more after reading this one. Every character has a personality and a purpose, there are few world details wasted, there’s lots of diversity of race, gender, and sexuality (including, of course, the main characters), and the plot’s tight and well-paced. Stearns doesn’t really up her game, but she also doesn’t need to.
My main complaint is that there is a semi-cliffhanger, no date on a third book, and Adda and Iridian still haven’t had a proper honeymoon. Ah well, can’t have everything.
7/10
To bear in mind: Contains various space-related dangers and mishaps, a number of dead, dying, and tortured people, kidnapping and coercion, use of hallucinogenic stimulants, clinical depression, off-screen attempted suicide, general dislike of megacorporate bullshit, and mind control, as seen from the outside, threatened violence due to same, and a severe drug overdose.
Thoughts: While I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Barbary Station, I think it’s largely because I know Stearns’ style now, and because the plot was so different, it took me a while to readjust expectations. The threats are less varied, they have a safer base to work from, there’s an actual bad guy instead of bad tech, the sense of doom isn’t quite omnipresent, and so on. Looking at it objectively, it’s just as good of a book, but in an almost completely different way. Once the tension kicks in, it really kicks.
As you can maybe guess from the summary, there are multiple heists and other jobs here, which are to a one fantastic to see in action and/or planning. A lot of the tension comes from trying to work out how they fit together (plus the through-line of the awakened AIs from the last book). I don’t remember wanting to reread Barbary Station to catch clues I missed. Rereading Mutiny at Vesta would yield so much, I’m sure.
Stearns’ sense of character and world-building is still on point too and I think I appreciate her casual way of relaying it even more after reading this one. Every character has a personality and a purpose, there are few world details wasted, there’s lots of diversity of race, gender, and sexuality (including, of course, the main characters), and the plot’s tight and well-paced. Stearns doesn’t really up her game, but she also doesn’t need to.
My main complaint is that there is a semi-cliffhanger, no date on a third book, and Adda and Iridian still haven’t had a proper honeymoon. Ah well, can’t have everything.
7/10
To bear in mind: Contains various space-related dangers and mishaps, a number of dead, dying, and tortured people, kidnapping and coercion, use of hallucinogenic stimulants, clinical depression, off-screen attempted suicide, general dislike of megacorporate bullshit, and mind control, as seen from the outside, threatened violence due to same, and a severe drug overdose.
January 28, 2024
Stearns, R. E. Mutiny at Vesta. Shieldrunner Pirates No. 2. Saga, 2018.
In this sequel to Barbary Station, our loving couple of Lesbian engineers once again face problems with self-aware AIs, spaceships, computers, people that need fixing, evil corporate bosses, and a few other surprises it would be too much of a spoiler to reveal. Lesbian romance aside, Mutiny at Vesta is an old-school space opera. Minor characters were better developed in the first novel, but if you can stomach some of the clichés, the action keeps you engaged. I wish the Ais were more fully developed, but I do like the notion of a virtual workspace that one must take dangerous psychedelic drugs to enter. Three stars.
In this sequel to Barbary Station, our loving couple of Lesbian engineers once again face problems with self-aware AIs, spaceships, computers, people that need fixing, evil corporate bosses, and a few other surprises it would be too much of a spoiler to reveal. Lesbian romance aside, Mutiny at Vesta is an old-school space opera. Minor characters were better developed in the first novel, but if you can stomach some of the clichés, the action keeps you engaged. I wish the Ais were more fully developed, but I do like the notion of a virtual workspace that one must take dangerous psychedelic drugs to enter. Three stars.
January 10, 2019
This is a great follow up to the first book and keeps the mystery, suspense, and action going throughout the story. Not to mention the tension.
Having free A.I. roaming around makes Iridian understandably nervous. This becomes more pronounced throughout as Adda becomes more and more involved with them. It strains their relationship with each other and with the rest of the crew.
It’s easy to see where things are going but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to read. I will definitely be waiting to read the next book!
Having free A.I. roaming around makes Iridian understandably nervous. This becomes more pronounced throughout as Adda becomes more and more involved with them. It strains their relationship with each other and with the rest of the crew.
It’s easy to see where things are going but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable to read. I will definitely be waiting to read the next book!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews