Sektor 47 x N. N. Jehangir (DRC)

288 pages.

First published April 28, 2024 (The Book Guild)

Sci-fi.

This stupendous novel tells the story of Saída, who—for reasons not revealed to us—was raised by her saint of an uncle, Abbas. Saída is from a planet, called Sektor 47 by the empire and Meraj by the locals, that’s been colonised by the Grand Design (also not explained) and whose enforcers, Redcloaks, oversee the exploitative mining of illuminite, or Roshun in the local language, which has special properties. But little Saída gets into one unavoidable scrape after another involving the Redcloaks, until one night something terrible happens that separates her and Uncle Abbas, and that leads her to leave the planet for her safety. The only reason little Saída can do this at all is someone she met underground after one of her scrapes: a robot/android she calls Rodok.

One of the things that makes this novel stupendous is the world- (or rather, universe-) building! Even without giving the reader much lore to draw on, Jehangir creates a very believable structure, a universe that works: a implacable enemy, various oppressed peoples, and a hero’s journey, as Saída strives to return to her home planet and to Uncle Abbas.

I love robots and androids always and anyway, but I think Rodok is one of the best robot/android characters I’ve encountered in SF (and yes, possibly better even than Murderbot). Saída is exactly the kind of woman you would expect a young girl who encountered the brutality of colonialism to grow up into. This novel is a heartwarming coming-of-age story that explores the impact of colonialism, details a wonderful human-android friendship, and that has lots of adventure, space stations, cool spaceships, and even a space battle.

It’s a wonderfully fun read that ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, suggesting there may be more Saída and Meraj in store.

Many thanks to The Book Guild and to NetGalley for access to a DRC!