Audiobook Review – Sisters of the Vast Black (Our Lady of Endless Worlds, Book 1) by Lina Rather, Narrated by Adenrele Ojo (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 4 hours and 7 minutes
Publisher:‎ Recorded Books, Inc.
Release Date: August 27, 2020
ASIN: B08GQG8QZB
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Our Lady of Endless Worlds series
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Years ago, Old Earth sent forth sisters and brothers into the vast dark of the prodigal colonies armed only with crucifixes and iron faith. Now, the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are on an interstellar mission of mercy aboard Our Lady of Impossible Constellations, a living, breathing ship which seems determined to develop a will of its own.

When the order receives a distress call from a newly-formed colony, the sisters discover that the bodies and souls in their care – and that of the galactic diaspora – are in danger. And not from void beyond, but from the nascent Central Governance and the Church itself.”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Our Lady of Endless Worlds series. I borrowed this audiobook from Audible.com.

Thoughts: I listened to this on audiobook and wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator. She was a bit breathless and too urgent sounding for me. However, that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story. This was an intriguing short sci-fi story with some unique settings.

The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita travel on a living and breathing ship through the stars and provide assisstant to different colonies where they can. Sometimes this help is in the form of medical assistance, and sometimes it is officiating weddings and births. They are fine with their role. However, then many things happen at once to shake up the lives of the sisters. One of their Order decides to choose a different life path, they find out Central Governance is sending a priest to update them on new politics, and a colony that they just helped starts to break out in a horrible virus. The sisters want to do what they can to help, but the Central Governance has different plans.

Initially, I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of the different sisters. However, about a quarter of the way through, this wasn’t an issue any more. I ended up loving these sisters and the living ship they traveled on. I also loved this strange world of living ships and distant space colonies. Additionally, I enjoyed the idea of a holy order being helpful and providing support and assistance to others, but not wanting to be involved in power and politics.

I loved the way this book ended, and by the end wanted to spend more time with these sisters on their missions through the outer reaches of space. This was easy to follow and listen to, and I loved both the characters and some of the creative elements in here.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this short sci-fi audiobook. I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator, so I will probably get the second book in the series in ebook format to read. This had some unique sci-fi elements and some intriguing different subjects; living ships, medicine, politics, religion, and a person’s life mission. I look forward to reading the next book in this series and also have Rather’s “A Season of Monstrous Conceptions” on my list to read.