There are plenty of sci-fi/spec-fic novels that glorify rebellion and the fight for freedom from tyranny. Hell, one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time is founded on the premise. We need those stories because there are plenty of battles to fight in our own galaxy – right here, right now – and if we can’t see the spark that will light the fire that will burn our enemy down, no matter how tiny, how flickering, it’s hard to mobilize, hard to persist, and impossible to win.

But there’s another side to rebellion. The dark side. The ugly side. The cruel side. Because rebellion is a war, and like any other war, if you want to win, someone is going to have to compromise. Someone will have to be willing to compromise. Cassian Andor was that person in Rogue One; he shot a man in an alley, took the mission with Jyn (change of heart aside), and agreed to many other things so Mon Mothma could wear white and Bail Organa could remain a paragon. It was thankless, cruel work and it killed him; but in the end, he died a hero’s death.

Not everyone does. Not everyone can. What happens to the unredeemed? To the irredeemable? That’s the difficult question Laura Lam and Elizabeth May ask in their upcoming space opera, Seven Devils.

The Tholosian Empire is perennially at war with the rest of the galaxy – conquering, pillaging, and exterminating. Most of its citizens are grown rather than born, assigned to a caste, and programmed by Oracle (an AI) to obey the Archon’s commands. The few people born free are relegated to poverty and too busy trying to survive to fight. There is a resistance, but it’s small and resource poor, surviving on brains, scraps, and the willingness of a very few to do what is necessary.

One of those is Eris, a defector from the Tholosian ranks, but she has dangerous secrets. So does her mission partner Clo, and each of the women they add to their team when a mission goes bad: Nyx, Ariadne, and Rhea.

I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but when we get to the moment, let’s say that each of these women has a chance to further the aims of the rebellion and save a friend but at the cost of lives. A lot of lives – some of them even innocent. They could walk away. They could absolve themselves of responsibility, make it someone else’s problem, and disappear. But they don’t. Because the devil they know is worse and someone has to do the hard work – the dirty work – to stop that devil at any price.

It’s interesting it should be a group of women making that decision. I do appreciate that unlike many sci-fi authors, Lam and May have looked ahead to a future where women serve equally, are just as strong and capable in combat as men without falling into the typical tropes of heartless assassin or distressed damsel awakening to her power.

Each of the characters in Seven Devils is distinct with her own character, personality, backstory, and soul. The writers acknowledge that, in addition to the physical and moral burdens Eris, Clo, Nix, Ariadne, and Rhea must bear, they also (as women have done across the centuries) bear the burden of the emotional work necessary to propel a revolution to successful conclusion.

The men they encounter, with one exception, need to be led and propped up, lest they fall prey to the Oracle and their Tholosian programming. The women make their way on their own or with other women, not always in agreement, sometimes outright hating one another, but understanding that there are some things that are more important than the individual.

I also want to give a nod to the LGBTQIA+ rep in Seven Devils. There’s a full spectrum and in this time we’re living in, I very much appreciated it. I also appreciated that it was integral to the characters but not to the story itself. Sometimes being queer is just part of who someone is and not their entire identity, the sum total of who they are and what they’re fighting for. We need more of those stories, and I’m very happy to add this one to my shelf.

Plus, there’s lots of fighting and blowing stuff up.

Seven Devils by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May is scheduled to release on August 4th from DAW Books. I highly recommend putting in your preorder now.