The sequel to Trouble in the Stars, this is another wildly fun space romp with engaging human and alien characters whose relationships are the real heart of the story. Shapeshifter Trouble is finally settling in to life aboard the cargo ship Hindsight with their new best friend, Electra, who had been taken from her home as a baby and raised at a military academy. No longer a loyal StarLeague cadet, Electra now wants to rescue the other child cadets training to become lethal weapons, like her. She plans to infiltrate the academy as a senior student and help the entire student body escape.
When Electra goes missing, however, Trouble goes undercover at the academy, even though they are still trying to learn what it means like to act like a human. Not only that, but a rescued baby shapeshifter has come along and is causing trouble of its own.
Meanwhile, something deadly and mysterious is creeping in from the edges of space….
Trouble, as in the first volume, may change gender when they change shape, although they spend most of this book as a human boy. The themes of found family and finding oneself, however, are even stronger in this volume, which should resonate with many a queer reader.
As I said about the first volume, too, fans of Star Trek and Star Wars will love this story, but what makes it really shine (as with some of the best Star Trek episodes) is not the interstellar action or the aliens (though they are both creatively done), but the reflections on what it means to be human.
