Twelve-year-old Glory Brown is excited about finally training as a junior spherinaut at the Parliamentarium, following in her mother’s footsteps as an explorer of the Outersphere, a region of space far from Earth. But social challenges and the lingering effects of a curse from volume 1 of this series present obstacles—and that’s before Glory is implicated in the theft of top-secret spherinautical charts. Other things are going wrong at the Parliamentarium, too, and Glory and her friends begin to suspect that they haven’t seen the last of an old enemy. How far are each of them willing to bend the Parliamentarium’s rules to figure out what’s going on and try to stop it?
As in the first volume, this book blends a science fiction setting with magic, curses, creatures, tools, and costuming that feel drawn from the fantasy genre, creating something compelling and original. Glory is a hero of cleverness and kindness, although she doesn’t shirk from action and excitement. Her “mazyheadedness” continues to be shown as a part of how she thinks and acts; the term refers to a kind of neurodivergence that seems akin to ADHD. Glory’s neurodivergence is again framed as a difference, not a deficit, although in this volume she expresses more awareness that some people may view her negatively because of it. The book also looks at prejudices based on people’s places of origin, but the social themes are woven together with personal ones as Glory grapples with the weight of legacy and the degree to which she can trust both herself and others.
The queerness in the book is minimal but clear. Marcus has two moms, whom we finally meet, although they are not integral to the plot. Two staff members at the school are nonbinary (like author Alby C. Williams), but appear only briefly.
Readers should start with the first volume, Where There Be Monsters, and then pick up this one to continue Glory’s highly recommended story.
All of the characters are Black.
