Also In This Series

The Diamond Deep

What if a woman as strong and as complex as Eva Perón began her life as a robot repair assistant threatened by a powerful peacekeeping force that wants to take all she has from her? The discovery ship, Creative Fire, is on its way home from a multi-generational journey. But home is nothing like the crew expected. They have been gone for generations, and the system they return to is home to technologies and riches beyond their wildest dreams. But they are immediately oppressed and relegated to the lowest status imaginable, barely able to interact with the technologies and people of the star station where they dock, the Diamond Deep. Ruby Martin and her partner, Joel North, must find a way to learn what they need to know and to become more than they have ever been if they are to find a way to save their people. From the Trade Paperback edition.

In this unappealing second half of a space opera duology (after The Creative Fire) based loosely on the life of Evita Perón, Cooper bites off far more than she can chew, muddling her original saga of overcoming oppression with a first-contact narrative that falls completely flat. The bickering factions on the damaged generation ship Creative Fire have reached a compromise. There are still pockets of resistance, especially among the laboring reds, but thanks to Ruby Martin&’s selfless leadership and the aid of the ship&’s AI, the ship is integrated and its inhabitants are working as a cohesive group. Reaching their home system in a functioning ship turns out to be a simple task, though, compared with trying to understand the differences that generations apart have created between the ship&’s inhabitants and those on their originating planet of Adiamo. Stilted language, a one-track plot, and Ruby&’s distinct lack of Evita&’s talent for leadership and politics make this limp novel one to miss.

—From Publishers Weekly, Agent: Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Agency.

I loved The Diamond Deep. Excellent writing, fabulous story, and an emotional punch that leaves you wishing that Cooper wrote faster. Damned fine storytelling.

—J. A. Pitts, author of Forged in Fire

Cooper makes her real-life model, Argentina’s Evita Perón, a clear presence while declining to be mindlessly constrained by her inspiration. Interestingly for a genre that often glorifies “lifeboat rules” and contrived hard choices, Cooper’s protagonists err on the side of mercy; violence has its place but they do their best to bring change through law. Similarly the studied indifference of the rich and powerful to the weak and poor is condemned, not praised. A sequel to 2012’s The Creative Fire, this is a worthy conclusion to Ruby’s story.

—RT Book Reviews

What [it] does, and does well, is marry the character-driven focus of Cooper’s writing with an intriguing protagonist, a well thought out setting and spins a fascinating story. I most definitely want to read the second volume of Ruby’s Song.

—SF Signal

Cooper puts a science fiction spin on the life of Eva Perón in this fast-paced, teen-friendly series starter.

—Publisher's Weekly

[A] wonderful work of social science fiction.

—Kirkus Reviews

Readers will admire Ruby’s resolve and ability in this dystopian thriller.

—VOYA

An intriguing protagonist, a well thought out setting, and…a fascinating story. I most definitely want to read the second volume of Ruby’s Song.

—SF Signal