Book Review: Redsight

There are some elements of this cover that I love, like the snake, and the room she's in, but I didn't click with how tactus is drawn or the character's face.

 Redsight by Meredith Mooring is a science fantasy/space opera. It came on my radar because I was hoping to find books by authors with disabilities. Meredith Mooring is blind, as is her main character, which I thought would lead to a unique reading experience. (She has a blog post about being an author who is blind here.)

As a side note, I used to work for a non-profit that dealt with donated corneas (the clear part at the front of your eye, where a contact lens sits) and getting them to patients who needed them. Through that job, I learned that there are all sorts of types of blindness and levels of sight someone can have; the term "blind" not an all or nothing situation. I'm going to refer to Korinna as being blind here for ease of communication, but some might prefer low-vision or vision-impaired.

Redsight follows a red priestess, Korinna, who has always believed she is the worst trainee of her cohort. Red seers are blind, but can tap into the universe's power (tactus) to "see" (think Toph from ATLA) and navigate the stars. When Korinna graduates, she is thrust into a prestigious position as the navigator of a planet-sized ship. An advisor on board, Litia, is strange--Korinna can see her face perfectly clearly, unlike anyone or anything before. However, Litia has a secret and a plan of her own. 

Something I liked about Redsight was that it made it so seamless for a blind person such as Korinna to move around the ships, even when she was the only person with that need on a plant-sized ship. Because with technology that advanced, why wouldn't you make Braille (called tactile script) available everywhere? Why wouldn't you have communication tech that works for everyone? It made so much sense and I loved it. I also liked how the limited visual descriptions from Korinna made the other sense descriptions feel important, instead of how in other books they're mentioned more for ambiance than information. I also liked the relationship of red, black, and white priestesses to each other, and how one could not be dominant over the others.

Something I wasn't as fond of in the book was the body horror element of the magic system. I love that there was a consequence for magic, but I couldn't really vibe with the number of times Korinna's fingernails fell off. I don't care if there was magical healing, losing fingernails is a no from me. (It got to be like that in Gideon the Ninth for me. Despite all the good stuff in there, the gore crossed a threshold I didn't know I had.)

You'll enjoy this book if you enjoyed Gideon the Ninth (Sapphic, science fantasy, blood/body magic), if you want to read from a vision-impaired perspective, and if you want to see how non-visual descriptions can really stand out. This book is not for you if you're not looking for a romantic subplot, if you don't do well with literary blood/gore, or if you are looking for a space opera without magic.


Have you read Redsight? What about other books from authors who navigate the world differently from the majority of people? Let's discuss in the comments!