Sergeant Sanda Greeve wakes alone in the medical bay of a strange ship. Worse, it's an enemy ship and the only other inhabitant is the sentient artificial intelligence who runs the ship, The Light of Berossus, aka Bero. And that's not the worst news she's about to hear. Bero shows her that Ada Prime (Sanda's home planet) and Icarion (their enemy) have both vanished from the galaxy, blown up 230 years ago during the war that left Sanda wounded. Sanda had been in stassis in a life pod until Bero, who has been alone for years, found her.
On Ada Prime, in the months leading up to that devastating event, Sanda's brother Biran is desparate to find out what happened to Sanda after she disappeared during a space battle. He's just been officially made a Keeper - a member of an elite group who control the technological knowledge that allowed humans to travel across space - and uses the power that comes with his new role both to try and find his sister but also to try and broker peace with the Icarions. His efforts reveal a schism in the Keeper ranks and perhaps a much larger worry than war with the Icarions.
I'm not going to say much more about the plot as there were some great twists and turns in this epic SF novel that I did not see coming and I don't want to spoil it for any of you. I will say this was a fast, engrossing, and even emotional read. Sanda and Biran are each heartbroken, of course, but equally interesting from an emotional standpoint was Bero. I've read a fair number of science fiction stories with AI ships, but what made this one stand out was how the author delved into the trauma that Bero has experienced and how that trauma impacts him and influences the decisions he makes.
Whoa! Have to stop myself again or I'll reveal too much. Read this. It's good.