Note: Thank you to Booksirens, Sooner Started Press, and author Sarah Branson for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I usually try to avoid joining a series of books in the middle. I’ve done it, and I’ve enjoyed the books I’ve read enough to decide to read the other books that led up to that point in the series since I enjoyed it so much. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with North Country. When I first saw it available, it indicated that it was not part of a series. However, Sarah Branson penned four books in her Pirates of New Earth collection which is a precursor to this book, and sets up the background of the setting as well as several of the main characters.

It is the year 2372. The Earth was ravaged by climate change and the ensuing violence. Kat Wallace is the Master Commander of the Bosch Pirate Nation which uses the drug Glitter as an energy source, as well as trafficking it to collect markers – the newest form of currency in the world. Having risen from Thrall (slave) to Master Commander, Kat has made it the mission of Bosch to stop the trafficking of thralls. When two of her troopers approach her about an extraction mission in North Country, where Kat is originally from, she can’t resist the temptation to settle a few old scores.

Her closest friend in Bosch, Carisa, has a degenerative illness of her nerves which promises to cripple her in the future. Carisa is hungry for one last adventure and forces Kat to take her along. Carisa also has some ghosts in her past that she would like to confront while she is still able. Flossie Porter, one of the troopers involved in the extraction mission, is still trying to prove herself as she attempts to rise out of the shadow of her late father who was a wealthy thrall trafficker. She’s taken on a new identity, but Kat and Carisa know who she is. Finally, there is Diamond Miata. Diamond is dreaming of power and riches but is being dragged down by her family who expect her to continually bail them out of trouble.

The four women and a flight engineer set off for North Country. Kat knows the culture, even though she hasn’t been there in more than twenty years. It’s quite patriarchal and misogynistic. Unlike more developed areas of the planet, residents of North Country live a backward existence of sorts. There’s not much in terms of education or medical care to be had, especially for women.

The story was a good one as each of the women is confronting a ghost of their past. The problem was so much of the story relied on information in previous books. The author did a significant number of information dumps about the background of each character, but it still felt incomplete. If I had read those earlier books, I likely would have rated this four stars.

As it is, with what the story is here, I found many of the women’s actions to be superficial and unbelievable at times. They are here on a mission and yet Kat spends half a day cleaning up the cluttered home that used to be hers. Carisa goes back to wait with the flight engineer, only to have to make a tough decision to save the engineer’s life. It’s the kind of book that’s good for people who are invested in the characters as they confront the ghosts of their past and mostly achieve resolutions.

I didn’t hate North Country and gave it three stars. If you’ve read the other books in the series, you could probably add another one to it. If this type of dystopian fiction appeals to you, I’d recommend starting with the original Pirates of New Earth series before grabbing this one. While intriguing, I can’t say it motivated me to do so.