Review: The Blighted Stars

February 8, 2023Leave a comment

Title: The Blighted Stars (May 23, 2023)
Author: Megan E. O’Keefe
Pages: 544
Series: The Devoured Worlds #1

While I was initially drawn in by the incredible cover art, I was pleased to find that the book itself is terrific too!

The main plot centers on the mining of earth-like worlds for a precious mineral named relkatite. Unfortunately, the unintended aftereffect of the mining process is a devastating fungal blight that effectively destroys the planet. Not ideal!

We’ve also got 3D printers capable of spitting out human bodies with a neural map/mind in tow. Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Sometimes the body misprints. Sometimes the mind cracks after you’ve been printed out too many times, or – gasp! – your mind is printed into two bodies at once.

O’Keefe dives into the unintended consequences of technological progress and humanity’s insatiable push to over-consume our planetary resources as we move throughout the cosmos.

I’m often overwhelmed with sprawling space operas, but the limited narrative scope of The Blighted Stars allows a few central characters and their motivations to stay top of mind. The character development is well-done and the swift pacing kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

Overall, The Blighted Stars is an exciting start to a promising new series. If the cover art stays cool and the story stays compelling, I’ll certainly be along for the ride.

★★★★¼

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Light of the Jedi

January 29, 2021Leave a comment

Title: Light of the Jedi (2021)
Author: Charles Soule
Pages: 381
Series: The High Republic #1, Star Wars Canon (Series Tracker)

Charles Soule has the enviable (or perhaps unenviable) task of breaking in The High Republic, a new era of Star Wars storytelling. He does so in an admirable way with Light of the Jedi. A time of peace and prosperity in the galaxy far, far away quickly comes to a violent end and this book racks up an insanely high body count.

The story itself is a bit sprawling and unfocused, but there are some intriguing new characters, plenty of Jedi action, and a batch of ferocious antagonists never before seen in the Star Wars universe (think the War Boys of Mad Max). I’ll happily seek out more stories in this universe, but I’d say this was a solid but somewhat unspectacular welcome to the new era.

★★★¼

Review: Nophek Gloss

December 30, 20201 Comment

Title: Nophek Gloss (2020)
Author: Essa Hansen
Pages: 480
Series: The Graven #1 (Series Tracker)

Caiden is on a quest for vengeance after his family’s subjugation and slaughter. His anger and hatred are unrelenting. His desire to quench his thirst for vengeance fuels the main quest of this novel. Caiden’s journey to enact revenge is brutal but not without a beating heart. Whether blood-related or found-family, his love for his family drives everything.

Exciting, Inventive, and packed with imaginative ideas – Hansen’s debut space opera is the coolest novel I’ve read in some time. It’s hard science fiction at its finest.

My thanks to Orbit for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Bonds of Brass

January 31, 2020January 31, 2020Leave a comment

Title: Bonds of Brass (April 7, 2020)
Author: Emily Skrutskie
Pages: 304
Series: The Bloodright Trilogy #1 (Series Tracker)

This was a fun ride. I’m sometimes overwhelmed by sprawling space operas, so this interplanetary story with a small but mighty cast of characters was a welcome relief. I drew several parallels to Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series (apart from RR’s expansive cast) – propulsive pacing, an absorbing narrative, and a charming underdog looking to topple his subjugators. Ettian’s personal journey and evolution of loyalty is quite compelling. Author Emily Skrutskie unspools his story slowly and pulls on his allegiances from several different directions.

The tone of Skrutskie’s prose is casual yet sharp, which is always a nice combination and makes for a pleasant reading experience. I tend to gloss over extended space battle scenes, but her descriptions of space flight and aerial dogfights are vivid and engrossing.

Despite a lull in pacing and some rushed story beats in the back half of the novel, I enjoyed this to the end. I’ll be interested to see how the future books play out, especially with what unfolded in the final few pages.

★★★★ out of 5

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Master & Apprentice

November 20, 2019November 20, 20191 Comment

Title: Master & Apprentice (2019)
Author: Claudia Gray
Pages: 400
Series: Star Wars Canon (Series Tracker)

My knowledge of the Star Wars canon outside of the films is extremely limited. The dawn of Disney+ and the excellent debut of The Mandalorian have sparked my interest to see what else was out there in this faraway galaxy… I’ve never read any fan fiction or media tie-in novels, so it was a bit of an adjustment to read new stories about established characters like the Jedis Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Author Claudia Gray does some excellent character work in this novel – she adds depth to existing characters while introducing several new characters to the story. Each individual is given agency, clear motivations, and satisfying arcs across the board. I particularly enjoyed the dynamic Gray establishes between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Their seemingly incompatible personality traits and frequent head-butting paired with their respect and mutual admiration for one another made for a nicely nuanced portrayal of master and apprentice.

I had a few minor quibbles about the use of modern day language disrupting my immersion and some dragging in the middle of the book, but all in all I found this to be an engaging and enjoyable interplanetary adventure story.

★★★¾ out of 5

Review: Ancestral Night

November 9, 2018November 9, 2018Leave a comment

Title: Ancestral Night (March 5, 2019)
Author: Elizabeth Bear
Pages: 512
Series: White Space #1 (Series Tracker)

My first foray into Elizabeth Bear’s work was her excellent 2017 fantasy novel The Stone in the Skull, which I enjoyed immensely. I knew that Bear is known for writing in a multitude of genres, but I wasn’t prepared for the genre whiplash I experienced when I picked up the space opera Ancestral Night. The book follows Haimey Dz, a space salvager who uncovers a piece of ancient alien technology that, in the wrong hands, could be catastrophic for the galaxy at large. …lo and behold, space pirates are hot on Haimey’s trail.

This is really sharp, smart science fiction that goes deep on the details and philosophy of its world and Haimey herself. Bear’s vision for the future of space is so intricate and sophisticated that a lot of it flew way over my head. Tonally, it’s quite cold and calculated, which made it difficult for me to form lasting emotional connections to the characters. I enjoyed learning about Haimey’s backstory and witnessing her connection to her shipmates, but those moments of humanity seemed fleeting. I think the plot description makes this sound like an exciting space adventure, but I found it to be quite slow, contemplative, and unevenly-paced overall. The prose is dense and difficult to penetrate at times, with many of the scientific elements pushing well beyond my realm of understanding.

I could certainly see this winning some awards because it really feels like next-level science fiction and more advanced than most of what I’ve read in the genre. Personally, I wasn’t able to connect with the story, but I come away from the reading experience even more impressed with Bear’s skill as a writer and would not be surprised if others enjoyed this more than I did.

★★★ out of 5

My thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Falling Free

April 20, 2018April 20, 2018Leave a comment

Title: Falling Free (1987)
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Pages: 320
Series: Vorkosigan Saga #1 Chronological; #4 Publication (Series Tracker)

After starting Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion series, I’m now dipping my toe into her Vorkosigan Saga. Falling Free is the first book in the series when reading in internal-chronological order.

Even though it was written thirty years ago, it still holds up and doesn’t show its age. I was never hooked by the story, but it moves quickly enough and I was consistently amused by the idea of genetically engineered humans with four arms floating around a space station. This is one of the lower rated entries of the series, and the next book is fairly short, so I think I will see how I like that one before making a decision about whether to commit to the rest of the series.

★★½ out of 5

Review: Iron Gold

January 30, 2018January 30, 20181 Comment

Title: Iron Gold (2018)
Author: Pierce Brown
Pages: 624
Series: Red Rising #4 (Series Tracker)

I have fond memories of the first Red Rising novel, but was less enamored with the subsequent two volumes. Because of this, I was hesitant to embrace Iron Gold, the first book in a new, tacked-on trilogy. Once I began, however, I found this to be a wholly worthwhile addition to Darrow’s story that breathes fresh life into the overall saga. This is popcorn sci-fi of the highest order.

Now utilizing multiple POVs to expand the scope of the story, author Pierce Brown tells four unique narratives, each engrossing in their own way. Brown does a good job balancing the POVs, but sometimes the story feels too expansive, with more characters and backstories than I could keep straight, even with a handy, inset character list. There’s certainly a heavier focus on house politics and family dynamics than I remember in previous Red Rising novels and I enjoyed that more than the bombastic, interplanetary space battles that featured so heavily in the previous two books.

Overall, Iron Gold is sprawling, electrifying, bloody, and represents a welcome return to form for the series. There is plenty of set-up for future novels, while featuring enough satisfying closure to contained storylines to be effective. I’m excited for what comes next!

★★★★¼ out of 5

Review: Children of Time

November 21, 2017October 11, 20211 Comment

Title: Children of Time (2015)
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Pages: 600

More often than not, I’m left feeling that a book with a cool/intriguing concept fails to properly deliver on said concept. Children of Time is an exception to this trend. I was blown away by how masterfully Tchaikovsky executes this evolutionary tale.

I was immediately hooked on the story, which builds and builds as a spider species on an alien planet evolves across millennia, while the last remnants of the human race exist in a sort of suspended stagnation just trying to survive in deep space. The narrative is told in a very straightforward way, with propulsive pacing and a tremendous amount of momentum. It’s engrossing from start to finish with few lulls along the way. It easily joins the ranks of my favorite science fiction novels. Read this!

★★★★¾ out of 5
✪ SPECULATIVE SHELF STARRED BOOK