A breezy space opera with some colorful details, although it might have benefited from even more.
An alien society of powerful beings must protect their home from a venomous foe in Sun’s debut SF novel.
On the planet Ohum, young Ike Skyler falls in love with Sola, the daughter of Theo, who rules over the Godians, a people who live in relative peace and have special abilities. Theo, for instance, creates planets in the Milky Way, where he plans to put his latest project: Earth. After Ike becomes his son-in-law, Theo tasks him with overseeing “all the little details” of Earth’s construction. This isn’t always straightforward; sometimes Theo and his team grab resources from other planets, whose inhabitants tend to respond negatively and aggressively. As Earth gradually comes to fruition, it and its new humans created by a Godian named Hana, seem to be doing well. So well, in fact, that the reptilian Sauras, who struggle with famine and disease on their home planet of Baroca, decide to try to take Earth for themselves. Ike must lead the Godians into battle against them despite the fact that they’re hopelessly outnumbered. Many of Sun’s descriptions shine, from Ohum’s sky (“a permanent lilac, changing hues from pink to purple and midnight blue according to weather or time”) to its trio of suns, each rising and setting for a third of every 15-hour day. Some particulars, however, are sadly lacking, regarding items such as Ike’s speed cruiser. The best scenes involve Earth’s creation; it’s a treat to read about Ike and others producing such familiar elements as “mountains that will erupt fire and lava” and the planet’s four distinct layers; this makes parts of the narrative predictable but no less entertaining. Sharp, multihued, uncredited comic book–style artwork further enlivens the pages; notable images portray the hulking, crablike beings called Rokaries and the Sauras as well as a spaceship battle. Although the author seems to have a series planned, this book effectively wraps its story up.
A breezy space opera with some colorful details, although it might have benefited from even more.Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781088106792
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Paradace Corporation
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.
After purchasing a dilapidated, century-old starship called the Destitute, Torian Razner discovers that the moss covering it is, in fact, a deeply sarcastic sentient computer with abandonment issues.
Torian’s sister, Celise, is dying. Determined to save her life by getting her to a distant planet with air she can breathe, Torian ignores her former captain Amelia Perrosk’s warning that it’s an impossible task (along with any romantic feelings she might have for Amelia). Using the only ionite bars she has to her name, Torian purchases an ancient, moss-covered alien starship that appears to be on its last legs, so to speak. She hardly expected the moss to be a sentient computer or for it to hold a century-old grudge against its former alien captain. Moss quickly proves itself to be acerbic, intelligent, and rightly angry after being having been left behind for 100 years by its former captain. The two form a reluctant and surprising alliance, Torian proving to Moss that not all captains are “dog-turd fungus,” and they both gradually evolve into the best versions of themselves, human or otherwise. It’s obvious from the early pages that Thorne has crafted a story tailored to fans of Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series and Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries. Falling somewhere between the two, this is a delightful mashup of romance, found family, and a touch of violence as Moss grapples with its feelings about its former captain and the unexpected kindness that Torian shows. Sweet without being overly saccharine, it’s a book for readers who want the adventure that comes with the vastness of outer space without its harsher realities.
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414144
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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