By-the-book military-SF with a dash of chaste romance and an odd infusion of high fantasy.
In Hausler’s SF novel, a human soldier finds unexpected romance with a human-alien doctor after surviving exposure to an alien superweapon.
By the 54th century, humanity has been much altered by contact with the blue-skinned alien Cybrinthians, who arrived as planetary-disaster refugees, bringing advanced technology. This, in turn, triggered the first Inter-Stellar War between human separatists and the human-Cybrinthian alliance,leaving Earth lifeless. Space-based survivors—the Federal Alliance—rebounded across the cosmos. Lately, they’ve endured new hostilities from the ambitious alien Gnorac Confederation, armed with a new neutrino cannon (or “N-cannon”). Human Sgt. John Wayne “JT” Thomas is the sole survivor of cannon devastation that destroyed a fleet, and scientists are amazed at his good health. A part-Cybrinthian medic, Aurelle Gifford, ministers to him, and they discover a strong mutual attraction. JT’s unique physiology makes him a prize research subject for how to counter the N-cannon. Partway through the narrative, an entirely different setting emerges featuring heroic-fantasy elements, such as dragons, elves, knights, and talking trees. In the far future, such mythic stuff is real, with fantasy folk using spaceships to cross over from their spirit realm. When debris from JT’s shattered warship falls onto fae forests, the spirit residents take notice. Readers may find Hausler’s cross-pollination of low-intensity sword-and-sorcery fantasy with military-service SF to be a peculiar brew. In addition, the nasty Gnoracs aren’t very well fleshed out, even though a substantial subplot is devoted to the plight of one; instead they come off like Soviets or East Germans from a Cold War–era thriller. The author’s affection for armed forces comes through loud and clear, however, with stirring troop movements and massive space-battle set pieces. Quite a bit of questing and questioning separates these sections, but overall, the straightforward storyline proceeds with minimal complication.
By-the-book military-SF with a dash of chaste romance and an odd infusion of high fantasy.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2023
ISBN: 9798989612611
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Federal Service Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2024
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
Epic stakes, palace intrigue, and plenty of magic: Stark’s newest series is off to a solid start.
A romantasy mash-up of Crave (2020) and Fourth Wing (2023) from the bestselling author of A Court This Cruel and Lovely (2023).
When an undead stranger shows up on Arvelle’s doorstep, he offers her an impossible choice: Agree to kill the emperor, or watch her brother die. The bad news is that the emperor is an ancient and very powerful vampire protected by an elite company of soldiers. The good news is that Arvelle is a champion fighter herself—or at least she used to be. And, left with a choice that is no choice, she sets out for the capital to do the impossible. This is, on the whole, an engaging read. The Rome-inspired setting is interesting, its magic system is well-defined, and the politics of the emperor’s court is a nice complement to the action in the arena. Arvelle is a complex but sympathetic protagonist and Stark surrounds her with characters who also feel real—most importantly, the boy who broke her heart and the emperor’s sadistic son. The pacing is a bit slow at the beginning, but readers who get past the first third of the book will be amply rewarded. Fans who come to romantasy mainly for the love story may be slightly disappointed that the romance elements mostly stay in the background, while other readers may appreciate the emphasis on the action (and, of course, there are more installments to come). Stark has been building a dedicated following since she self-published Speak of the Demon in 2021, and her Kingdom of Lies series has been huge on TikTok. This author clearly understands the demands of her chosen genre: She knows how to hit the tropes while introducing intriguingly novel details and maintaining suspense.
Epic stakes, palace intrigue, and plenty of magic: Stark’s newest series is off to a solid start.Pub Date: Dec. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780063436718
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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