The Stars Now Unclaimed - Drew Williams
This was another NetGalley book that I was approved for. As with previous books, I was given a digital review copy of this in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was drawn to it (once again) by the cover and the cover alone. I really didn't know much about the book, synopsis or author. I wasn't even really sure which genre it sat in!
Hang on... that sounds familiar! In fact its almost word for word what I've written about a couple of the NetGalley books now! I'm starting to see a theme here, maybe I should read a little bit more about them before applying on the strength of a pretty cover!
The cover made me think of something like HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy so I dived straight in :)
We follow a female fighter pilot on her journey throughout the Galaxy. She is an agent for The Justified and is working to 'collect' and save children with abilities from across the Galaxy in order to save the Universe. Hot on her heels are a zealot race called The Pax who are fighting for the same children to use them in their legions of soldiers to fight and wipe out all other races in the universe. She picks up Esa and some extras along the way to fight and save the universe!
The Positives:
• The world. I LOVED the world that this was based in. The fact that its a universe with all different kinds of species and planets just drew me in. I liked hearing how the planets differed as well. The Sanctum that The Justified reside in is fabulous when describes as well. I just wish we got more of it!
• The characters (for the most part). I enjoyed how the characters were written and the attitudes they had. Having AI with such strong characters and personalities really spoke to me as well. I can't say I've ever read a book where my favourite character was a spaceship before! The Schaz character definitely spoke to me and I really enjoyed the quirky and sarcastic twinge that she had. I enjoyed Jane as a whole and the mercenary character she played. That being said, for a good portion of the book there was a niggle at the back of my head that the hard ass, don't let anyone in persona felt forced. I cannot review this book and not mention The Preacher - there is a Robot Priest for crying out loud!
• The 'science' and 'space' parts of the book. I was originally going to put this as the plot but I don't think you can really - its a very specific part of the book. I think its probably more related to the world building but its hard to put it in a specific bracket. basically all the technology and space information and pieces of the story around them. The Pulse and its effects, the consequences of it, how it came about - I just loved it. It intrigued me and I would love to read more about it all. I'd love a prequel telling us the more in depth the story of The Pulse.
• It was fun!
The Negatives
• The world building. Yes, I know, I've done the same thing again that I keep doing in reviews where I have the same thing in the positives as the negatives! While I loved the world, I just didn't think there was enough of it. There is a lot of talk about the size of the universe and the travel across the universe, but there are so few planets and species actually discussed or even mentioned in passing. I would have liked a bit more of this in and I'm really hoping that Book2 (If there is one!) covers this more. I'd like to see a variety of species, not just AI and humanoid or Hybrid AI/Human.
• The fight scenes. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the fight scenes in and of themselves, they were well written and easy to follow and not get lost in. HOWEVER, they seemed to go on forever and at times it was fight scene into another fight scene into another fight scene. Particularly the Pax battle. I didn't get lost in terms of what was happening but I did get lost in terms of time. It almost felt like the battle had last weeks in the storyline.
• The characters - I think I do this in every review now. Characters are such a subjective and emotive subject when it comes to personal opinion on them that I think everyone ends up with characters they like and don't like. In this particular book I just did not like Esa. I know she is supposed to be the moody, irritating teenager, but while I felt like the author got that aspect well written, I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of depth to her character. Considering her position in the plot I felt like she could have been fleshed out a lot more and made more of a rounder character. Aside from this I felt like the peripheral characters that weren't Preacher, Esa, Schaz and Jane were fairly forgettable and very 'Meh'.
Overall this was a 2.5* out of 5 for me. It was a fun, enjoyable read and I will possibly pick up book 2 if there is one but it didn't blow me away and the length and quantity of the fight scenes made this a laborious read at times.

https://readinglife342128355.wordpress.com/2018/07/16/digital-review-the-stars-now-unclaimed/

A dramatic science fiction adventure, packed with action and suspense, that still finds moments to make you stop and think, The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams is a very enjoyable read. Set in a future where a man made Pulse has pushed back technology on many planets, the book follows the adventures of Jane Kamali , a soldier who has been sent out to find children with extraordinary abilities, rescue them and take them back to the mysterious Sanctuary, where they will learn to harness their powers and may be able to save the galaxy. On one such recruiting mission she finds Esa, a young girl with extraordinary telekinetic abilities, but she is not the only one looking, the warlike Pax are also on the hunt, and if they cannot capture her, they will destroy her.
Fast paced and full of drama , this is a real page turner of a book. I loved the idea of the Pulse, and the fact that it has different effects on different worlds , this was something new, that I hadn't seen before. The biggest strengths of the book are the characters, they are really well designed and develop so well as the story unfolds. The relationships between them are at the heart of this book, which also asks some interesting moral questions about the nature of war and conflict. Williams did a really spectacular job with the non human characters, particularly Schas, the AI aboard Jane's ship, and the Preacher, a robot who is part of a dying breed since the Pulse has set technology so far back.
From the first page, the action is almost not stop, though I did feel it dragged just a little in the middle of the book before picking back up for a very dynamic and exciting battle. While the book is complete in itself, it does leave the way open for more books set in this universe, and I for one look forward to reading them, there are so many interesting things that I want to know more about.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher,all opinions are my own

I loved the sound of this book when I saw the synopsis but sadly I think it just didn’t live up to the premise, for me anyway. I liked the idea of it, and the writing, but I just couldn’t keep myself interested in how everything was going. Really wanted to like this one, but it missed the mark for me.

Enjoyed this. Star Wars meets Guardians of the Galaxy was kind of how I summarise it. If you like either of those in print then this is probably right up your street. I wasn't blown away by the book but enjoyed it right through. Very grateful for the preview copy. 4 stars from me. As others have summarised you're not getting much character development but more of a blockbuster movie plot from fight sequence to fight sequence, which is no bad thing if that's what you're after! It had my imagination clearly picturing what was going on and I thought the world was well introduced/described throughout.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

Claimed to be for fans of Star Wars, Firefly, and The Expanse series this book was obviously going to grab my attention. After reading the premise I couldn’t grab the book sooner.

The Stars Now Unclaimed is set in the universe many years in the future when a phenomenon known as The Pulse, set out to create universal peace, accidentally destroyed next to all forms of technology and sent many civilisations back to the dark ages.
The story follows a soldier, part of the secret group known as The Justified, who has the duty of travelling the cosmos in search for gifted children as a means to bring the universe back to order. However nothing is ever easy as a ruthless group known as The Pax, unaffected by The Pulse, have set out to rule the galaxy by any means necessary.

I enjoyed this read. It has an interesting premise and I really liked the world that Williams has created. I see it as more of a hybrid of the work by James S. A. Corey and Becky Chambers.
The main story involves a sequence of space battles, one after another with some space travel in between so at times it got a little repetitive. Personally I didn’t mind this but I did find myself wishing the conflict would stop so that the story could continue. Also due to the battle heavy plot I feel like we didn’t get enough time to appreciate this setting Williams has created. A lot of the world and its history was informed to us quite directly and abruptly by the protagonist which is sometimes the problem with a first person narrative.

That aside I feel like the narrative worked quite well and the story flowed and was easy to follow. I was also very fond of the various secondary characters. I mean the space crafts themselves are characters with great personalities! Yet I wish we could have learned more about them, this again being a drawback of the first person narrative.

Overall, this “space opera” is action packed from start to finish and I am looking forward to see where the story goes from here.
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars

I wanted to love it, I tried to love it and I did get to the end. While I have no issue with the plot or characters, I struggled with how it was written. This is not always a bad thing; Sarah J Maas is another I clash with, and most love her.

A fun sci-fi adventure by Drew Williams. Children with unique gifts are recruited by Jane, an agent for Justified. They are used to stop another Pulse from sending everyone back to the Dark Ages. But Jane is tracked by extremists who believe they are the kings of the galaxy and will stop Jane at all costs. It's big and bold. Think Star Wars mixed with Star Trek.

The Stars Now Unclaimed IS a good space opera. If you’re in the mood for a book that is the equivalent of reading Star Wars, this may be for you. However, I personally prefer Star Wars on the screen, and while some elements of this novel were clearly developed and well thought through, there were a couple of things that just made it impossible for me to rate it a 3:

1. The plot, while developed, is basically a string of fight sequences. While some may love this, it just wasn’t for me. I wanted more substance from the plot, not just fight after fight that were basically all the same. By the third sequence, I just skimmed through. The only fight I really found interesting was the very last one, which was unfortunately rushed. I could have done with scrapping one of the earlier sequences and adding more meat to this one.
2. The protagonist constantly goes on and on and on about how big the galaxy is...yet there are only maybe 5 species mentioned? All of which are basically some super-evolved versions of animals you can find on earth? Yeah, I can’t quite buy that.
3. The characters aren’t that interesting. They’re not the worst I’ve ever read about by far, but they seemed a bit one dimensional. I.e. my name is spoiler and I’m a tough fighter who does nothing but fight and make snarky comments. I need more than that! We got a bit of vulnerability at the end, but I needed to see more of that so much earlier on.

I know it seems like this review is one massive rant of negativity, and I don’t want it to seem that way because it isn’t a bad book. It’s also worth bearing in mind that this is an advanced review copy - I have no clue if anything will change before its release in August, so this review may be completely inaccurate by then. But from my read of this version, I have to give it 2 stars, which are for books that don’t meet my expectations and struggle to keep my attention. It’s a good space opera but not at the level I expected from the synopsis.

I really enjoyed this: it took me longer than a book this size usually takes me to read, but there was a lot of detail in it that you need to 'get' to understand what's going on.
This has been compared to Firefly, Star Wars and some other science fiction stories and worlds, but I think it's a good story in its own right.
I really liked the main character - a female lead (who we don't learn the name of until near the end) who travels the universe after 'The Pulse" puts most planets back to the dark ages, to find children who have developed gifts because of this phenomenon. The Pax seem to be following her every move (I'm hoping the reason for this will be explained in the next instalment), and they're not good news (think mindless fascist zealots. If you're not with them, you're dead). The unnamed pilot/ soldier/ pilot has some great friends, who along with the telekinetic teen she saves at the beginning, must all work together to save their homeward. It's exciting stuff, believe me!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this fantastic book to read!

Jane is one of the Justified. In a world torn apart by chaos, she has to play her part in protecting it. This includes rescuing a reluctant teenager, and her mechanical sidekick, as they might have the strength to stop the newest threat.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slow-starter for me.
It opens with an unnamed agent of the Justified, dropping in on a relatively peaceful, and unevolved planet (there was "The Pulse" that knocked out advanced technology across the galaxy, in some spots worse than others).
The agent is working a job, and is methodical in her approach. As she is our narrator, it felt hard to connect, as she efficiently works out endurance, or social requirements, or wind speed for gun fire, etc. It is quite dry and analytical.
Then her peaceful little planet suddenly becomes the scene of a brutal battle. As one of the worst sects in the galaxy hunt for the special girl.
From there, everything picked up, and by half-way I was really enjoying it.

As the agent interacts with Barious (AI robot/religious leader), Esa (grumpy teen with superpowers) and Schez (spacecraft with attitude), she becomes more human and relatable.
An uneasy truce occurs, which slowly becomes friendship. Which, naturally, can lead to bickering and teasing, and can be awkwardly fun to follow.

I think throughout the story, the characters work so much better in a group, than individuals. Scenes on their own felt dull in comparison, and they lost their shine.

The story follows them, as they return to the Justified home world, in a race to protect against an unexpected danger.
There are a lot of fight scenes, which I thought were well described, and awesome.

I felt this book was unnecessarily long, and could have been compressed easily, without losing the story. There were sections that were repeated, and certain things stewed over, again and again. I did end up skimming those sections.

Overall, it's not a bad debut, and I would be interested in seeing where the series goes.

So this book as about space travel and starship and fighting. The main character is a woman called Jane, she is a person assigned to finding 'gifted' children amongst a galaxy full of planets and species vying for control.

The galaxy has been affected by something called The Pulse and it has affected entire worlds some more than others... Some have been punched back to pre electricity some barely touched and still have space Flight...

Jane finds her charge, a young girl named Esa. The world is attacked and they flee the planet back to Jane's Home world. On the way they meet friends and enemies.

So I enjoyed this book, it's well written and the characters are really cool. I find Esa annoying but since she's a teen it's understandable. There is a romance plot involved but it's really not that big of a deal.

Id have liked more world building... Or in this case galaxy building... And some back story for the MC but its not a massive deal breaker :)

As this is going to be the first in a series, it he's left a good amount of plot to continue the series without having a cliffhanger as such - that would mainly depend on a readers perspective.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So I was hoping I would get something like Ready Player One as that is one of my favorite books ever. What I got was.. Star Wars and fight scenes. That's basically it. I'm a biologist and I've always been fascinated by aliens. The millions of new species you can see in Star Wars, or City of a Thousand planets. The species described here seemed underwhelming and a bit unoriginal. Maybe I'm reading too much into it and I'm being influenced by all the space moves and books I've been reading and watching until now. I will definitely read it again. So maybe my review will change.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for this review.

Not knowing the main character's name for 3/4 of the book made for an interesting read when you have read the blurb and are waiting for that character to come into the story but that's an aside.

It took a little while for me to get into the book but I powered through and I am glad I did. I loved all the space battles and being able to see what the author was describing was easy with all of his detail. However there were times when the scene setting got in the way of the story and I almost found myself skipping text to get to the point.
There is no insta love (which usually annoys me) and the characters and their motives are all clear and concise.

I really enjoyed this and actually recommended it to my husband who is a MASSIVE sci fi geek and kept asking if I had finished it yet!

Really enjoyed this book. Science Fiction can be tough to write while keeping grounded in a realistic setting, but this book delivered in spades. Some influences seem to be very obvious (Mass Effect, Star Trek etc), but the setting and story is different enough and uses these influences as a jumping off point to ensure that it is very much its own story.

The characters are all likeable and believable, their morals are not black and white and they all have positive and negative traits which makes them seem more lifelike and realistic, the major players are fleshed out nicely. As the book goes on they make decisions and come up with ideas that fit with what has gone before. There is even a teenage character who is written not to be annoying and also no all knowing, some of the development moments of that character are really well handled.

Another brilliant aspect of the book is the way the combat is written. On foot and in space, the battles are really well described, painting a clear picture of what is happening all the time, which is no easy feat.

Looking forward to more stories set in this universe. The setup is nicely realised and there is massive scope for plenty more books. I would recommend this in a flash to anyone with an interest in science fiction.

This a new dystopian novel set in our Galaxy conquered by humans and other evolved species. Most planets and moons are terraformed, and there is still space travel, although due to an incident that was designed to quell a war on a planet and has been since known as the Pulse most planets are afflicted by radiation that destroys advanced technology and weapons. The Pulse also had a side effect - its radiation produces children with supernatural abilities, such as telekinesis. The Galaxy is populated by a range of species that all belong to a rage of sects. One sect in particular is trying to control the Galaxy in a benevolent fashion. Their counterpart are trying to dominate it for their own evil purposes.

The novel centers around a member of the former on her mission to locate one of those kids. Unfortunately, the latter sect, very much modeled on the concept of the star troopers, are also after this child. In the event we witness a series of escapes that culminate in a war between the two major forces in the Galaxy. In the process of this journey we get to learn the interesting characters who develop a relationship.

Overall I really enjoyed the concept and the various characters, which is why I wold read a sequel to this. What I enjoyed a bit less was the fact that it was so closely modeled on Star Wars (albeit without the Force). There was too much space fighting and simple shootouts. I think the author could have capitalized a bit more on the fairly original concept. So if you are into gaming and Star Wars, chances are you will really love it. Otherwise it's more of a film script than a novel.

The Pulse. It seemed like a good idea, halt the use of a super weapon by creating a field with in which advanced technology didn't work. It wasn't supposed to spread throughout the galaxy, reverting some worlds to pre-electrical technology while leaving others untouched. But it did. It also wasn't supposed to enable children with mind powers to be born. But it did. Agents of the Sanctum collect these children in an attempt to prevent the galaxy from descending further into chaos. Why and how they hope to do this forms one strand of the story; the other is the desparate attempts to prevent a race of brainwashed soldiers (think Borg) from destroying Sanctum. It's a really good read, with believable characters, sentient ships who worry about their paintwork and a satisfying conclusion. The battle scenes are too detailed for my taste; I get bored by pages of blow by blow fighting but they are easily skipped through.

An action packed sci-fi adventure full of space battles and great characters. I am a huge fan of sci-fi and I enjoyed The Stars Now Unclaimed. The characters were very relatable and their story had enough for me to keep reading through till the end.
It's not quite in the leagues with James SA Corey, Alastair Reynolds etc but it is a step in the right direction.

An exciting fast paced adventure, mostly based on board Scheherazade (a space craft), other craft or various planetary objects. Jane Kamali, is the "Justified" pilot of the aforementioned Scheherazade and she has formed a strong bond with the AI of the ship. They look out for each other.

Jane's role is to seek out 'gifted' children on worlds that had previously been blasted back into their own individual dark age by a phenomenon known as the 'pulse'. The pulse had swept through the universe wiping out technological advances as it went.

At the start of the book Jane is just landing on one such of these planets and she is searching for someone, she doesn't know who or where, only that she must find them. And she needs to be quick, as she may not be the only one AND the radiation on the planet will destroy the functionality of her equipment the longer that she remains there.

What she doesn't know is that she is going to have the battle of all battles once she finds her target and things will change for her completely.

This is a fantastic book for anyone who likes science fiction based on multiple worlds with multiple species (including AI).

I really liked the flow of the story and how it was written from Jane's point of view. She's disagreeable, she's a loner!

I received a copy of this book to review, I can say all the opinions are mine.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book although it was not an easy read overall. There were a few time in the first half where I was tempted to not finish but boy am I glad I carried on reading.

If you’re looking for a high octane sci fi with lots of thrilling battle scenes and easily relatable characters then this is the book for you.

There are bits that are slightly hard to get through, but these tended to be when the writer was introducing a new species.

I loved all the characters, my favourite possibly being schaz! This book was a great read and I would highly reccomend.