This is the second in a superbly constructed sci-fi series, stacked with multiple meshed threads from ideologically estranged offshoots of future humanity. I waited eagerly for it to arrive after consuming the first part in short order, but you need to begin at the beginning to stand a chance of keeping up with the swift scene changes between the extensive cast of characters. It’s worth the investment, honest. Go seek out The Cruel Stars and then you’ll thank me.

Any sci-fi enthusiast will feel right at home with author John Birmingham’s affectionate accolades to genre classics: these are not the droids you’re looking for, but you can’t fail to observe the references to the worlds of Larry Niven, Iain M Banks and Alastair Reynolds. The deliciously supercilious Intellect, Herodotus, who has a habit of transporting his enemies into the heart of a passing star, could be any Ship Mind from the Culture. There are even a couple of starships named Defiant and Enterprise, fer gawshsakes.

Not that this is a complaint, you understand: the author’s universe feels comfortably familiar and you can rapidly assimilate the technological situation which frees up your attention to deal with the increasingly complex action.

And then there’s the Sturm, seriously nasty space fascists. Star-spanning space battles on a glorious scale. Intimate, delicate moments of galactic importance. The creeping, insidious brain-washing of a broken man. Unpredictable, savage violence and strikingly emotive snapshots of sacrifice. It’s almost everything I want from space-opera, even if there’s precious little that’s actually original.

One word of warning: you may find an older Scottish character to be extremely irritating. I did. But stick with him; even the corny accent is worth the payoff in the end.

Best of all, there’s a final part of the trilogy to come so we’ve all got something to look forward to…
9/10

If you enjoy space battles , advanced technologies , A.I and Humanity in peril with touches of humour and quirky banter this is just the book for you . Whilst this book can be read as a standalone I would recommend reading the previous book in the series first to set the characters in place .
The Sturm , a purist society , once exiled to Deep Space have returned to the Galaxy determined to wage war on all who do not meet their criteria - any human who have adopted genetic or neural engineering must be eradicated
It will take all the skills of our five heroes to withstand the battles to come -Commander Lucinda Hardy, who finds herself captaining the only surviving warship that can hold its own against the Sturm ; Booker3, a super-soldier slated for total deletion ; Princess Alessia, the 12-year-old sole survivor of the most powerful ruling house throughout the system; Sephina L’trel, outlaw and smuggler with a small crew of misfits who have slipped through the cracks; and finally former war hero Admiral Frazer McLennan , who is accompanied by an A.I. who looks after McLennan’s needs, while the two of them spend their time exchanging insults.

This is a fast paced book , full of epic battles with twists and turns aplenty - I look forward to reading the next in the series

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

The Sturm have been pushed back, but not defeated, their larger forces still roam the Volume; despite the efforts of McLellan and Herodotus and the rest of our cast, their threat isn’t gone – and this sequel treats us to a whole lot more of what the first did. If epic space battles and advanced tech are your thing, or you’ve read the Expanse and want more spaceships and AI, this is a series that should shoot to the top of your TBR.

We’re treated to new characters in form of sub-commandant Surprato, who we come to love, and Captain Revell, investigating officer of the enterprise, a Republic vessel, who we will never love … that’s for sure. Not least because of the regime he supports. I’m glad to see the POVs grow, but it certainly adds to the tension, because some of them, from the Sturm’s point of view, only carry bad news.

Birmingham really finds new ways to keep the plot fresh and explore different, strange scenarios despite the crew being on a ship in the void that is space. One of these intriguing points is a mad, insane Intellect on a space station like a savaged morgue. We’ve a lot more to sift through in this one. Like zombies in space, I loved this part. It really was a break from the first book, added a lot of different danger and an entirely different feel. Birmingham really displays versatility and creativity in writing here. It’s an endless show of how he can turn up the pressure, how can this book or scene be different from the last, and this proves it.

A lot more politicking in the form of the Pac Yulin, Yulin-Irrawaddy Combine and the Javans. We focus more on the Corporate Worlds here. Where last time they were names and a few minor characters, this time they were a major problem. The Sturm were an enemy, but an almost mindless enemy as our characters had to kind of take care of a problem closer to home. 

I loved it all the same, but it didn’t quite have enough Hero! No one truly let that Intellect off his leash or gave him a ship. I was very sad. Can someone please let him out from under the thumb Lucy has pressed on him? Let him sort this! He is an Armada-class Intellect after all, hadn’t you heard? He could take care of this for you … but nope, the Armadalens like to do things organically.

Booker and his Cupertino rig … now, I thought I recognised the name Cupertino, but I really didn’t think we’d see super-advanced bio-organic military grade rigs made by the fruit company in this. But, Birmingham did create Frazer McClellan, so he does have a twisted sense of humour and I’m glad it came to the fore here.

As in the last book, my favourite thing were all the fireworks, the sentient missile swarms, spaceships folded into the heart of other spaceships, so they go boom, it’s all here again. 

Overall, this series is utterly fantastic. It has very quickly become one of my favourite series ever. If you’re looking for a sci-fi read or are here reading this review for some strange reason without intending to read sci-fi, then I implore you to start here. Well, start with book 1, but you know what I mean.

This is a great next instalment in John Birmingham’s Cruel Stars trilogy. Picking up where The Cruel Stars left off, (so highly recommend you have read this) the non-stop action continues as we follow the small group of unexpected heroes as they start to rebuild humanity and seek out its enemies.

The plot circles around the Sturm are a species purist empire who were defeated and exiled to Deep Space. They return to the galaxy and wage war on humans who do not meet their purist yardstick. So any human who adopted genetic and neural engineering: mutants and borgs are to be eradicated and ‘pure’ humans must be liberated. Luckily for the humanity their plans are thwarted.
We reconnect with Commander Lucinda Hardy, Admiral Frazer McLennan and their allies space pirate Sephina L'trel and dodgy battle-rig operatorBooker3. A small diverse group who manage to destroy the massed power of an entire Sturm Attack Fleet, and save Earth senator Princess Alessia. Although that battle has passed the fight continues as the Sturm are still out there as are other enemies in the depths of space.
If you are looking of action, adventure, high drama, twisted humour and quirky banter look no further.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to the ARC – however just to note that there were formatting issues with the ARC that made readability difficult.

The first book is full of action right from the start, as the Sturm’s horrific weapon incapacitates all the crucial personnel holding power throughout the galaxy by dint of a terrifying attack that scrambles their brains. However in The Shattered Skies that impetus takes a while to get going. But it was a pleasure to get reacquainted with Commander Lucinda Hardy, who finds herself captaining the only surviving warship that can hold its own against the Sturm; Booker3, a super-soldier slated for total deletion before the hammer falls; Princess Alessia, the 12-year-old sole survivor of the most powerful ruling house throughout the system; Sephina L’trel, outlaw and smuggler with a small crew of misfits who have slipped through the cracks; and finally an elderly living legend – former war hero Admiral Frazer McLennan, who has been studying the crash site of the Sturm’s dreadnought to glean whatever information he can about their society. He is accompanied by an A.I. who looks after McLennan’s needs, while the two of them spend their time exchanging insults.

Inevitably in a cast of five protagonists, I had favourites. During The Cruel Stars, it was poor little Alessia’s plight that snagged my attention. Birmingham’s riveting depiction of her kidnap by the Sturm was the highlight of the book for me, as it was written with power and emotion without sliding into sentimentality. My least favourite character was Frazer McLennan and his Intellect, whose constant bickering became a tad tiresome. I was pleased to see that Birmingham was smart enough in The Shattered Skies to have Lucinda Hardy also find these exchanges annoying, too.

While it’s always better to read the first book in a series, particularly as The Cruel Skies is a cracking adventure from start to finish, Birmingham makes sure readers who haven’t had the pleasure won’t flounder too much. But once The Shattered Skies hit its stride, once again I was swept up in the conflict, though there were times when I felt the pacing could have been tightened up. The battles are vividly depicted with plenty of action and tension, so that I could easily visualise who was doing what to whom. Deaths are given plenty of emotional heft and matter to the protagonists, making me care, too – something that doesn’t always happen in this genre.

In this book, there is also the addition of an intriguing antagonist emerging from the ranks of the Sturm who is on the trail of our plucky freedom fighters. He is suitably menacing without sliding into the cliché of a pantomime villain. I liked the fact that he absolutely believes in the rightness of his cause and that we are given clear evidence to back up his point of view. Birmingham’s multi-layered society with its various factions convinced me and provided a strong backdrop for the unfolding story. I’m very much looking forward to reading the final book in this series and recommend this series to military sci fi fans looking for vivid, convincing characters and a high-stakes space war. While I obtained an arc of The Shattered Skies from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

Fast paced, action packed and a lot of fun, it's an entertaining sci-fi that I enjoyed even if I didn't read the first part (my bad :( )
There's a lot of action in this story, a groups of not-so-good good guy and villains that could be not-so-bad.
I will surely read the first book as I enjoyed this one and appreciated world building, humour, and storytelling.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

My thanks to Head of Zeus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Shattered Skies’ by John Birmingham in exchange for an honest review.

This is Book 2 in his Cruel Stars trilogy of military-themed science fiction. As it is a continuous story it’s best to read Book 1, ‘The Cruel Stars’, first as the story picks up where that one ended.

As a result I am wary of giving too many details about the plot for those who have yet to read ‘The Cruel Stars’. I will say that the narrative focuses on a small group of unlikely heroes, seeking ways to strike back at the Sturm, an empire of species purists, who have mounted a devastating attack.

Centuries ago the Sturm had been defeated and exiled to Deep Space. Their intention in returning to the galaxy is to wage war on humans who have adopted genetic and neural engineering: mutants and borgs. They also seek to liberate those humans that they consider ‘pure’. Eep - Space Nazis.

The novel is packed with action and strong violence (and language). Yet this is tempered by quirky humour and lively banter. For example when one character quips “This is not the droid we’re looking for,”, another is impressed as she “hadn’t imagined a simple grunt would ever have studied the classics.”

As with the previous book it’s rather full-on, which can be a little exhausting after a while. Obviously this style will suit some readers more than others.

There was plenty for me to enjoy. Alongside things being spectacularly blown up, I was taken with the camaraderie between its main characters. Yes, they are facing overwhelming odds but such is the stuff of space opera, including the ‘classics’ that the text references. There’s even a Princess, who is also a senator, and Space Zombies! You can’t go far wrong with Zombies in Space.

The final book, ‘The Empty Heavens’ is set for publication in the summer of 2023 and I am certainly intending to read it.

‘The Cruel Stars’ had an international audiobook edition, produced by Recorded Books, and I am hoping that this will also happen with the other two books of the trilogy.

I'm sure this book will appeal to many readers, as it has all the prerequisite elements of a good space opera - a ragtag bunch of heroes fighting valiantly against an implacable enemy, space pirates turned good, plenty of futuristic weapons and biotech, desperate shootouts, a princess who may be the saviour of humanity, and loads of zipping around galaxies. However, it just didn't sit well with me, mostly because of the style. While the plot arc itself progressed logically and at a good tempo, I thought the author spent too much time talking about the tech to no good impact on the narrative. I'm not against info dumps on technology in my sci-fi, that's part of the genre, but I have seen better writers blend it into the plot or characterisation, instead of just tacking it on to a paragraph unnecessarily. Heavy-handed as this was, I took even greater issue with the level of violence; again, I have no problem with violence per se, but the better class of science fiction will flesh out its acts of violence with some comment on the ensuing political ramifications, so for me The Shattered Skies was more like a video game, where everyone was a disposable pawn. This impacted greatly on the characterisation, because no matter how much effort the author then put into the backstory of various characters, it didn't seem worthwhile getting attached. And I took great exception to the alleged banter between McLennan and his super-intelligent AI. I'm not in the least prudish, but the use of language here was crass and unnecessary. It does not leaven tense situations with comedy, it merely comes across as puerile - indeed if I were one of his crew members, facing almost certain death at the hands of an implacable enemy, McLennan's nonsense interactions with his AI would have me looking for an escape pod. Readers looking for a truly amusing space odyssey should check out Barry Hutchison's Space Team.

My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book, but I found it a very hard slog to finish, and did so only out of a sense of duty, and I certainly won't be reading his back catalogue.

One of the things I noticed, reading this and the previous book back-to-back in short order was how short a timeframe these books happen over. Both are a matter of days, and given these books are both on the order of ~500 pages, that's a lot happening in a short space of time.

It means the book is very action packed, as the crew of the <em>Defiant</em> rock from one disaster to another, and then have to deal with politicking surviving lords who are out to increase their power by taking advantage of the disaster IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE!! I really did enjoy that major battle as it just had so many twists and turns. The politicking "allies" did really help to give the battle a completely different feel too.

However, the downside of it being over such a short period of time (and having such a large narrating cast) was that I didn't feel like the characters got much time to shine. They felt pretty much the same as they had at the start as the end, and didn't really get a chance to become more understood to the reader. The focus was on the disaster facing them, and so the characters felt more like instruments of plot being moved about as the plot needed than as characters in their own right.

Mac (the foul-mouthed ancient Scot) and the AI Hero were once again the standouts, because their snipping like an old married couple was just so funny and out of place around the military types. They got a lot of chuckles out of me, and did help alleviate the bigger "we're all going to die" threats.

I am interested to see how this trilogy ends, how they're going to defeat the Strum, and how Hardy's father will play into the final book as he was clearly being set up for involvement (though I thought he would this book, which was a bit disappointing when he didn't.)

I actually listened to the first book in this series and was very impressed by both the tale and the narration, I was very pleased to be given an advanced copy by Netgalley (thank you) and was soon immersed in this world again, they (critics, not me) say that the second book is often not as good as the first … they are wrong with this book, I found myself engaged from start to finish and would happily recommend this book

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review!
It turns out it's a sequel to a novel called The Cruel Stars, which I still have to catch up to. But I loved this one and I'll definitely see the beginning of the adventure. Very fast-paced action balanced with intriguing dialogue and an awesome cast of characters! Can't wait for the third book, but before that setting onto the first one ;)