The Stars Now Unclaimed

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.