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Astra: Synchronicity
Magnius Zoleki has everything a fifty-year-old man could want—except the psionic assassin trying to kill him. In 2310, humans persecute psions and hunt them to extinction regardless of guilt. Magnius is one of an evolutionary offshoot of mankind known for their psychic abilities and tendency to murder in order to utilize their power. Despite using his telekinesis sparingly, his secret makes it back to his childhood tutor. She murdered his best friend's father in cold blood, giving him every reason to run away before his abilities manifested. Now with the hope he'll join her cause to strike down humanity, she sends an assassin to bring him home. Of course, that doesn’t mean he needs to bring him in one piece. As a consequence of his double life, Magnius faces divorce, bankruptcy, and death—but not necessarily in that order. In his flight to survive, he meets Amii Martin, a woman who recently lost her memory in a laboratory accident. She implores him for help rescuing the only man with ties to her past after relations with a benevolent alien race take a tragic turn. The last thing Magnius needs is to get mixed up in an ugly war, but in order to escape the clutches of his nefarious mentor and save Amii’s father, he’s willing to risk it or die trying. Synchronicity is a science-fiction thriller that will appeal to readers who enjoy the work of C. J. Cherryh and also those who fell in love with the romance of The Time Traveler's Wife.
298 pages, Paperback
First published January 5, 2011
About the author
Lisa Eskra
3 books10 followersLisa Eskra graduated from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology with a master’s degree in Chemistry. Science fiction has inspired her imagination since childhood, cultivating a life-long fascination with the universe. She lives with her husband, son, and two dogs near Chicago — at least until an outpost is constructed on Mars.
ASTRA is an exciting sci-fi thriller that blends high-stakes drama with political intrigue in a white-knuckled ride through the known galaxy in 2310. Astra: Synchronicity, the first book in the Astra trilogy, is FREE for download at Amazon.com. Book two, Astra: The Reckoning, was released March 25th, followed by book three Astra: The Harrowing September 4th.
Join the Facebook fan page for the Astra saga to receive updates on the coming novel, coupons, and other exclusives!
ASTRA is an exciting sci-fi thriller that blends high-stakes drama with political intrigue in a white-knuckled ride through the known galaxy in 2310. Astra: Synchronicity, the first book in the Astra trilogy, is FREE for download at Amazon.com. Book two, Astra: The Reckoning, was released March 25th, followed by book three Astra: The Harrowing September 4th.
Join the Facebook fan page for the Astra saga to receive updates on the coming novel, coupons, and other exclusives!
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 27, 2011
The story was compelling, but the writing had some serious flaws. The 'science' end of the science fiction didn't hold up at all, in the very least- put this one down as fantasy. For example, the author describes how space travel is performed by curving spacetime, therefore dramatically shortening the distance (and therefore time) needed to travel to far off places. She says it takes 1 day to travel 10 light years, and then explains how when these future humans figure out how to travel faster than the speed of light, that traveling time will be shortened to mere hours. Ok. Well, its 10 years at the speed of light- so 2x C is 5 years, 3xC is 3.3 years, 4xC is 2.5 years, etc......they'd have to go many, many times the speed of light to shorten the 10 years to even the day it takes folding space......why waste the effort? But more importantly, the author didn't seem to get that. There are a few example of this kind of flawed attempt at science. So- if you are looking for good SCIENCE fiction, look elsewhere.
That said, it is a decent fantasy story. With some very big flaws.
There is some confusion learning the names of the characters and places, and it is due to the style of the writing- it is hard to figure out who is who. (or where etc) Lots of things are assumed- for example, that a place name is a place name, when I have never seen the name previously and have no reason to know it is a place, and what type of place.
The characters are in no way convincing. They change their entire attitudes seemingly at random and for no reason. The love story is a series of very similarly stated cliched platitudes throughout, and doesn't seem to progress from the beginning stage- at which beginning stage the attraction doesn't make much sense. Basically, the characters are shallow representations of generally stereotypical caricatures, without developing any real sense of purpose or any believable qualities.
Yet, the author kept me reading (somehow), and frankly enjoying the threaded plot lines, for about 660 ebook pages- a fair sized read.
And then (at this point, maybe just to piss me off), the story doesn't end- it just stops. With the idea that there will be other books to continue the story. Which is ok, but each book has to have a beginning, middle and ending, and this one just doesn't. The plot lines that seemed very interesting never materialized, and the less interesting were, well- less interesting. I actually thought to myself 'I bet she didn't stop writing here, and has just published 1 book as more than 1 book, because not very much happened, and none of what caused good and dramatic tension found resolution.'
In the end, I just wished this book would have been written better, because the ideas- although not mind blowing or extremely original- captured my interest, at least for a few hours. Some time developing those ideas into better crafted fiction would have gone a long way.
That said, it is a decent fantasy story. With some very big flaws.
There is some confusion learning the names of the characters and places, and it is due to the style of the writing- it is hard to figure out who is who. (or where etc) Lots of things are assumed- for example, that a place name is a place name, when I have never seen the name previously and have no reason to know it is a place, and what type of place.
The characters are in no way convincing. They change their entire attitudes seemingly at random and for no reason. The love story is a series of very similarly stated cliched platitudes throughout, and doesn't seem to progress from the beginning stage- at which beginning stage the attraction doesn't make much sense. Basically, the characters are shallow representations of generally stereotypical caricatures, without developing any real sense of purpose or any believable qualities.
Yet, the author kept me reading (somehow), and frankly enjoying the threaded plot lines, for about 660 ebook pages- a fair sized read.
And then (at this point, maybe just to piss me off), the story doesn't end- it just stops. With the idea that there will be other books to continue the story. Which is ok, but each book has to have a beginning, middle and ending, and this one just doesn't. The plot lines that seemed very interesting never materialized, and the less interesting were, well- less interesting. I actually thought to myself 'I bet she didn't stop writing here, and has just published 1 book as more than 1 book, because not very much happened, and none of what caused good and dramatic tension found resolution.'
In the end, I just wished this book would have been written better, because the ideas- although not mind blowing or extremely original- captured my interest, at least for a few hours. Some time developing those ideas into better crafted fiction would have gone a long way.
February 7, 2011
The fact that it only took me a few days to read this book should tell you something: I really really enjoyed it. Usually if it takes me weeks to finish a book it's either some dense non-fiction thing that I have to keep thinking about to really get or a novel I'm really not that into. Well, that was definitely not the case here.
Astra: Synchronicity gripped me from the start. From the first sentence, I was into the book. There's nothing better than an author that can pull you in from the first page and make you want to find out more and Eskra succeeds very well with that.
The book tells the story of Amii Martin, a woman who has lost her memory in a strange accident and Magnius Zoleki, a man blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with psionic abilities. Magnius is an incredible telepath, something he has hidden for his entire life due to humanity's persecution of psions. He is being hunted by an old mentor, someone who is trying to bring him back into the fold in an attempt to destroy those who have persecuted and destroyed her kind. Amii is desperately trying to find out more about who she is while being on the run with the only man who has ties to her past. To complicate matters, there's also a wide array of political machinations and an alien race that humanity is trying to make contact with.
Eskra's writing makes this all easy to digest and the plot moves along quickly, with just enough description to make the characters and world both vivid and interesting. I can always tell when a writer is good when I finish a chapter and feel like I wasn't reading, but instead was watching a movie inside my head. I'm pleased to say that occurred many times while reading this book.
The book is ultimately part sci-fi, part thriller, with just a dash of romance. I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series!
Astra: Synchronicity gripped me from the start. From the first sentence, I was into the book. There's nothing better than an author that can pull you in from the first page and make you want to find out more and Eskra succeeds very well with that.
The book tells the story of Amii Martin, a woman who has lost her memory in a strange accident and Magnius Zoleki, a man blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with psionic abilities. Magnius is an incredible telepath, something he has hidden for his entire life due to humanity's persecution of psions. He is being hunted by an old mentor, someone who is trying to bring him back into the fold in an attempt to destroy those who have persecuted and destroyed her kind. Amii is desperately trying to find out more about who she is while being on the run with the only man who has ties to her past. To complicate matters, there's also a wide array of political machinations and an alien race that humanity is trying to make contact with.
Eskra's writing makes this all easy to digest and the plot moves along quickly, with just enough description to make the characters and world both vivid and interesting. I can always tell when a writer is good when I finish a chapter and feel like I wasn't reading, but instead was watching a movie inside my head. I'm pleased to say that occurred many times while reading this book.
The book is ultimately part sci-fi, part thriller, with just a dash of romance. I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series!
February 22, 2012
I got this for free. It was worth the cost, but not much more. Little character development, very broken and haphazard plotting. Just not well written at all.
May 17, 2019
Astra: Synchronicity By Lisa Eskra
I enjoyed reading this one. It's a bit of a light in most ways though Lisa Eskra took on an ambitious task and approached it from a slightly different angle than I've seen in the past. For a first effort I think she did fairly well, but the most important part is that it gained my interest and kept it throughout the book. There was a slight shock factor when getting to the end and realizing it's the end and wanting to have more story. But this is a trilogy and there will be more. This; at the very least and best is not like those serialized snippets I've too often seen here.(The ones that are 16 to 30 some pages and barely have time to introduce the characters.) This is a full fledged 200 some page book that to my estimation qualifies as a novel and even though some points are left unresolved the reader is left at a place that is in no way less than where some of the John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs novels often left the reader.
Synchronicity takes on the question of psions in a world that hates people with psychic abilities. This is reminiscent of the book Slan by A.E. VanVogt. But Lisa Eskra takes her own slant on the issue.
In the Astra universe Earth has been ruined and is no longer habitable the process that caused this has possibly created a whole new branch in the tree of mankind that have psionic abilities. In a sort of dystopic way, but in this treatment it takes a back seat to the story, the Psion's have to renew their energy by sucking the life out of normals(Mind Rape, which is fatal).(Although they can also suck the life out of each other if it comes to that.) What they suck is the Gamma-mine, a neurotransmitter that regulates the psionic potential. Mankind has left earth and colonized other worlds and have split into three main factions the PAU, AF and UE. None of the faction have any affection for the psions and they each have their different degree of tolerance towards them. In most cases they try in some way to regulate them when they are not trying to kill them.
Magnius Zoleki one of the main protagonists is a psion who has been hiding his abilities. He's even successfully hidden them from his present wife, Lyneea. That wife hates psions because they murdered her parents so it's understandable that when she discovers the secret she files for divorce. This whole scenerio puts Magnius in danger because his secret is likely to come out to the whole of Astra. Magnius has many more secrets including that hes running from the Psion's; in specific the leader Aliane and her consort Zingeri who send an assassin named Tiyuri to capture Magnius.
Amii Martin has amnesia, with a condition described by one character as a fugue state though it might be a specific type with selective amnesia because she has not created a whole new identity and she has clear memories that allow her to function on a high level with many complex tasks. She finds out she is the alleged daughter and assistant of Dr. Xander Adams who is attempting to create a functional android or robot. The Dr. is on the run and being pursued because he has stolen valuable equipment to continue his work. Dr. Xander claims that Amii Martin was struck on the head which is not a consistent factor with fugues so we'll have to wait and see how that works out.
Through some quirk Magnius and Amii are brought together along with the crews of two ships, the Kearsarg and the Schenectady(captained by Lyneea's sister Ardi.) And they are introduced to Nadine Taylor who is a well know psion married to a politician of the AF.
If that's not enough, there has been a first contact situation involving Schenectady and the aliens known as Xurianian's.
Honestly speaking with so much going on; 260 pages was really not enough to do total justice to the story.
This results in a slight disjointedness as we seem to fast-forward through and past some important elements such as the actual point of contact in the first contact. So if I had any nitpicks it would be that there needed to be about a hundred more pages of narrative.
Lastly I can't go without mentioning the grammar errors. Because I try not to include them in the star score I try to be sure to mention them for the picky reader. There are a larger number than normal (for some people zero is normal but for my taste I can abide a handful.) Probably the only one that sticks out in my mind is the recurrence of the word lied where lay belongs, which is almost understandable since lay normally takes an object such as 'lay the book down' and lie does not have the object such as 'I lie down' and the problem comes when the past form of lie is lay and not lied. Anything else in the grammar and sentence structure that created problems were mostly transparent where the lied just stuck out like fingernail on chalkboard.
I think this is a good light read for people who like SFF for young adults with less emphasis on the Science part of the science fiction. There were enough interesting mysteries in this one to make me interested in following up with the rest of the series to see how those resolve.
J.L. Dobias
I enjoyed reading this one. It's a bit of a light in most ways though Lisa Eskra took on an ambitious task and approached it from a slightly different angle than I've seen in the past. For a first effort I think she did fairly well, but the most important part is that it gained my interest and kept it throughout the book. There was a slight shock factor when getting to the end and realizing it's the end and wanting to have more story. But this is a trilogy and there will be more. This; at the very least and best is not like those serialized snippets I've too often seen here.(The ones that are 16 to 30 some pages and barely have time to introduce the characters.) This is a full fledged 200 some page book that to my estimation qualifies as a novel and even though some points are left unresolved the reader is left at a place that is in no way less than where some of the John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs novels often left the reader.
Synchronicity takes on the question of psions in a world that hates people with psychic abilities. This is reminiscent of the book Slan by A.E. VanVogt. But Lisa Eskra takes her own slant on the issue.
In the Astra universe Earth has been ruined and is no longer habitable the process that caused this has possibly created a whole new branch in the tree of mankind that have psionic abilities. In a sort of dystopic way, but in this treatment it takes a back seat to the story, the Psion's have to renew their energy by sucking the life out of normals(Mind Rape, which is fatal).(Although they can also suck the life out of each other if it comes to that.) What they suck is the Gamma-mine, a neurotransmitter that regulates the psionic potential. Mankind has left earth and colonized other worlds and have split into three main factions the PAU, AF and UE. None of the faction have any affection for the psions and they each have their different degree of tolerance towards them. In most cases they try in some way to regulate them when they are not trying to kill them.
Magnius Zoleki one of the main protagonists is a psion who has been hiding his abilities. He's even successfully hidden them from his present wife, Lyneea. That wife hates psions because they murdered her parents so it's understandable that when she discovers the secret she files for divorce. This whole scenerio puts Magnius in danger because his secret is likely to come out to the whole of Astra. Magnius has many more secrets including that hes running from the Psion's; in specific the leader Aliane and her consort Zingeri who send an assassin named Tiyuri to capture Magnius.
Amii Martin has amnesia, with a condition described by one character as a fugue state though it might be a specific type with selective amnesia because she has not created a whole new identity and she has clear memories that allow her to function on a high level with many complex tasks. She finds out she is the alleged daughter and assistant of Dr. Xander Adams who is attempting to create a functional android or robot. The Dr. is on the run and being pursued because he has stolen valuable equipment to continue his work. Dr. Xander claims that Amii Martin was struck on the head which is not a consistent factor with fugues so we'll have to wait and see how that works out.
Through some quirk Magnius and Amii are brought together along with the crews of two ships, the Kearsarg and the Schenectady(captained by Lyneea's sister Ardi.) And they are introduced to Nadine Taylor who is a well know psion married to a politician of the AF.
If that's not enough, there has been a first contact situation involving Schenectady and the aliens known as Xurianian's.
Honestly speaking with so much going on; 260 pages was really not enough to do total justice to the story.
This results in a slight disjointedness as we seem to fast-forward through and past some important elements such as the actual point of contact in the first contact. So if I had any nitpicks it would be that there needed to be about a hundred more pages of narrative.
Lastly I can't go without mentioning the grammar errors. Because I try not to include them in the star score I try to be sure to mention them for the picky reader. There are a larger number than normal (for some people zero is normal but for my taste I can abide a handful.) Probably the only one that sticks out in my mind is the recurrence of the word lied where lay belongs, which is almost understandable since lay normally takes an object such as 'lay the book down' and lie does not have the object such as 'I lie down' and the problem comes when the past form of lie is lay and not lied. Anything else in the grammar and sentence structure that created problems were mostly transparent where the lied just stuck out like fingernail on chalkboard.
I think this is a good light read for people who like SFF for young adults with less emphasis on the Science part of the science fiction. There were enough interesting mysteries in this one to make me interested in following up with the rest of the series to see how those resolve.
J.L. Dobias
July 9, 2018
I gave this ebook a try because it was free on Amazon. The fact that it took me nearly 7 years to finish it will tell you something. The plot was interesting, but the writing was amateurish. The characters are two-dimensional and wooden, and the dialogue is just OK. I was also not very happy to discover that it is just the first book in a 3 book series. Sigh.
January 15, 2025
Liked the characters.
Good for light readers
Gave it four stars, was going to give It another half but ya can't do that sooo.
Good for light readers
Gave it four stars, was going to give It another half but ya can't do that sooo.
July 30, 2011
Astra: Synchronicity
Let me first start off by saying, I wish I had realized this was a book that has a second one not yet released! Heh...
However, I downloaded it via Amazon.com on my Kindle for free, and because of that fact, I won't complain.
The book was good. It took me a little bit of time to get into it, and once I was passed the science bit that I didn't understand (I read a review where someone said the science was wrong, however, I , and probably the average reader wouldn't know that) the book started to pace along a little better.
I also read a review where the reviewer complained about there being to many characters to keep track of. I'd have to agree to an extent. In the beginning I was a little confused at times as to who I was following in the story, but once I got into it, I could picture them better and keep better track of who was who.
The story revolves around a future where Earth is no longer habitable, and the people have fled to outlying stars to live. There are lines drawn, much like in our current world, between certain cultures and peoples. There are also a group of people with abilities, abilities that developed because of humanity, but these people, the Psions, are now feared and hated by the rest of humanity, which they call Normals. And a new species enters the picture, humanities first brush with life outside their own narrow view of the world.
Politics play a large roll in what goes on within this story, however it isn't politically heavy. (If it were I wouldn't have kept reading.)
There are prophecies that make the characters question destiny or choice, and are what drives each person within this story to follow the path they are on.
I was left hanging, and will have to check out the next installment to find out what the prophecy meant, and if destiny is written or if choices made matter.
Let me first start off by saying, I wish I had realized this was a book that has a second one not yet released! Heh...
However, I downloaded it via Amazon.com on my Kindle for free, and because of that fact, I won't complain.
The book was good. It took me a little bit of time to get into it, and once I was passed the science bit that I didn't understand (I read a review where someone said the science was wrong, however, I , and probably the average reader wouldn't know that) the book started to pace along a little better.
I also read a review where the reviewer complained about there being to many characters to keep track of. I'd have to agree to an extent. In the beginning I was a little confused at times as to who I was following in the story, but once I got into it, I could picture them better and keep better track of who was who.
The story revolves around a future where Earth is no longer habitable, and the people have fled to outlying stars to live. There are lines drawn, much like in our current world, between certain cultures and peoples. There are also a group of people with abilities, abilities that developed because of humanity, but these people, the Psions, are now feared and hated by the rest of humanity, which they call Normals. And a new species enters the picture, humanities first brush with life outside their own narrow view of the world.
Politics play a large roll in what goes on within this story, however it isn't politically heavy. (If it were I wouldn't have kept reading.)
There are prophecies that make the characters question destiny or choice, and are what drives each person within this story to follow the path they are on.
I was left hanging, and will have to check out the next installment to find out what the prophecy meant, and if destiny is written or if choices made matter.
January 11, 2012
If this book had not been free on Amazon I probably would be a bit harsher in my review, but as it is I would say this was a decent story. I liked the plot and many of the characters but unfortunately the writing was inconsistent many times, meaning that many things just seemed to happen because the plot demanded them, not because they made sense, and this book was in serious need of a good editor. But really overall I thought it was okay and certainly not horrible, it just wasn't quite ready for prime time. It was certainly better than anything I could write and I will consider this author in the future because I liked the setting and the story it just needed tightening up.
February 7, 2015
Nope. This book was not so well written. Because it was for free I forced myself towards the end, learning there are two more in the series I will not read. The background in the book is actually interesting: 3 human fractions, first alien encounter and mutants in the human population. However, the major events in the book lack detail and reasoning. The background canvas is underdeveloped and the sciece too obviously flawed. What is left is a rather poorly written story of a man and woman finding themself in a developing relationship which could have taken place anywhere. Two stars.
August 10, 2011
Not a bad book, but like I always whine about, it bugs me when space travel, the vast distances between planets and stars, is trivialized.
And this quote, "... we've explored half the galaxy..." sigh... explored 200 billion stars? And this race just wasn't that old. Do you know how LONG that would take to "explore" that many systems in any meaningful way? Even automated probes would take a long time. sigh...
That aside, it's a pretty good story, a pretty fast read and one I enjoyed.
And this quote, "... we've explored half the galaxy..." sigh... explored 200 billion stars? And this race just wasn't that old. Do you know how LONG that would take to "explore" that many systems in any meaningful way? Even automated probes would take a long time. sigh...
That aside, it's a pretty good story, a pretty fast read and one I enjoyed.
October 12, 2011
Not interested enough to get through a meandering plot of psi-ability, politics, and stilted dialogue. Also, I have no love for a book that doesn't receive even the basest of proof-reading, especially in an age of computer corrected spell check. Call me old fashioned: I am a literary development executive, and this is unforgivable. Good concept, poor execution. I would be open to read further material by this writer in the future.
June 30, 2021
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unreadable
September 8, 2013
I’ve tried to read Lisa Eskra’s “Astra: Synchronicity” twice and failed each time. Terrible writing. Oh, she can put two words next to each other OK. But, she doesn’t pay any attention to what she writes. She’ll describe things and events in one paragraph and just ignore their repercussions and meanings in the next. Nothing makes sense. I rate it at an Unreadable 1 star out of 5.
Unreadable
September 8, 2013
I’ve tried to read Lisa Eskra’s “Astra: Synchronicity” twice and failed each time. Terrible writing. Oh, she can put two words next to each other OK. But, she doesn’t pay any attention to what she writes. She’ll describe things and events in one paragraph and just ignore their repercussions and meanings in the next. Nothing makes sense. I rate it at an Unreadable 1 star out of 5.
July 7, 2011
I really couldn't get into this book but I forced myself to read it until I could no longer stand it (about 70% in). I felt the book had far too much talking and political drama for me to fully enjoy it. I recommend it to people who love Science Fiction served with a side of random politics, but if you want something that keeps you at the edge of your seat, then this book isn't for you.
August 20, 2011
I enjoyed this book immensely. The science-fiction is well conceived and the characters are easy to relate to. I downloaded this book for free from Amazon and as soon as I finished it, went and bought the sequel. My only issue is that this apparently is going to be a trilogy. The universe this author created is worth exploring in more story then can fit in only three books.
September 3, 2011
I can't believe this book is a free download on amazon.co.uk -- it's SO good. It's not flawless, but it's good. The people behave realistically. The political stuff isn't utopian. There are a few typos and incorrect uses of words, but it's still fantastic. Probably the best piece of sci-fi I've read in ages.
June 13, 2012
Okay read. Interesting universe. Main characters are well fleshed out and flawed though secondary characters are rather wooden.
Main themes through the book include first contact with an alien species, persecution of "psions," people with psychic powers and government.
Main themes through the book include first contact with an alien species, persecution of "psions," people with psychic powers and government.
July 12, 2012
I got a little boggled in the beginning when being introduced to the many main characters, but after a bit i caught on. I found the book very enjoyable. My favorite character is Amii (did I spell that right?) and am looking forward to reading the next one just to see how she evolves.
March 16, 2016
Excellent
Space travel, aliens, psychic powers, politics, assassins, etc. What more can anyone want from a story? Excellent writing? It's here. Realistic characters? You will find them here.
I can think of nothing negative about this book. It's simply great.
Space travel, aliens, psychic powers, politics, assassins, etc. What more can anyone want from a story? Excellent writing? It's here. Realistic characters? You will find them here.
I can think of nothing negative about this book. It's simply great.
Want to Read
October 3, 2011Also in Nook Archive.
September 14, 2011
Excellent book with well define charactors and a fast pace plot line. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
November 3, 2011
okay not great but not bad
Read
June 28, 2013thoughts
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2011
The loss of stars is because of the misuse of words (lay/lie etc.), otherwise enjoyed the story.
January 6, 2012
free Kindle eBook
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews