Star Stormers

Star Stormers #1

by Nicholas Fisk

Four children, Vawn, Ispex, Tsu and Makenzi live in a boarding school on Earth, while their parents are busy building a colony on the planet Epsilon Cool. It has been years since they last saw their parents - perhaps they never will. Bored and frustrated, they decide to build their own spaceship out of parts salvaged from a spacecraft junkyard. They name their ship Starstormer and blast off. Weeks later, soaring through space on route to Epsilon Cool, they come across an ancient colony ship from earth called the Conqueror. The inhabitants have developed a strange religion, worshipping the "Glorious Ones," whoever they are. Ispex is first to figure out that there is great peril here for the Starstormers. The first book in Nicholas Fisk's exciting series, first published in the 1980s and warmly remembered by fans to this day.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

(1923–2016), British author of more than forty books and television scripts and a master of science fiction for children. Fisk, whose real name is David Higginbottom, grew up during the Second World War and served in the Royal Air Force. His autobiography, Pig Ignorant (1992), covers the years 1939–1941 and details his life in Soho, a bohemian section of London, where he played jazz in the evenings until he was called to enlist. After the war Fisk worked as a musician, journalist, and publisher. He started writing in the 1960s, and his popularity was at its height in the 1970s and 1980s. His most impressive work, A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair (1982), is a thrilling futuristic novel set at the end of the 22ndcentury. The government is cloning new people and has manufactured a 1940s wartime family whose members are unaware that nothing they know is real. This moving story is a dark representation of the threat posed by technological advancement but is optimistic in its message about the triumph of the human spirit. Fisk's most enduring books include Grinny (1973), which features a technologized extraterrestrial threat in the form of a great- aunt who glows at night, and Trillions (1971), an eerie story about mysterious hard shiny objects that contain an alien intelligence. Monster Maker (1979) was made into a film.

Reviews

[Seawood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I credit this series and Robot Revolt with making me the scifi reader I am today - I must have read it dozens of times as a kid. I'm delighted it's out as an ebook now, and rereading it as an adult, I'm really pleased that it's aged well. It has diversity right from the get-go, although Tsu's ethnicity is tangled with the whole Evil Empire. I can't recall how well that pans out over the series, though.

Also Shambles is adorable still, after all these years.

[Adam Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this in primary school, probably not that long after it came out. It's fun stuff for what it is, though obviously intended for youngish readers (8-12 I'd say would be the best range). Four intrepid teens build a spaceship and take to the stars to find their parents, and mostly find danger along the way. A lot of the sequences feel a bit abbreviated - if he were writing today I suspect Fisk would have been allowed a lot more pages to work with - but it's a fun little romp for the right age bracket.

[Efjay Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a kid and it left a lasting impression, but I had forgotten the name over the years. So glad I've found it again and can't wait to re-read it.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great junior sci fi concept but get the feeling this was probably suppose to be one long book that was chopped into five.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I've been trying to remember what this book was called seemingly forever. Great to have worked it out at last.
I remember reading it several times as a young boy - want to do so again now, for old time's sake ;-)

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first science fiction book ... I think I was in 4th grade ?

[Ed Cole]

Not awesome but probably my first sci-fi books... still very fond of them.

[Drew Wagar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this at the age of 10 and loved it. It's very ropey to read as an adult, but with rose tinted glasses it's a wonderful bit of nostalgia. Tsu was an excellent character.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this when I was 8.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book i read as a child! It started my reading journey.