What do you think?
Rate this book
The Last Horizon #2
The Engineer
“I can’t juggle starships. I make the ones who can.”
The battle with the Iron Legion has left The Last Horizon battered and broken, drifting in space. Varic needs an exceptional Engineer to fix his ship, and there’s only one person for the job: Mell, the master Aether Technician.
But first, they have to break her out of prison.
Mell has been captured by the Advocates, a group of super-powered vigilantes who dominate their corner of the galaxy. They are led by Starhammer, an invincible champion with a personal obsession with Mell.
The Last Horizon may be crewed by the greatest heroes in the galaxy, but even they have to be careful with Starhammer. Every time he survives a battle, he grows stronger.
In another life, Varic saw the end of that road. If he lets Starhammer become too powerful, the galaxy is doomed.
The battle with the Iron Legion has left The Last Horizon battered and broken, drifting in space. Varic needs an exceptional Engineer to fix his ship, and there’s only one person for the job: Mell, the master Aether Technician.
But first, they have to break her out of prison.
Mell has been captured by the Advocates, a group of super-powered vigilantes who dominate their corner of the galaxy. They are led by Starhammer, an invincible champion with a personal obsession with Mell.
The Last Horizon may be crewed by the greatest heroes in the galaxy, but even they have to be careful with Starhammer. Every time he survives a battle, he grows stronger.
In another life, Varic saw the end of that road. If he lets Starhammer become too powerful, the galaxy is doomed.
419 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 4, 2023
1017 people are currently reading
1996 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 221 reviews
January 19, 2024
Watch my video review by clicking here.
An absolute blast from beginning to end. Quite possibly better than any of his "Cradle" books, which I happen to adore.
An absolute blast from beginning to end. Quite possibly better than any of his "Cradle" books, which I happen to adore.
December 24, 2023
There are two crew positions left on The Last Horizon. Due to the damage the ship sustained battling the Iron Legion, the position that needs to be filled the most is The Engineer. Varic and Horizon have both set their sights on a person from Varic's past, the master Aether Technician Mell. The only problem is that Mell has been imprisoned by the Advocates. The Advocates are a super powered group of self proclaimed peace keepers. In truth they are corrupt attention seekers. Worst of all however is their leader Starhammer. Starhammer is insanely powerful and in another life a corrupted Starhammer brutally murdered Varic.
The Engineer is unfortunately what I expected. Another book full of amazing powers displayed by The Last Horizon that simply doesn't engage me the way I hoped it would. In truth if this book wasn't written by Will Wight, I wouldn't give it the time of day. Starship based battles leave a lot to be desired for me, I don't watch Star Wars for the space battles. I watch them for the growth of the characters and the amazing things they learn to do. Meeting the characters at nearly their full power in The Last Horizon series also isn't as interesting as the treks we took in Will Wight's other books as the protagonists grew over time. Even in The Elder Empire series Shera, Calder, and their allies grew and changed vastly. Varic is growing his magic a small amount in this book, but it doesn't compare to what Will's stars endured to gain strength in his other books. I also love The Force in Star Wars and all things Jedi/Sith related. I feel as though Will is attempting to do something similar with The Aether, but it is less mysterious than The Force. Few people outside of Force wielders and their allies even believe The Force is real while everyone knows about The Aether.
I don't think The Engineer is bad necessarily, but not particularly engaging for me. I did however enjoy the chapters where Varic and Mell interacted in Varic's other life. It was a subtle way to look into his experiences to explain his current actions. That was probably my favorite part of the book.
I feel like an opportunity was missed to make Starhammer sympathetic. He didn't have the ability to control many of the circumstances that were occuring to him. Instead he was shown as choosing to be warped by his power. I really feel like I should've left this story and felt sorrow for Starhammer, but it just didn't come together in a compelling fashion. He was simply another amazingly powerful villain fo defeat.
The Engineer and The Last Horizon series as a whole isn't really my cup of tea. I hope something happens later in the series that hooks me, but as of right now I'm largely indifferent to the series.
The Engineer is unfortunately what I expected. Another book full of amazing powers displayed by The Last Horizon that simply doesn't engage me the way I hoped it would. In truth if this book wasn't written by Will Wight, I wouldn't give it the time of day. Starship based battles leave a lot to be desired for me, I don't watch Star Wars for the space battles. I watch them for the growth of the characters and the amazing things they learn to do. Meeting the characters at nearly their full power in The Last Horizon series also isn't as interesting as the treks we took in Will Wight's other books as the protagonists grew over time. Even in The Elder Empire series Shera, Calder, and their allies grew and changed vastly. Varic is growing his magic a small amount in this book, but it doesn't compare to what Will's stars endured to gain strength in his other books. I also love The Force in Star Wars and all things Jedi/Sith related. I feel as though Will is attempting to do something similar with The Aether, but it is less mysterious than The Force. Few people outside of Force wielders and their allies even believe The Force is real while everyone knows about The Aether.
I don't think The Engineer is bad necessarily, but not particularly engaging for me. I did however enjoy the chapters where Varic and Mell interacted in Varic's other life. It was a subtle way to look into his experiences to explain his current actions. That was probably my favorite part of the book.
I feel like an opportunity was missed to make Starhammer sympathetic. He didn't have the ability to control many of the circumstances that were occuring to him. Instead he was shown as choosing to be warped by his power. I really feel like I should've left this story and felt sorrow for Starhammer, but it just didn't come together in a compelling fashion. He was simply another amazingly powerful villain fo defeat.
The Engineer and The Last Horizon series as a whole isn't really my cup of tea. I hope something happens later in the series that hooks me, but as of right now I'm largely indifferent to the series.
December 7, 2023
5.0 stars—-
Easy 5 stars, I love the direction this book has taken the series.
Easy 5 stars, I love the direction this book has taken the series.
December 7, 2023
Fun and enjoyable as the first one but it doesn't click with me the same way Cradle did. It's just a personal preference. In this type of story I'm more interested in following the characters from the very start, not when they're already at the peak of their capabilities. I want that super long journey. So with that in mind, if you weren't blown away by the start of Cradle this series might be more to your liking.
December 14, 2023
A Phenomenal Sequel
In this story, we get to see a space wizard fight the Galactic version of the Justice League. What more could anyone ask for?
I mean, aside from more of Raion. Don't worry, he's in there, and he's still wonderful.
As usual, Will Wight is a fantastic writer, showcasing new creativity and his signature lightning-fast pacing with this book. If you enjoyed the first book in this series, the sequel is even better.
In this story, we get to see a space wizard fight the Galactic version of the Justice League. What more could anyone ask for?
I mean, aside from more of Raion. Don't worry, he's in there, and he's still wonderful.
As usual, Will Wight is a fantastic writer, showcasing new creativity and his signature lightning-fast pacing with this book. If you enjoyed the first book in this series, the sequel is even better.
December 31, 2023
Not worth the time
So, book one was just decent enough that I gave book two a shot. My mistake. The lazy writing gets worse. The MC and the ship’s ineptitude just continues to get worse. Most of the book is spent just trying and failing to deal with a single protagonist. There are not plot holes. There are plot craters!!! Do we get to see a showdown with the exiled queen’s enemies? Nope. Does ship’s persona ever act like a being with eons of experience? No. Does the ever important engineer ever act like more than an emotionally stunted neet? Nuh Uh! The characters lack depth, both the emotional and the backstory kind, and the environment and universe are not engagingly written. In short, it’s not fun to read. I found myself swiping right just to get done faster with it. Avoid imho.
So, book one was just decent enough that I gave book two a shot. My mistake. The lazy writing gets worse. The MC and the ship’s ineptitude just continues to get worse. Most of the book is spent just trying and failing to deal with a single protagonist. There are not plot holes. There are plot craters!!! Do we get to see a showdown with the exiled queen’s enemies? Nope. Does ship’s persona ever act like a being with eons of experience? No. Does the ever important engineer ever act like more than an emotionally stunted neet? Nuh Uh! The characters lack depth, both the emotional and the backstory kind, and the environment and universe are not engagingly written. In short, it’s not fun to read. I found myself swiping right just to get done faster with it. Avoid imho.
December 8, 2023
This was another enjoyable read and what you would expect from the followup to The Captain. Overall, I would rate The Captain slightly higher than The Engineer because I felt the beginning of The Captain did a better job of pulling the reader in. The beginning of The Engineer starts off with the crew not having a specific focus, which results in an unfocused plot that could be a struggle for a plot driven reader like myself. But after the beginning, it was exactly what I was looking for; a fun, fast paced, action packed, space wizard adventure story!
December 10, 2023
Fun, and funny, romp in space. Still not as good as Cradle, but the cast is really growing on me. The shenanigans they get up to, the banter, it all works really well. Excited to see where the series goes.
January 20, 2024
Great continuation!
January 11, 2024
A few lulls, but otherwise pretty fun. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Travis Baldree makes this an easy audiobook choice.
Travis Baldree makes this an easy audiobook choice.
December 4, 2024
December 2024
Audiobook
7h 28m (1.5x speed)
I love how the characters come to life, especially Rion and Omega. Started on a sunday whilst trying to do a copy and paste mario puzzle. Finished the remaining four hours yesterday. Then impatiently waited my credit to get the next one.
The kids kinda got forgotten. Star hammer was...embarrassing. I'm reading villainess graphic novels with pushy exes and he reminded me of that. It was more of a dude, just let her go feeling. I did like that Omega rescued his grandson in the end and the whole getting caught on camera thing. Friendship! Dealings with the father always makes me cringe. The bloopers were fun. The awakening of the Z devices was a poor Varic moment.
June 2024
Kindle edition
Nice. The students are back but not much teaching going on, felt like they were there for one Omega jumpscare moment. No missions crossed off yet but two bad guys taken down and the ominous awakening. I felt sorry for the one found by the dog.
Starhammer pretty much followed the whole what doesn’t kill you line at the cost of his moral sanity. Each crew member held their own and seem to be bonding strongly. I liked the whole sibling thing between Ark and Horizon. Omega was still the best character, with Varic second. Looking forward to the next one.
Audiobook
7h 28m (1.5x speed)
I love how the characters come to life, especially Rion and Omega. Started on a sunday whilst trying to do a copy and paste mario puzzle. Finished the remaining four hours yesterday. Then impatiently waited my credit to get the next one.
The kids kinda got forgotten. Star hammer was...embarrassing. I'm reading villainess graphic novels with pushy exes and he reminded me of that. It was more of a dude, just let her go feeling. I did like that Omega rescued his grandson in the end and the whole getting caught on camera thing. Friendship! Dealings with the father always makes me cringe. The bloopers were fun. The awakening of the Z devices was a poor Varic moment.
June 2024
Kindle edition
Nice. The students are back but not much teaching going on, felt like they were there for one Omega jumpscare moment. No missions crossed off yet but two bad guys taken down and the ominous awakening. I felt sorry for the one found by the dog.
Starhammer pretty much followed the whole what doesn’t kill you line at the cost of his moral sanity. Each crew member held their own and seem to be bonding strongly. I liked the whole sibling thing between Ark and Horizon. Omega was still the best character, with Varic second. Looking forward to the next one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2024
That. Was. AMAZING!!
The Last Horizon is damaged. They need to fill the engineer position ASAP. Varic knows the perfect candidate, Horizon agrees, and they know it will not be easy. But first, a little visit and subtle rescue avoid the ending of one of his dimensions.
After that detour, Mell unfortunately gets imprisoned by the Advocates, a super army that decides when and where to keep the peace, by their means only, commanded by Star Hammer.
There was never a boring moment with the story, as it will probably be with the series. I liked this one more than the first. The author makes good on world building and it doesn't have the infodump feeling.
As always, fun and funny :)
Some notes:
- Anyone gets sus vibes from Horizon? After that ending, I'm convinced that at some point the ship will turn out of control from the captain and crew.
- Raion! You big doofus with the power of friendship and not thinking too much before talking! I love you and never change!!!
- The bloopers are all a blast, as always.
The Last Horizon is damaged. They need to fill the engineer position ASAP. Varic knows the perfect candidate, Horizon agrees, and they know it will not be easy. But first, a little visit and subtle rescue avoid the ending of one of his dimensions.
After that detour, Mell unfortunately gets imprisoned by the Advocates, a super army that decides when and where to keep the peace, by their means only, commanded by Star Hammer.
There was never a boring moment with the story, as it will probably be with the series. I liked this one more than the first. The author makes good on world building and it doesn't have the infodump feeling.
As always, fun and funny :)
Some notes:
- Anyone gets sus vibes from Horizon? After that ending, I'm convinced that at some point the ship will turn out of control from the captain and crew.
- Raion! You big doofus with the power of friendship and not thinking too much before talking! I love you and never change!!!
- The bloopers are all a blast, as always.
June 12, 2024
This one left me unfulfilled.
It seems hard to believe that our hero would think StarWanker's eventual threat could be removed by avoiding one inciting event. His psychology was clear... any obstruction to his will would result in escalation without prior investigation. Thus it was blindingly optimistic to think his eventual spiral could be avoided without immediate and drastic tactics.
It seems hard to believe that our hero would think StarWanker's eventual threat could be removed by avoiding one inciting event. His psychology was clear... any obstruction to his will would result in escalation without prior investigation. Thus it was blindingly optimistic to think his eventual spiral could be avoided without immediate and drastic tactics.
June 16, 2024
Reread - liked it way more this time. Going to bump up to 4.5 stars
Didn’t like this as much as the first book. Found the plot thin and meandering. Really was not a fan of Starhammer, he was a total snooze fest for me.
Didn’t like this as much as the first book. Found the plot thin and meandering. Really was not a fan of Starhammer, he was a total snooze fest for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2023
Weak Plot
I cannot overstate how much I dislike the horribly cliche "almost dead enemy gets a power-up" trope. And that is all this entire book was. I expect better from Will Wight books.
I cannot overstate how much I dislike the horribly cliche "almost dead enemy gets a power-up" trope. And that is all this entire book was. I expect better from Will Wight books.
April 7, 2024
You'd think Superman, after finding out that he turns evil in at least half the timelines, would do some soul searching and figure out why he's such a dick. But nope, surely it's all those other timelines that were the problem.
December 8, 2023
Awesome Book! It took everything I liked about the first book and turned it up to 11! 4.5/5!
First I want to give a slight disclaimer and a correction. I read the first book, The Captain, when it first came out and I wasnt thrilled about it. I ended up giving it a 3.5/5 rating. Thinking back on it that wasn’t fair or true. While I did (and still do) have complaints, I think the rating was due to a couple factors that weren’t the books fought. First off I went in expecting Cradle. That’s unfair and cliche and I told myself that wasn’t the case but it was. The OP nature of Varic’s character bothered me way more then it should have cause I was going into it expecting another zero to hero story. That’s not what the story was ever trying to be so that’s on me. Lastly I read The Captain immediately after reading The Rascor Plains by Phil Tucker, one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life and my favorite book of 2023. So I was on a bit of book hangover after finishing it and anything that came next was going to be unfairly compared to it. So I ended up judging The Captain way too harshly because of that.
I mention all that to say; I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed The Engineer but I really shouldn’t be. Both books do a lot of stuff well and shows again that Will Wight writes books that seem perfectly tailored to my taste.
So, Pros for The Engineer:
First Off I really enjoyed the Advocates and Stormhammer as the antagonist of the book. Definitely more then the Iron Legion from the last book. I love the whole super hero organization Pseudo Evil Justice League thing they had going. The many different powers and character designs were super fun and brought out the kid who loves super hero’s side out of me. Stormhammer himself felt like the classic Evil Superman mechanic. Which is always super fun and tense(Watch The Boys or Invincible if you want another example of that). It’s done even better here cause we get to see evil Superman go against other overpower people from all walks of life. Imagine Superman vs The Red power ranger, the main character from Halo (with the ability to respawn) Gandalf, The T-1000, and the Predator. It’s every nerd’swet Dream.
Stormhammer himself was a very interesting character. I liked that he wasn’t evil for evils sake. He genuinely thought he was doing the right thing. That’s always more compelling to me and even having him have a wife that he really cared about did wonders for his overall appeal and humanity. His relationship to Mel and his core mission assigned to him was well realized. Overall he was just a really great antagonist in every way that matters to me. I can honestly say he’s one of my favorite villains Will Wight has ever written.
Next I want to talk about The crew of the Last Horizan themselves. This was one of the pros from the first book but I just really like the ideas and execution of all our main characters. Their backgrounds. Abilities, personalities, roles in the ship and the growing legend of them as a group is amazingly well thought out. Like I mentioned earlier Will managed to bring together completely different ideas and genres together on one ship and managed to balance these larger then life characters off each other so well. It’s always fun when everyone is together and I consider it such a treat to see them face off against a common threat.
Mel herself was a fun character to explore. I understand why we waited till the 2nd book for her to join the crew. I like her personality and backstory and those nuggets of Varic’s other life with her was a blast to read(that’s a trend i hope we get more of in future books about his other lives). I liked that they’r relationship was romantic and I hope it goes that way again (though I’m not optimistic). Her skills have alot of opportunities in the future to be expanded on.
The crew’s story feels like the cool prequal characters you never get to see in the main story but everything you hear about them is awesome and you wish you could get more but the author only teases you. Except we actually do get to see it in this series. Imagine getting a whole series based on Gold Roger and his crew from One Piece or The legacy of the First Hokage and Madara in Naruto. It’s that same feeling.
The world building took a step up this book too. I loved hearing about the different factions of the wider Universe. We got hints in the first book but this was the first time it was laid out so plainly. There are definitely more interconnected details within these different factions but the over view is a good place to start.
There are a lot of lore and background details that are exciting for future books. I still don’t really get what the D’niss are but every time they’re mentioned I get excited. The Perfected on Shyrax’s home system sound tantalizing. I don’t get what makes them so special yet but even Varic admitted they aren’t to be messed with. Solstice seem like it could be an interesting and unique problem to deal with but I don’t have much to latch onto yet.
The Star Dragon(i think that’s what they were called, one of them poisoned Rioun’s Titan) The world spirits, and of course the Zenith devices are all super awesome elements of this world. The epilogue scenes with each Zenith weapon waking up was soooo awesome and I can’t wait to get more from them. Seeing Horizon go all out and what Ark could do were some awesome highlights of the book. I can’t wait to see the rest of them. I hope each weapon actually gets in the hands of the villains to really up the tension. I can’t imagine how OP the Blade or the Gun will be. I don’t understand what a Zenith chamber would be capable of but that makes me even more excited. The engine seems powerful, and the processor is such a fun idea. I can’t wait for the next book.
A couple Cons:
I’m still not a fan of Varic being OP. Like I mentioned earlier I won’t hold it against the book anymore, but i’m not a fan of it. I get he has weaknesses but it really feels like the book tells us just how powerful he is any chance it gets. I think he has too many magic abilities, the mirror and the memory magic especially kills a lot of the tension for me sometimes. He should never loose a fight. Even when facing off against Stormhammer it feels like the story had to go out of its way to depower him to make the fight have tension (distracting him with a big battle, taking away the aether and etc). I don’t see this going away and its really the only thing I can say I actively don’t like about the books, the other characters have this problem to a lesser degree (not being able to die and somehow being able to keep up with a person who can literally slow down time are on the precipice of being a problem) but since they aren’t the MC it doesn’t effect the story as much.
Lastly, This one is less of a Con and more of a concern. I do feel like you can only escalate to so many universe spanning threats and battles before everything starts to feel a little silly. I had the same problem with the Abidan stuff from Cradle. I believe in Will and know he’s creative enough to pull it off. But I think even he will tell you the Shonen escalation problem is a sore spot for most fans.
First I want to give a slight disclaimer and a correction. I read the first book, The Captain, when it first came out and I wasnt thrilled about it. I ended up giving it a 3.5/5 rating. Thinking back on it that wasn’t fair or true. While I did (and still do) have complaints, I think the rating was due to a couple factors that weren’t the books fought. First off I went in expecting Cradle. That’s unfair and cliche and I told myself that wasn’t the case but it was. The OP nature of Varic’s character bothered me way more then it should have cause I was going into it expecting another zero to hero story. That’s not what the story was ever trying to be so that’s on me. Lastly I read The Captain immediately after reading The Rascor Plains by Phil Tucker, one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life and my favorite book of 2023. So I was on a bit of book hangover after finishing it and anything that came next was going to be unfairly compared to it. So I ended up judging The Captain way too harshly because of that.
I mention all that to say; I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed The Engineer but I really shouldn’t be. Both books do a lot of stuff well and shows again that Will Wight writes books that seem perfectly tailored to my taste.
So, Pros for The Engineer:
First Off I really enjoyed the Advocates and Stormhammer as the antagonist of the book. Definitely more then the Iron Legion from the last book. I love the whole super hero organization Pseudo Evil Justice League thing they had going. The many different powers and character designs were super fun and brought out the kid who loves super hero’s side out of me. Stormhammer himself felt like the classic Evil Superman mechanic. Which is always super fun and tense(Watch The Boys or Invincible if you want another example of that). It’s done even better here cause we get to see evil Superman go against other overpower people from all walks of life. Imagine Superman vs The Red power ranger, the main character from Halo (with the ability to respawn) Gandalf, The T-1000, and the Predator. It’s every nerd’swet Dream.
Stormhammer himself was a very interesting character. I liked that he wasn’t evil for evils sake. He genuinely thought he was doing the right thing. That’s always more compelling to me and even having him have a wife that he really cared about did wonders for his overall appeal and humanity. His relationship to Mel and his core mission assigned to him was well realized. Overall he was just a really great antagonist in every way that matters to me. I can honestly say he’s one of my favorite villains Will Wight has ever written.
Next I want to talk about The crew of the Last Horizan themselves. This was one of the pros from the first book but I just really like the ideas and execution of all our main characters. Their backgrounds. Abilities, personalities, roles in the ship and the growing legend of them as a group is amazingly well thought out. Like I mentioned earlier Will managed to bring together completely different ideas and genres together on one ship and managed to balance these larger then life characters off each other so well. It’s always fun when everyone is together and I consider it such a treat to see them face off against a common threat.
Mel herself was a fun character to explore. I understand why we waited till the 2nd book for her to join the crew. I like her personality and backstory and those nuggets of Varic’s other life with her was a blast to read(that’s a trend i hope we get more of in future books about his other lives). I liked that they’r relationship was romantic and I hope it goes that way again (though I’m not optimistic). Her skills have alot of opportunities in the future to be expanded on.
The crew’s story feels like the cool prequal characters you never get to see in the main story but everything you hear about them is awesome and you wish you could get more but the author only teases you. Except we actually do get to see it in this series. Imagine getting a whole series based on Gold Roger and his crew from One Piece or The legacy of the First Hokage and Madara in Naruto. It’s that same feeling.
The world building took a step up this book too. I loved hearing about the different factions of the wider Universe. We got hints in the first book but this was the first time it was laid out so plainly. There are definitely more interconnected details within these different factions but the over view is a good place to start.
There are a lot of lore and background details that are exciting for future books. I still don’t really get what the D’niss are but every time they’re mentioned I get excited. The Perfected on Shyrax’s home system sound tantalizing. I don’t get what makes them so special yet but even Varic admitted they aren’t to be messed with. Solstice seem like it could be an interesting and unique problem to deal with but I don’t have much to latch onto yet.
The Star Dragon(i think that’s what they were called, one of them poisoned Rioun’s Titan) The world spirits, and of course the Zenith devices are all super awesome elements of this world. The epilogue scenes with each Zenith weapon waking up was soooo awesome and I can’t wait to get more from them. Seeing Horizon go all out and what Ark could do were some awesome highlights of the book. I can’t wait to see the rest of them. I hope each weapon actually gets in the hands of the villains to really up the tension. I can’t imagine how OP the Blade or the Gun will be. I don’t understand what a Zenith chamber would be capable of but that makes me even more excited. The engine seems powerful, and the processor is such a fun idea. I can’t wait for the next book.
A couple Cons:
I’m still not a fan of Varic being OP. Like I mentioned earlier I won’t hold it against the book anymore, but i’m not a fan of it. I get he has weaknesses but it really feels like the book tells us just how powerful he is any chance it gets. I think he has too many magic abilities, the mirror and the memory magic especially kills a lot of the tension for me sometimes. He should never loose a fight. Even when facing off against Stormhammer it feels like the story had to go out of its way to depower him to make the fight have tension (distracting him with a big battle, taking away the aether and etc). I don’t see this going away and its really the only thing I can say I actively don’t like about the books, the other characters have this problem to a lesser degree (not being able to die and somehow being able to keep up with a person who can literally slow down time are on the precipice of being a problem) but since they aren’t the MC it doesn’t effect the story as much.
Lastly, This one is less of a Con and more of a concern. I do feel like you can only escalate to so many universe spanning threats and battles before everything starts to feel a little silly. I had the same problem with the Abidan stuff from Cradle. I believe in Will and know he’s creative enough to pull it off. But I think even he will tell you the Shonen escalation problem is a sore spot for most fans.
January 10, 2024
I love Wight's stuff, but I struggle with this series a little bit- it's something about the fact that all of the characters are at like, the absolute highest tier of strength from the outset, and so there isn't really any sort of progression to follow? I dunno- still a fun series, just hasn't hooked me like his other work did.
December 7, 2023
A solid follow up, but i enjoyed it less than the first one.
I enjoyed this one almost as much as book 1, but it just wasn’t quite as great. Starhammer as the main villain wasn’t as cool to me as the Iron King. But I did enjoy the characters, they’re all very fun and enjoyable. Definitely will pick up book 3.
I enjoyed this one almost as much as book 1, but it just wasn’t quite as great. Starhammer as the main villain wasn’t as cool to me as the Iron King. But I did enjoy the characters, they’re all very fun and enjoyable. Definitely will pick up book 3.
September 9, 2024
Re-read: Solid and fun story. Lots of action and fun characters. Everything doesn't fully click together to get 5 stars, but a great read.
December 16, 2023
I will try to keep short (probably not)
Just finished the book…
The feeling is mostly unsatisfying, with some glimmers of good action that I came to expect from Will Wight.
It mostly felt like a very long and boring work meeting, with lots of people (some clearly having no business being at the meeting at all).
The story is mainly on how Starhammer is flawed and should be stopped, killed, by any means.
And as the most powerful beings in the known universe (a Single Iteration, right?), they fail comically each time.
The Zenith Ship - the Last Horizon - touted as the most powerful device to ever exist, is damaged to the level that it is quite frankly, useless.
Varic seems to be the only mind working there… somehow, he predicts most of Starhammer actions, manages to work through any and all technological and magical barriers placed on him, and basically enjoys plot-armor whenever the internal story logic is about to fail.
It is annoying to read this kind of book.
Also, as the most puissant beings in the galaxy, and well aware of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ powers (Solstice), why wouldn’t they act there first?
Why target Starhammer at all (after saving his wife…)?
Again, except for all the tedious back and forth, ‘fetch and carry rot’ (as one character aptly said…), this book could have been summarized in 10,000 words or less;
We fought, again and again, found some stuff which is not very helpful in any fights or impacted anything really, tried to give some background info on some of the characters, but failed in most (the flashbacks, side stories of the crew saving friends and family).
And LOTS of meaningless discussions and how Starhammer is flawed and how lucky we were to escape, YET AGAIN, with our skins…
BORING!
Just finished the book…
The feeling is mostly unsatisfying, with some glimmers of good action that I came to expect from Will Wight.
It mostly felt like a very long and boring work meeting, with lots of people (some clearly having no business being at the meeting at all).
The story is mainly on how Starhammer is flawed and should be stopped, killed, by any means.
And as the most powerful beings in the known universe (a Single Iteration, right?), they fail comically each time.
The Zenith Ship - the Last Horizon - touted as the most powerful device to ever exist, is damaged to the level that it is quite frankly, useless.
Varic seems to be the only mind working there… somehow, he predicts most of Starhammer actions, manages to work through any and all technological and magical barriers placed on him, and basically enjoys plot-armor whenever the internal story logic is about to fail.
It is annoying to read this kind of book.
Also, as the most puissant beings in the galaxy, and well aware of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ powers (Solstice), why wouldn’t they act there first?
Why target Starhammer at all (after saving his wife…)?
Again, except for all the tedious back and forth, ‘fetch and carry rot’ (as one character aptly said…), this book could have been summarized in 10,000 words or less;
We fought, again and again, found some stuff which is not very helpful in any fights or impacted anything really, tried to give some background info on some of the characters, but failed in most (the flashbacks, side stories of the crew saving friends and family).
And LOTS of meaningless discussions and how Starhammer is flawed and how lucky we were to escape, YET AGAIN, with our skins…
BORING!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2024
Listened to this on audible, it is like a big summer blockbuster movie full of excitement and action and humor.
March 26, 2025
Will Wight has got an imagination!
I have to be honest, Cradle felt very derivative to me, even if it was in a good way. I was already familiar with most of the ideas and concepts in that series. I thought the execution was very good but everything felt very familiar.
Here, Wight moves onto similar but fresh territory. If it's taken whole cloth from a genre, it's one I haven't read. The differences are somewhat superficial (in many ways the fights to devolve into DBZ style 'who is faster/stronger' rather than appreciable tactics) but it did raise the entertainment value.
Characters are still as solid as in book 1, maybe slightly better, and the MC has more depth than Linden, which is nice.
Fun action books that will grab your attention for a few hours. Not really much more than that but clearly not meant to be, and that's great!
I have to be honest, Cradle felt very derivative to me, even if it was in a good way. I was already familiar with most of the ideas and concepts in that series. I thought the execution was very good but everything felt very familiar.
Here, Wight moves onto similar but fresh territory. If it's taken whole cloth from a genre, it's one I haven't read. The differences are somewhat superficial (in many ways the fights to devolve into DBZ style 'who is faster/stronger' rather than appreciable tactics) but it did raise the entertainment value.
Characters are still as solid as in book 1, maybe slightly better, and the MC has more depth than Linden, which is nice.
Fun action books that will grab your attention for a few hours. Not really much more than that but clearly not meant to be, and that's great!
April 15, 2024
Another highly entertaining and highly unlikely sci-fi/fantasy novel from the mind of Will Wight.
The universe is random, you are never quite sure what direction the next plot point is going to come from, but it's a fun ride and still somehow manages to be internally consistent. Or at least, consistent enough that giant plot holes are covered by frenetic action so you don't really notice that they exist.
It was an excellent break from Michelle West, and I'm sad that I've already read everything he's written, so I have to wait for the next book....Is one year enough time between rereads of entire series? Probably not...
The universe is random, you are never quite sure what direction the next plot point is going to come from, but it's a fun ride and still somehow manages to be internally consistent. Or at least, consistent enough that giant plot holes are covered by frenetic action so you don't really notice that they exist.
It was an excellent break from Michelle West, and I'm sad that I've already read everything he's written, so I have to wait for the next book....Is one year enough time between rereads of entire series? Probably not...
December 5, 2023
Great sequel
Will Weight does it again with his usual imagination.
Prepare for wonders and surprises around every bend.
Not quite as groundbreaking as the first but if you liked the formula of the first book you'll enjoy this one
Will Weight does it again with his usual imagination.
Prepare for wonders and surprises around every bend.
Not quite as groundbreaking as the first but if you liked the formula of the first book you'll enjoy this one
January 17, 2024
Will Wight has the uncanny ability to write highly entertaining books that just don't slow down. In many a book, there's a boring middle part that drags on. Not in Wight's books. Great fun throughout! I'm a bit miffed that there isn't yet a third book in the series to dive in right away.
March 7, 2024
Huh…. Well, I don’t know what to think about this one. Guess I’ll stick around for the next book, but I haven’t found this quite as fun as the Cradle series so far, but I’m not sure why this one didn’t suit me very well. I do wish there had been more character development though.
Read
October 24, 2025I'm enjoying this series, but I must say that the climaxes are not very climactic. The big finishing fight just kind of ends. Maybe it's all just building up to a real climax in the last book. We'll see.
July 3, 2024
Don’t read this book if you want a well-rounded complex plot with character development, satisfying arcs, and descriptive scenery. This book does okay at those things, but not great. Read it if you want to have your face melted by awesome scifi and magic awesomeness. No one does action like Will Wight. I love that every character is so incredibly overpowered and it’s hard to even conceive what’s happening - not because of poor writing - but because everything is so epic!
July 4, 2025
Will Wight does it again. Fantastic world building and character development. I liked this one better than the first novel, it just was such a great ride.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 221 reviews