The Lost Star Chart

by Jeannette Bedard

Uncovering ancient secrets, evading certain death—welcome to Darla’s daily grind.

Reclusive treasure hunter Darla Oswiu is closing in on the relic she covets the most, the lost star chart to Old Earth— but she’s not the only one who’s after it.

When she discovers someone planted explosives on her spaceship, it's clear that her life of quiet anonymity is over. But Darla is cunning, curmudgeonly, and perhaps a bit paranoid—traits that have kept her alive on the lawless fringes of the galaxy.

To get her relic, she takes on a job that forces her to face her past. Even worse, her newest contact breaches her emotional defences and makes her care—something she vowed never to do again.

With her history haunting her every move, and her isolated heart at risk, can Darla stay one step ahead, or will her past finally catch up with her?

Genres: Science Fiction

292 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 10, 2025

About the author

Always writing, Jeannette has filled hard drives with ones and zeros that occasionally coalesce into books. Her non-linear career path has included both working as both a soldier and a scientist (but not at the same time). Currently, she lives on a non-tropical island in the Pacific with her husband and daughter and she really likes math jokes, especially if there is pi involved.

Reviews

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I backed this on Kickstarter, so I received the novel prior to publication as part of the campaign.

Humans left Earth on generational ships, looking for a new life among the stars, but no one today knows where to find Earth (hence the Lost Star Chart title). Darla wants the map, and has been looking for it for the last 17 years. She takes a job to ferry several people to a place called The Habitat, which is where she believes she will finally get her hands on the map. Chaos ensues.

For the most part, I enjoyed the story. The writing and the plot are engaging. There's enough world-building to get a sense of the universe the characters live in. There are several character/timeline POV chapters, and Darla in present day is the only one written in 1st person. I'm usually not a fan of this kind of book architecture, but it works here to tie all the plot points together. I'd actually like to read more about Hakkun and Minjun and life on the generational ship as a more developed and separate story.

I do have one quibble though. Darla is referenced as a curmudgeon. She's the least curmudgeonly curmudgeon I've ever read about or met. She prefers the company of a non-speaking hologram called Hank the Hippo (based on an ancient Earth toy franchise), but she's not overly anti-social or constantly grumpy. There's also many mentions of her paranoia and how she is constantly on alert. However, she accepts the job of picking up Red's dad from prison and escorting Red and Dad home without asking ANY questions about who they are and why they specifically want her for the job. It takes 3/4 of the book before Darla finally figures out what's happening and who Red is. Maybe her desire for the lost map overrides all common sense, but she probably should have asked something early on, like Red's last name, or the name of her dad. It doesn't detract from the story (and in some places it's what drives the plot forward), but there were a few times while I was reading where I was yelling at Darla to stop being that dumb.

I'm glad I backed this on Kickstarter, and I kind of want some Hank the Hippo stories/merch.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining scavenger hunt through space and time (well, sort of…)

I got hooked by the blurb, which sounded right up my sci-fi/space-opera reading alley. (Both Murderbot and Indiana Jones were mentioned - and to be frank, those are some huge shoes to fill!)

Bits and pieces of the story, told by several different POV characters over the course of decades (and centuries, even), are interwoven and blending together into one big treasure hunt.

I appreciate that things are rarely black or white, so characters and situations both provide lots of (sometimes definitely shady :) ) gray areas to explore.

Since this is the first book in the new series, only some of the story arcs get resolved, but not all of them.

On the technical side: I found the writing to be somewhat repetitive, especially Darla’s habit to snort or almost-snort frequently, which got on my nerves after a while. YMMV.

Bonus points for Tud, who totally snuck up on me and stole a teensy little piece of my heart.

[Jessica Kornelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lost Star Chart is the opener for what I'm hoping is a multi-novel series. Humans are long since scattered to the universe at large, and don't know where the map to get back to Earth is. Darla, our main character, is on a life mission to find said map.

Darla is an interesting character. In my own nature, I prefer to be alone or with animals or my own chosen few rather than with a bunch of others. But she's also supposed to be paranoid, but then asks zero questions about the company she's ferrying back to a place called Habitat. I'd have asked many questions but then there wouldn't be a story, so I guess that one is one me.

There is a lot of characters, and multiple POVs and times - and therefore some of those story threads don't see a resolution/ending. I'm hoping that future books solve these issues (and that there's more to come).

[Kristin Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written story about redemption and trying to always be a better person than you were the day before. Has a few different timelines and POV but everything is clear and easy to follow, and they all converge well at the end. Tud is a delightful character and all of the other POV characters are ones you want to root for. This was an entertaining read.

[M.J. Blehart]

Fun concept, good sci-fi

No spoilers - but there are some jumps in perspective and timeline that can be a bit disconcerting. I was also unsure how I felt about some of the characters - YMMV. But overall a good sci-fi read.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of intrigue and betrayal. The characters are a bit naive.

[AMAO · Rating 5 out of 5]

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