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Starquest #1
Space Pirates of Andromeda
Space Opera must be Great! Gallant! Gigantic! Grandiose!
This tale told by a Grandmaster vows to return the glory that was lost!
Remember the days gone by, when science fiction was fun?
Now new hope is here!
If you are weary of weak, wan, woke and wasted works, your wait is ended!
Here is an epic, as grand as any tale of old -- here you will hear wonders told!
Of course there is a Space Princess, and Space Pirates galore, and an Evil Galactic Empire.
Of course there is a super-weapon known only as the Great Eye of Darkness!
Here meet Athos Lone, Ace of Star Patrol, in his one-man mission of vengeance!
The Ancient Mariner, like an iron ghost, when slain, seems to rise again!
The mysterious spymaster called Nightshadow walks in dark worlds but serves the light!
An Imperial Deathtrooper must reverse his loyalties, and fight his own clone-brothers!
Fate has set these unlikely heroes against the Four Dark Overlords
An utmost evil the unwary galaxy thinks long dead!
Can Darkness fail and Light prevail?
Read On! For All True Tales are but Part of a Greater!
This tale told by a Grandmaster vows to return the glory that was lost!
Remember the days gone by, when science fiction was fun?
Now new hope is here!
If you are weary of weak, wan, woke and wasted works, your wait is ended!
Here is an epic, as grand as any tale of old -- here you will hear wonders told!
Of course there is a Space Princess, and Space Pirates galore, and an Evil Galactic Empire.
Of course there is a super-weapon known only as the Great Eye of Darkness!
Here meet Athos Lone, Ace of Star Patrol, in his one-man mission of vengeance!
The Ancient Mariner, like an iron ghost, when slain, seems to rise again!
The mysterious spymaster called Nightshadow walks in dark worlds but serves the light!
An Imperial Deathtrooper must reverse his loyalties, and fight his own clone-brothers!
Fate has set these unlikely heroes against the Four Dark Overlords
An utmost evil the unwary galaxy thinks long dead!
Can Darkness fail and Light prevail?
Read On! For All True Tales are but Part of a Greater!
294 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 8, 2024
82 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
John C. Wright
143 books452 followersJohn C. Wright (John Charles Justin Wright, born 1961) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy novels. A Nebula award finalist (for the fantasy novel Orphans of Chaos), he was called "this fledgling century's most important new SF talent" by Publishers Weekly (after publication of his debut novel, The Golden Age).
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 11, 2024
This was EXCEPTIONAL! From the minute the story took off, I was hooked, and the book just didn't let up. I had to force myself to put it down all the times that I did! Excellent narrative, excellent characters, great prose, and wonderful galaxy. This is a blatant rip-off of Star Wars, and yet, somehow, it felt extremely fresh and unique, with alien races I actually cared about, even they're basically just humanoid animals. I haven't enjoyed indulging and learning about alien races this much since Mass Effect, back when that franchise was still good.
My main gripe with the story is that some of the names for things felt uninspired and completely unoriginal (such as Star Patrol or even the title, Space Pirates of Andromeda). To be honest, reading through some of the names took me out of the story, and early on, I was worried this was going to turn into a Star Wars meets Power Rangers type of thing, but it just kept getting better and better. I also am mixed on the cover. While I love the design, especially of Jets and Princess Lyra, it looks like bad 90s CG to me, which almost made me not want to read it (except for the fact that Wright wrote it, I probably would have skipped on it).
It's been a while since I've read a John C. Wright book, but this was the best way to get back into it. If you are a Star Wars fan, who likes divulging in epic galactic adventures amongst very interesting and diverse alien races, then look no further. This may be the start of one of the best long-running sci-fi series' since "Star Wars: The New Jedi Order" back in the late 90s to early 2000s.
My main gripe with the story is that some of the names for things felt uninspired and completely unoriginal (such as Star Patrol or even the title, Space Pirates of Andromeda). To be honest, reading through some of the names took me out of the story, and early on, I was worried this was going to turn into a Star Wars meets Power Rangers type of thing, but it just kept getting better and better. I also am mixed on the cover. While I love the design, especially of Jets and Princess Lyra, it looks like bad 90s CG to me, which almost made me not want to read it (except for the fact that Wright wrote it, I probably would have skipped on it).
It's been a while since I've read a John C. Wright book, but this was the best way to get back into it. If you are a Star Wars fan, who likes divulging in epic galactic adventures amongst very interesting and diverse alien races, then look no further. This may be the start of one of the best long-running sci-fi series' since "Star Wars: The New Jedi Order" back in the late 90s to early 2000s.
November 2, 2024
Read this
Ok, so it isn't Star Wars or anything else. This is a new and magical universe with an evil empire returning from the grave. The heroes of old are (nearly) gone and no one can find the ancient texts. Also, pirates, Astral priestesses, primitive warriors, something like jedi, and robots.
Ok, so it isn't Star Wars or anything else. This is a new and magical universe with an evil empire returning from the grave. The heroes of old are (nearly) gone and no one can find the ancient texts. Also, pirates, Astral priestesses, primitive warriors, something like jedi, and robots.
Read
October 19, 2024Straightforward Space Opera - Hooray!
An unthinkable evil empire, a bold hero slinging exotic weapons and a space-princess-angel slinging arrows and wisecracks...it needed only an anthropomorphic frog pirate to...oh, wait, that's covered too!
Classic, wholesome adventure. No agenda, no techsplaining - suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride.
An unthinkable evil empire, a bold hero slinging exotic weapons and a space-princess-angel slinging arrows and wisecracks...it needed only an anthropomorphic frog pirate to...oh, wait, that's covered too!
Classic, wholesome adventure. No agenda, no techsplaining - suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride.
December 19, 2024
Fantastic
This is a great science fiction (and fantasy) novel. Very exciting and fast moving. It has great ideas and characters.
This is a great science fiction (and fantasy) novel. Very exciting and fast moving. It has great ideas and characters.
April 17, 2025
This is a hard book for me to rate. That's because John C. Wright is a hard author for me to form a firm opinion on. I love his imagination, his stories are full of twists and turns, he makes excellent use of religious/mythological imagery/references (and with a deft (even reverential) hand), and I don't know any author who embraces the idea of "Show don't Tell" more than Wright, but therein lies the rub. Wright writes about things strange and obscure and does so in florid language, but he rarely stops and explains things to the reader. Either you stick with the story and pick up the information by osmosis or you're not going to get it because it's very rare for characters or narrator (such as there is) to just sit down and explain things (which is why I both loved and was frustrated by his "Last Guardian of Everness" and its sequel (whose name I can never remember, Mists of Everness... maybe)). That said, this book is full of swashbuckling action reminiscent of the classic 1930's-1950's sci-fi serials, and I got the sense that this was Mr. Wright's response to the Star Wars "sequel" series as it embraces a similar setting (the evil Empire has seemingly been defeated, it's been a few years, the old hero responsible for its defeat has vanished, and there's new problems that the new order isn't resolving), but with a coherent idea of its characters (and their origins), its overall plot arc, and a story that doesn't require copying its predecessor's plot note for note. I mean, I wouldn't at all be surprised if he watched Rise of Skywalker and went home and started work on this, thinking, "I could write a better Star Wars trilogy than that trash," and if so I don't blame him because even with how frustrating I sometimes find Mr. Wright's extreme-show-don't-tell style, I think he's put together a solid space adventure story here, and sure it cribs off Star Wars' whole shtick more than a little (laser swords, need I say more), but the world-building, the character work, and the story itself are good enough to stand on their own.
December 13, 2024
This was one of my KU reads, which I am quicker to drop when I don't feel like continuing. I read about a third of the way through this before putting it aside for now.
I wanted to like this book more. The florid prose, the flourishes and grand monologues, were befitting a grand space epic, which starts with a prologue in which a space princess watches her world destroyed, and then we meet Athos of the Star Patrol, hunting the pirates who killed his brother. He meets the space princess, now grown up and become some sort of magic-wielding Temple Maiden. It's a hodge-podge of blasters, pirates, robots, ancient races,The Forcemagic, and Good vs. Evil.
Why didn't I like it more? Wright likes to drop you into a vast, ancient universe full of backhistory he references in dense descriptive paragraphs, naming planets and battles and empires and races as if we're already deeply invested in the lore of this universe when we're just encountering it for the first time. And by about a third of the way in, we kind of know who the main characters are and what their motivations are, but the action is episodic and more colorful than it is plot-advancing, and I just wasn't enjoying it enough to keep going. It's a book that seems entirely too in love with itself.
I was entertained by the anthropomorphic furry alien races (we've got Vulpines, Batrachians, Cervines, et al, who are all pretty much what they sound like), but did a little double-take at the different types of humans, such as "Sinanthropes" who are basically, uh, Asians. Yeah.
This should have been more fun. I loved the original Star Wars back in the day, and E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen and other sci-fi classics, but I gave this book a shot and just wasn't engaged enough to finish. Maybe some other time I will be more in the mood.
I wanted to like this book more. The florid prose, the flourishes and grand monologues, were befitting a grand space epic, which starts with a prologue in which a space princess watches her world destroyed, and then we meet Athos of the Star Patrol, hunting the pirates who killed his brother. He meets the space princess, now grown up and become some sort of magic-wielding Temple Maiden. It's a hodge-podge of blasters, pirates, robots, ancient races,
Why didn't I like it more? Wright likes to drop you into a vast, ancient universe full of backhistory he references in dense descriptive paragraphs, naming planets and battles and empires and races as if we're already deeply invested in the lore of this universe when we're just encountering it for the first time. And by about a third of the way in, we kind of know who the main characters are and what their motivations are, but the action is episodic and more colorful than it is plot-advancing, and I just wasn't enjoying it enough to keep going. It's a book that seems entirely too in love with itself.
I was entertained by the anthropomorphic furry alien races (we've got Vulpines, Batrachians, Cervines, et al, who are all pretty much what they sound like), but did a little double-take at the different types of humans, such as "Sinanthropes" who are basically, uh, Asians. Yeah.
This should have been more fun. I loved the original Star Wars back in the day, and E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen and other sci-fi classics, but I gave this book a shot and just wasn't engaged enough to finish. Maybe some other time I will be more in the mood.
October 23, 2024
What the f… was this? I can tell you what it was not and that is, it was not my cup of tea.
Honestly this book was an absolute mess to me. It is a mishmash of events, fantasy, weird pseudo-religions, characters thrown around with the author trying to make one more mysterious than the other.
There’s a constant flood of rubbish quotes, bizarre pseudo-religious phrases and just plain nonsense.
Take this one for example:
"And burn incense in his nose to kill his sense of smell, and wear your undergarments inside out. This will blind and confuse the avenging phantom when he returns from beyond the grave."
I do not know if it was supposed to be funny or not, it was not in a funny situation, but to me it is just nonsense.
The story jumps all over the place, the main characters are implausible and so are the events in the book.
This one will, unfortunately join the only other book this year on my one-star rubbish shelf.
Honestly this book was an absolute mess to me. It is a mishmash of events, fantasy, weird pseudo-religions, characters thrown around with the author trying to make one more mysterious than the other.
There’s a constant flood of rubbish quotes, bizarre pseudo-religious phrases and just plain nonsense.
Take this one for example:
"And burn incense in his nose to kill his sense of smell, and wear your undergarments inside out. This will blind and confuse the avenging phantom when he returns from beyond the grave."
I do not know if it was supposed to be funny or not, it was not in a funny situation, but to me it is just nonsense.
The story jumps all over the place, the main characters are implausible and so are the events in the book.
This one will, unfortunately join the only other book this year on my one-star rubbish shelf.
May 11, 2025
Give a handful of beats from another franchise to a skilled author who genuinely and unapologetically appreciates the space opera genre, and one comes to the awful conclusion that Disney era Star Wars could have been good. Really, really good. Why not a female lead who is also feminine? Why not a male hero who is also heroic? Why not gently sprinkle it with some foundational philosophy of Western civilization. But only a hint, please. We're really here for space pirates and space wizards and impossible escapes and mysterious family connections and charismatic robots and won't someone please consult with Mr. John C. Wright on the next billion dollar swashbuckling space adventure franchise? Because this is how that's done.
October 11, 2024
It's not often you get to read a real homage, in which the writer loves the source material and extends it. Here, John C. Wright asks "what if the Star Wars sequels were good?" Space Pirates of Andromeda gives us a very satisfying answer.
Wright plays his usual trick of packing an epic trilogy's worth of detail into the backstory, of which he then reveals very little. There's a robot in a tophat and a winged pirate queen, but you don't get to hang out with them. You're mostly on a pirate ship. To be fair Wright dumps so much punishment on his protagonist that you spend most of your mental energy wondering how the boy's gonna make it out of this one.
I also have to admit I loved the little asides about why robots are all built with hands and why supertech guns shoot balls of plasma rather than bullets. Those are some sweet justifications.
Wright plays his usual trick of packing an epic trilogy's worth of detail into the backstory, of which he then reveals very little. There's a robot in a tophat and a winged pirate queen, but you don't get to hang out with them. You're mostly on a pirate ship. To be fair Wright dumps so much punishment on his protagonist that you spend most of your mental energy wondering how the boy's gonna make it out of this one.
I also have to admit I loved the little asides about why robots are all built with hands and why supertech guns shoot balls of plasma rather than bullets. Those are some sweet justifications.
December 24, 2024
A space opera, along the lines of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Fun story, imaginative characters and world-building.
My main complaints are the editing and the layout. Soooo many typos. I had to read with a pencil in hand to edit as I went. Also, the ditch isn’t wide enough, so, especially in the middle of the book, every page-turn required a pause to crack that page open more to make the inside edge readable. These things pull the reader out of the story.
But, despite these drawbacks, I’m looking forward to the next episode. Maybe I’ll contact the publisher and see if they need an additional proofreader.
My main complaints are the editing and the layout. Soooo many typos. I had to read with a pencil in hand to edit as I went. Also, the ditch isn’t wide enough, so, especially in the middle of the book, every page-turn required a pause to crack that page open more to make the inside edge readable. These things pull the reader out of the story.
But, despite these drawbacks, I’m looking forward to the next episode. Maybe I’ll contact the publisher and see if they need an additional proofreader.
December 24, 2024
It's no secret that the author drew inspiration from Star Wars for this book - but under the expert pen of John C. Wright it is a wholly unique and fascinating story world all its own. The tension never lets up from beginning to end. The story blends hard science with the "magic" of space opera. This is clearly written as the first chapter of a much larger whole. It raises a lot of fascinating questions. I'm very keen to see where the series is headed.
October 29, 2024
Fast-paced fun from the fertile imagination of John C Wright
The first installment of what stands to be a rollicking adventure of good vs evil, where the hero is heroic, the princess is plucky, and the mysteries don't come in annoying boxes. Looking forward to part 2 of this pulpy series!
The first installment of what stands to be a rollicking adventure of good vs evil, where the hero is heroic, the princess is plucky, and the mysteries don't come in annoying boxes. Looking forward to part 2 of this pulpy series!
December 7, 2024
Fun from beginning to end; easier to follow than some of Wright's other work: the scenes felt less random. But this is why I try to avoid reading series that aren't finished yet; who knows when the next one will be out.
October 3, 2025
Wow. Just wow.
I'm not going to analyze the plot or anything, but John Wright's writing is beautiful and amazing. This is the most satisfying read I've had in far too long a time, the work of a clear sci-fi grandmaster.
I'm not going to analyze the plot or anything, but John Wright's writing is beautiful and amazing. This is the most satisfying read I've had in far too long a time, the work of a clear sci-fi grandmaster.
October 9, 2024
Book 1. Action! Adventure! Pirates! Tyrants! Destroyed suns!
It opens with a girl witnessing the death of her world. Her parents' sacrifice gets her off it.
It then cuts forward in time, after the fall of the Empire, to when Athos, of the Space Patrol, is infiltrating a pirate ship, not only to find where they are getting their supplies, but to discover how his oldest brother died, and who killed him. During this time, he meets a Temple Maiden -- except she says she's not, she did not take vows. She does have the power to project herself through space. They discover many things. It involves free robots, fighting with spears, Athos's mother's having rescued a comrade, and much more.
There is another thread about an Imperial soldier, years before this happened.
More lies ahead.
It opens with a girl witnessing the death of her world. Her parents' sacrifice gets her off it.
It then cuts forward in time, after the fall of the Empire, to when Athos, of the Space Patrol, is infiltrating a pirate ship, not only to find where they are getting their supplies, but to discover how his oldest brother died, and who killed him. During this time, he meets a Temple Maiden -- except she says she's not, she did not take vows. She does have the power to project herself through space. They discover many things. It involves free robots, fighting with spears, Athos's mother's having rescued a comrade, and much more.
There is another thread about an Imperial soldier, years before this happened.
More lies ahead.
October 16, 2024
A well plotted story that is fast-paced and expansive. Characters have clear and consistent motivation. A fun, exciting read. I hope the next book in the series is published soon.
November 8, 2024
This book was great.
It mostly takes place during a solo raid by a space cop against a pirate ship. In this relatively brief period, it manages to introduce an expansive background to a bigger plot that would take other authors one or two novels worth of backstory to do. It made for a fascinating setting, in a future so far-off that it is hard to recognize. Just the kind I was looking for. If, on the other hand, what you're looking for is "modern era IN SPACE", look elsewhere.
It mostly takes place during a solo raid by a space cop against a pirate ship. In this relatively brief period, it manages to introduce an expansive background to a bigger plot that would take other authors one or two novels worth of backstory to do. It made for a fascinating setting, in a future so far-off that it is hard to recognize. Just the kind I was looking for. If, on the other hand, what you're looking for is "modern era IN SPACE", look elsewhere.
November 26, 2025
Far in the future, in a galaxy not so far away…
Starquest was sold to me as a loving homage to Star Wars, but a fresh and renewed approach to the theme; as a fan of both Star Wars and the author, I had to try it.
I had high expectations, but was still blown away. The prologue alone got me hooked on the first book; Book 1 got me hooked on the series.
The theme is Space Opera more than it is Science Fiction. Theoretically, the spaceships and supertechnology have a hand-wavey physical explanation. But the author does not waste your time explaining them, as the priority is the finer things in stories: Adventure, Romance, Revenge, Pirates, Space Princesses, and the Annihilation of Entire Planets.
The setting is clearly inspired by Star Wars, and when the narrative describes Recent Historical Events you will hear some familiar story beats. Fortunately, the author has a creative imagination and made the setting his own. There is much that has no parallel in Star Wars; the robots, for example, are much like the robots from Isaac Asimov, but inventors have managed to jailbreak them to circumvent or add their own programming. This lets the author put in backstory plots and setting details - the Rebels had developed a Liberty Code to give robots the free will to disobey orders, the Empire had retaliated by purging their navigator-bots - which would have been impossible if the author merely reskinned the setting by renaming everything.
Instead, the author gave himself the freedom to recreate the theme of Space Opera, but in his own way. Even those things that are similar to Star Wars get a fresh and unique feel, so it never felt like I was re-reading something I’ve already heard before. Since he is a master of the craft, the result is a gripping adventure.
The heroes are really heroic, and also Way Cool. Chapter 1 opens with Athos Lone of Star Patrol infiltrating a pirate ship alone by crawling inside a rocket engine and cutting a hole in the side. Then, he must sneak through the ship undetected, climbing on the ceilings with use of an ancient Mask of a long-dead mariner, whose death-mask gives the wearer his strength and stamina. And, because he was a lion-man, it also gives the wearer lightsaber claws.
The Evil Empire is really evil, and also Way Cool. Chapter 5 begins with the Empire accepting a planet’s surrender by landing a dreadnought on top of the capital city, crushing the former government buildings and anybody who didn’t manage to evacuate. Then the ship lifts off and blasts the rubble to slag… which forms a nice, flat parade ground, and the legions march out for the military demonstration.
You will not find hamfisted lectures about contemporary political topics. What political narratives there are, are fit into the setting proper, and are never overbearing. “Evil Empires are Bad, Liberty is Good, but the newly formed Commonwealth must prove it can keep the peace, let’s go on an adventure.”
“Space Pirates of Andromeda” was the most fun I’ve had reading in years. I eagerly look forward to the sequels.
Disclosure: I backed the crowdfund campaign, so I received an advance copy for proofreading. I was not paid for this service.
Starquest was sold to me as a loving homage to Star Wars, but a fresh and renewed approach to the theme; as a fan of both Star Wars and the author, I had to try it.
I had high expectations, but was still blown away. The prologue alone got me hooked on the first book; Book 1 got me hooked on the series.
The theme is Space Opera more than it is Science Fiction. Theoretically, the spaceships and supertechnology have a hand-wavey physical explanation. But the author does not waste your time explaining them, as the priority is the finer things in stories: Adventure, Romance, Revenge, Pirates, Space Princesses, and the Annihilation of Entire Planets.
The setting is clearly inspired by Star Wars, and when the narrative describes Recent Historical Events you will hear some familiar story beats. Fortunately, the author has a creative imagination and made the setting his own. There is much that has no parallel in Star Wars; the robots, for example, are much like the robots from Isaac Asimov, but inventors have managed to jailbreak them to circumvent or add their own programming. This lets the author put in backstory plots and setting details - the Rebels had developed a Liberty Code to give robots the free will to disobey orders, the Empire had retaliated by purging their navigator-bots - which would have been impossible if the author merely reskinned the setting by renaming everything.
Instead, the author gave himself the freedom to recreate the theme of Space Opera, but in his own way. Even those things that are similar to Star Wars get a fresh and unique feel, so it never felt like I was re-reading something I’ve already heard before. Since he is a master of the craft, the result is a gripping adventure.
The heroes are really heroic, and also Way Cool. Chapter 1 opens with Athos Lone of Star Patrol infiltrating a pirate ship alone by crawling inside a rocket engine and cutting a hole in the side. Then, he must sneak through the ship undetected, climbing on the ceilings with use of an ancient Mask of a long-dead mariner, whose death-mask gives the wearer his strength and stamina. And, because he was a lion-man, it also gives the wearer lightsaber claws.
The Evil Empire is really evil, and also Way Cool. Chapter 5 begins with the Empire accepting a planet’s surrender by landing a dreadnought on top of the capital city, crushing the former government buildings and anybody who didn’t manage to evacuate. Then the ship lifts off and blasts the rubble to slag… which forms a nice, flat parade ground, and the legions march out for the military demonstration.
You will not find hamfisted lectures about contemporary political topics. What political narratives there are, are fit into the setting proper, and are never overbearing. “Evil Empires are Bad, Liberty is Good, but the newly formed Commonwealth must prove it can keep the peace, let’s go on an adventure.”
“Space Pirates of Andromeda” was the most fun I’ve had reading in years. I eagerly look forward to the sequels.
Disclosure: I backed the crowdfund campaign, so I received an advance copy for proofreading. I was not paid for this service.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews