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Starquest #3
Catburglar of the Constellations
Yearning for the pulp days, when glorious yarns were spun of great deeds?
Fret not! Grandmaster Wright here pens a triumph of Space Opera!
The Greatest Empire, defeated but not destroyed, hidden in the outer stars, grows once more, gathering might both military and supernatural.
Crime flourishes amid the core stars. The most cunning phantom thief of all, the Merry Catburglar, can walk through walls, see through security, and not be caught! But when she encounters the masked and black robed Faceless Man, First of the Four Dark Overlords, she faces a menace beyond mortal!
Nightshadow, unseen, immaterial, is a master of espionage, able to cloud men's minds. But when he encounters an adept able to cloud his, he is overshadowed.
Centurion Ansteel 3-10-ZL, loyal clone-trooper of the Inquisition, is called before the Grand Inquisitor himself, to have his heart and soul sifted by supernal arts, forbidden in the Empire. Have the warlocks and templars he spent his life hunting and harassing taken secret control of the Imperial worlds? Who are his true enemies?
Where is Arcadia, the lost world holding the sole hope of salvation against the Dark Will?
Read On! For All True Tales are but Part of a Greater!
Fret not! Grandmaster Wright here pens a triumph of Space Opera!
The Greatest Empire, defeated but not destroyed, hidden in the outer stars, grows once more, gathering might both military and supernatural.
Crime flourishes amid the core stars. The most cunning phantom thief of all, the Merry Catburglar, can walk through walls, see through security, and not be caught! But when she encounters the masked and black robed Faceless Man, First of the Four Dark Overlords, she faces a menace beyond mortal!
Nightshadow, unseen, immaterial, is a master of espionage, able to cloud men's minds. But when he encounters an adept able to cloud his, he is overshadowed.
Centurion Ansteel 3-10-ZL, loyal clone-trooper of the Inquisition, is called before the Grand Inquisitor himself, to have his heart and soul sifted by supernal arts, forbidden in the Empire. Have the warlocks and templars he spent his life hunting and harassing taken secret control of the Imperial worlds? Who are his true enemies?
Where is Arcadia, the lost world holding the sole hope of salvation against the Dark Will?
Read On! For All True Tales are but Part of a Greater!
- GenresScience Fiction
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 13, 2025
11 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
John C. Wright
146 books453 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 18, 2025
This is the third book of the Starquest Series and it goes down like popcorn. Maybe buffalo wings. It’s tighter and more consistent than book two, and does a better job of weaving the big plot arcs around the central story (about a jewel heist). Risking a spoiler: a whole sequence of events I thought was a flashback to the distant past…wasn’t! Awesome.
July 3, 2025
This series just gets better and better!
I have literally no complaints. This was everything I wanted and more.
I have literally no complaints. This was everything I wanted and more.
June 2, 2025
Starquest book 3. Spoilers for the earlier books ahead.
We follow several characters in this volume.
A flashback to Lyra's past as a Shrine Maiden and her conflicts and discoveries -- finally to the departure that will put her in the future we already know.
A character already introduced gets the set-up to be the Merry Catburglar of the title.
Napoleon Lone intrigues as best he can.
And Ansteel, introduced in the first volume as an Imperial, gets his story tied firmly into the main plotline.
We follow several characters in this volume.
A flashback to Lyra's past as a Shrine Maiden and her conflicts and discoveries -- finally to the departure that will put her in the future we already know.
A character already introduced gets the set-up to be the Merry Catburglar of the title.
Napoleon Lone intrigues as best he can.
And Ansteel, introduced in the first volume as an Imperial, gets his story tied firmly into the main plotline.
November 26, 2025
In this third book, we get introduced to some new characters and plotlines, and the theme gets some new and darker flavors...
The new and titular plotline adds an air of criminal hijinx, with somebody who appears to see herself as some sort of righteous rogue stealing priceless treasures in the hands of unrightful owners, but she has allies of unknown motivations. I rather like the crime drama and intrigue, another consonant note in the chord of themes. It also has the first true Mystical Swordfight Against an Overwhelming Foe; it's about time we had one of those.
The Nightshadow, one of my favorite characters, also moves to center stage, allowing us to see into the mystery of what he's doing, and see more of the organized crime network he is playing with fire by opposing.
My favorite part was the interrogation with the Deathguard Centurion, which suddenly takes a turn into deep waters I did not expect. That exchange gave me goosebumps like most books can't.
I also really loved the characterization of the Empire; it gets more exposition on what makes it specifically evil beyond the Evil Empire Standard Package of killing people and blowing up planets. The "widespread foundation of Official Lies" narrative helps makes it a villainy worthy of True Adventure Heroes.
Disclosure: I backed the crowdfund campaign, so I received an advance copy for proofreading. I was not paid for this service.
The new and titular plotline adds an air of criminal hijinx, with somebody who appears to see herself as some sort of righteous rogue stealing priceless treasures in the hands of unrightful owners, but she has allies of unknown motivations. I rather like the crime drama and intrigue, another consonant note in the chord of themes. It also has the first true Mystical Swordfight Against an Overwhelming Foe; it's about time we had one of those.
The Nightshadow, one of my favorite characters, also moves to center stage, allowing us to see into the mystery of what he's doing, and see more of the organized crime network he is playing with fire by opposing.
My favorite part was the interrogation with the Deathguard Centurion, which suddenly takes a turn into deep waters I did not expect. That exchange gave me goosebumps like most books can't.
I also really loved the characterization of the Empire; it gets more exposition on what makes it specifically evil beyond the Evil Empire Standard Package of killing people and blowing up planets. The "widespread foundation of Official Lies" narrative helps makes it a villainy worthy of True Adventure Heroes.
Disclosure: I backed the crowdfund campaign, so I received an advance copy for proofreading. I was not paid for this service.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews