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Starquest #4
Outlaw of the Outer Stars
Lord Famine, most subtle of the Four Dark Overlords, lives again! What ominous meaning is here?
Nightshadow encounters an adept able to cloud his all-seeing astral sight! How can dark arts darker than his own be overcome? How can the source of the corruption of Septentrion be found?
Loyal Centurion Flint unearths the sinister secret of the Inquisition he serves! Starquest the Templar, nemesis of Empire, demands he seize his destiny! Is he Flint or Thret, Centurion or Squire? Ansteel cannot flee the final, fatal decision!
Where will the Merry Catburglar strike next?
Where is Arcadia?
DANGERS AND WONDERS AWAIT IN OUR NEXT EXCITING INSTALLMENT!
Nightshadow encounters an adept able to cloud his all-seeing astral sight! How can dark arts darker than his own be overcome? How can the source of the corruption of Septentrion be found?
Loyal Centurion Flint unearths the sinister secret of the Inquisition he serves! Starquest the Templar, nemesis of Empire, demands he seize his destiny! Is he Flint or Thret, Centurion or Squire? Ansteel cannot flee the final, fatal decision!
Where will the Merry Catburglar strike next?
Where is Arcadia?
DANGERS AND WONDERS AWAIT IN OUR NEXT EXCITING INSTALLMENT!
394 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 24, 2025
6 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
John C. Wright
137 books450 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 4, 2025
Another great beach read from Wright’s pulpy homage to Star Wars. In this, the 4th book,the overarching plot is well on its way, with Lyra, Athos, and Flint getting themselves in ever deeper trouble. Most of the book we spend with Athos, himself, who is in very deep, indeed. Frogs everywhere.
July 26, 2025
The best space opera being written
John C. Wright continues to show why he is the best active SF and fantasy writer today. I look forward to the next installment.
John C. Wright continues to show why he is the best active SF and fantasy writer today. I look forward to the next installment.
December 15, 2025
Another excellent entry in the Starquest series!
July 20, 2025
The adventures continue!
This one provides more history, giving us enough, in fact, to date and place these stories relative to us, and also hints about the many races of this era (perhaps more explicable to us than to those who talk of them).
It opens with Athos fighting a pirate duel to the death (and a surprising note of pathos at the end). It goes on with Flint's training, and earlier, how he met with the friend he later killed; Lyra as a Shrine Maiden and more; Nightshade facing failure; Athos's earlier romantic days; and more.
This one provides more history, giving us enough, in fact, to date and place these stories relative to us, and also hints about the many races of this era (perhaps more explicable to us than to those who talk of them).
It opens with Athos fighting a pirate duel to the death (and a surprising note of pathos at the end). It goes on with Flint's training, and earlier, how he met with the friend he later killed; Lyra as a Shrine Maiden and more; Nightshade facing failure; Athos's earlier romantic days; and more.
November 26, 2025
Although Starquest is a single series, so far all of the books have had a different "feel" to them... This one builds up to the sort of explosive denouement I expect from Space Opera.
The rest of the plot is colorful too - I love the Secret Double Agent plotline, as the hero infiltrates the same pirates that nearly killed him. As I've come to expect from the author, the characters are colorful and have interesting motivations, deeper than you usually expect from a fun adventure story, even if they're pirates of a rather horrid disposition. My favorite pirate is the giant spider, from a race of anarchists, who raise themselves without social obligations and thus make "what's in it for me?" into the core of their philosophy.
The book brushes on deeper themes as well, and quite touchingly. The first chapter is capped with a moving scene of compassion for a defeated enemy who once treated the hero quite cruelly. I also liked how the lore exposition cast some events from the earlier books into a different light - one of my favorite things a writer can do when building a long series.
But if you don't care about all that, and just want to read about nuclear devastation... You won't be disappointed.
Disclosure: I backed the original crowdfund, so I received an advance copy for proofreading. I was not paid for this service.
The rest of the plot is colorful too - I love the Secret Double Agent plotline, as the hero infiltrates the same pirates that nearly killed him. As I've come to expect from the author, the characters are colorful and have interesting motivations, deeper than you usually expect from a fun adventure story, even if they're pirates of a rather horrid disposition. My favorite pirate is the giant spider, from a race of anarchists, who raise themselves without social obligations and thus make "what's in it for me?" into the core of their philosophy.
The book brushes on deeper themes as well, and quite touchingly. The first chapter is capped with a moving scene of compassion for a defeated enemy who once treated the hero quite cruelly. I also liked how the lore exposition cast some events from the earlier books into a different light - one of my favorite things a writer can do when building a long series.
But if you don't care about all that, and just want to read about nuclear devastation... You won't be disappointed.
Disclosure: I backed the original crowdfund, so I received an advance copy for proofreading. I was not paid for this service.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews