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Starchild: Zero
🔴 I leave a trail of bloody bootprints. I never expected to die on this planet.
Red trickles down my arm, pooling on the grip of my blaster.
I was hired to Shadow her, report to her father, then vanish like a ghost.
But in the rain-soaked alleys beneath the old maglev tracks, the rules changed. One flash of a pulse rifle, one split-second choice, and now two bodies bleed out in the gutter behind us.
I’m running with Taliah Taiberos—the senator’s daughter.
She was never supposed to know I existed. A girl with wildfire hair and rebellion in her eyes. Now her hand is in mine, and every step we take together could be our last.
Because of the data token I ripped from the dead man’s fist.
I haven’t dared look at what’s on it. I only know it’s worth killing for. But the mystery nags at me.
Taliah wants to use it to destroy her father’s empire.
I just want to survive.
Stop the bleeding. Or I'm going to be the next corpse face down in the gutter.
The city is a labyrinth, and every shadow hides a hunter—their mirror visors dotted with rain. With every heartbeat, I feel the net tightening. I’m no longer a bystander. I’m implicated.
I’ve touched the secret, been tainted by it.
And on this planet, secrets get buried.
* * *
Acclaim
“Washburn is good at emotion and has an instinct for dramatic style.”
— Brandon Sanderson, author of The Stormlight Archive
“J’s stories share the quality that makes Star Wars immortal—their heroes seek not just to save the world but also the villain.”
— Bentley Snow, author of Six Fingers Left to Lose
“This author gets it. Washburn dives directly into the action of an original world that evokes the wonder of the Star Wars universe in all the best ways.”
— Raymond O’Connor, host of Running Off the Rails podcast
“Deeper than most space operas.”
— Joseph Bendoski, author of When the Sky Falls
★★★★★ “Absolutely loved it! Washburn is a genius. The next Orson Scott Card!” — Matt Drake
★★★★★ “STARCHILD is on a higher level.” — Tunk
★★★★★ “An edge-of-your seat story!” — Ashley J.
★★★★★ “Gripping from the first page!” — Michal S.
★★★★★ “I loved STARCHILD! Impossible to not keep reading!” — E.E.B.
★★★★★ “If Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy had a baby, this would be it.” — Melodee
★★★★★ “If you like spaceships, daring missions, secret facilities, or damsels who kick butt, this is a book you’ll enjoy.
Red trickles down my arm, pooling on the grip of my blaster.
I was hired to Shadow her, report to her father, then vanish like a ghost.
But in the rain-soaked alleys beneath the old maglev tracks, the rules changed. One flash of a pulse rifle, one split-second choice, and now two bodies bleed out in the gutter behind us.
I’m running with Taliah Taiberos—the senator’s daughter.
She was never supposed to know I existed. A girl with wildfire hair and rebellion in her eyes. Now her hand is in mine, and every step we take together could be our last.
Because of the data token I ripped from the dead man’s fist.
I haven’t dared look at what’s on it. I only know it’s worth killing for. But the mystery nags at me.
Taliah wants to use it to destroy her father’s empire.
I just want to survive.
Stop the bleeding. Or I'm going to be the next corpse face down in the gutter.
The city is a labyrinth, and every shadow hides a hunter—their mirror visors dotted with rain. With every heartbeat, I feel the net tightening. I’m no longer a bystander. I’m implicated.
I’ve touched the secret, been tainted by it.
And on this planet, secrets get buried.
* * *
Acclaim
“Washburn is good at emotion and has an instinct for dramatic style.”
— Brandon Sanderson, author of The Stormlight Archive
“J’s stories share the quality that makes Star Wars immortal—their heroes seek not just to save the world but also the villain.”
— Bentley Snow, author of Six Fingers Left to Lose
“This author gets it. Washburn dives directly into the action of an original world that evokes the wonder of the Star Wars universe in all the best ways.”
— Raymond O’Connor, host of Running Off the Rails podcast
“Deeper than most space operas.”
— Joseph Bendoski, author of When the Sky Falls
★★★★★ “Absolutely loved it! Washburn is a genius. The next Orson Scott Card!” — Matt Drake
★★★★★ “STARCHILD is on a higher level.” — Tunk
★★★★★ “An edge-of-your seat story!” — Ashley J.
★★★★★ “Gripping from the first page!” — Michal S.
★★★★★ “I loved STARCHILD! Impossible to not keep reading!” — E.E.B.
★★★★★ “If Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy had a baby, this would be it.” — Melodee
★★★★★ “If you like spaceships, daring missions, secret facilities, or damsels who kick butt, this is a book you’ll enjoy.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 4, 2025
124 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
J Washburn
23 books29 followersJ Washburn is the author of smart scifi and fantasy novels, including the acclaimed STARCHILD space opera books! He co-hosts the Start Writing podcast. And if you're wondering out his first name, check out
www.jwashburn.com !
www.jwashburn.com !
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 25, 2025
Excellent
It was hard to follow... I almost stopped to re-read several times... But at least it had a good ending (I think)... it was so disjointed I'm not even sure of that. I gave it 5 stars to honor the work the author put in writing it. Oh well... Moving on. 🙂
It was hard to follow... I almost stopped to re-read several times... But at least it had a good ending (I think)... it was so disjointed I'm not even sure of that. I gave it 5 stars to honor the work the author put in writing it. Oh well... Moving on. 🙂
August 21, 2025
Good Space Opera.
Normally, I’d rate this higher.. but the kindle app version has a number of ‘redacted’ formatting errors.. like this: “███████ Bloody Wing, huh.”
So until that gets fixed down one star.
Normally, I’d rate this higher.. but the kindle app version has a number of ‘redacted’ formatting errors.. like this: “███████ Bloody Wing, huh.”
So until that gets fixed down one star.
July 22, 2025
Nice work, J. I enjoyed it.
July 31, 2025
Don’t purchase this book!
Do not purchase this book. As I progressed thru this book I found. It was a slow read. It occasionally had a black marked out area or two in a page but it didn’t seem to interfere with reading. It made me wonder why they were there but I ignored them. Suddenly there were whole pages of blacked out rectangles (sixteen and a half to be exact). For some reason a big chunk of the story had been redacted from the book. I am a kindle reader user. Maybe it a condition that only happens in this format. Don’t know and don’t care. I only know it really shows that someone somewhere didn’t do their due diligence to insure the book was ready to be released. Not only will I not recommend this book to anyone. But I would not advise anyone to read ANY of the books in this series in order to avoid this possibly happening again.
Do not purchase this book. As I progressed thru this book I found. It was a slow read. It occasionally had a black marked out area or two in a page but it didn’t seem to interfere with reading. It made me wonder why they were there but I ignored them. Suddenly there were whole pages of blacked out rectangles (sixteen and a half to be exact). For some reason a big chunk of the story had been redacted from the book. I am a kindle reader user. Maybe it a condition that only happens in this format. Don’t know and don’t care. I only know it really shows that someone somewhere didn’t do their due diligence to insure the book was ready to be released. Not only will I not recommend this book to anyone. But I would not advise anyone to read ANY of the books in this series in order to avoid this possibly happening again.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews