Fuoco Blu (Astronave in Vendita Vol. 5)

Starship for Sale #5

by M.R. Forbes

Armed with evidence of Sedaya’s treachery, Ben and his crew seek an audience with the Empress. If everything goes according to plan, the duke will be brought to justice and the bounties on their heads lifted.

But since when does everything go according to plan?

The adventure of a lifetime continues in the fifth installment of the #1 sci-fi bestselling Starship For Sale series. If you like found starships, unlikely heroes, and intergalactic mayhem, you’ll love Starship For Sale.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook, Fantasy, Ebooks

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 15, 2026

About the author

M.R. Forbes is the author of a growing number of science-fiction series including Rebellion, War Eternal, Chaos of the Covenant, Stars End, and the Forgotten novels. Having spent his childhood trying to read every sci-fi novel he could find (and write his own too), play every sci-fi video game he could get his hands on, and see every sci-fi movie that made it into the theater, he has a true love of the genre across every medium. He works hard to bring that same energy to his own stories, with a continuing goal to entertain, delight, fascinate, and surprise.

He maintains a true appreciation for his readers and is always happy to hear from them.

To learn more about M.R. Forbes or just say hello:

Visit his website:
mrforbes.com

Send him an e-mail:
michael@mrforbes.com

Check out his Facebook page:
facebook.com/mrforbes.author

Join his Facebook fan group:
facebook.com/groups/mrforbes

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Find him on Goodreads:
goodreads.com/mrforbes

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bookbub.com/authors/m-r-forbes

Reviews

[Andrew✌️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting series, even if it’s starting to feel a bit long.

I’m still thoroughly engaged with this series, and Blue Burn is no exception. At the end of the previous book, Ben and his crew uncovered evidence of a conspiracy against the Empress, a plot capable of shifting the balance of power within the Hegemony. Now, however, they have to convince the Empress herself to listen — and that’s far from easy.

This installment is packed with events: Forbes brings together the cast from earlier books, mixing the current Head Case team with the friends left behind on Earth after their unexpected trip. The result is a blend of science fiction, political intrigue, and a fast-paced spy-thriller vibe. The change of setting works well: the Imperial capital is vividly portrayed, with all its luxury, grandeur, and the darker corners that reveal just how fragile and complex the Hegemony really is. Action dominates the narrative, and the twists come frequently enough to keep the tension high.

The ending leaves you hanging, with a mix of suspense and bitterness. Forbes continues his habit of narrative “push and pull,” especially when it comes to Ben’s illness: his search for a cure moves forward in fits and starts, often stalls, and this cycle of hope and disappointment can become a bit repetitive. It’s an emotionally important thread, but at times it feels more like a narrative device than genuine character development.

Still, Blue Burn remains a lively, engaging chapter that pushes the overarching plot forward with plenty of energy. And yes — at this point, reading the next volume feels almost inevitable.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, as a clearly episodic series., I much prefer when authors indicate that in the titling. Like Ryk Brown; at least he makes it clear that one part would basically be like one long book and that there will be 15 episodes per part.

While I'm being obnoxiously picky, I think I agree with many when I say, enough of the 'will Ben find a cure' tension - it's just plain annoying at this point. A space opera doesn't have to be a soap opera in space...

SPOPILER ALERT: Since M. R. Forbes left us in such an unsatisfactory state for this 'episode' I will just say that you could skip this entire book as Filler! Here a the big things that happened in this 'episode'

-Team Hondo jumps to a 'safe' distance to 6 hours from Atlas - the Empress' planet - in Head Case to arrive, coincidentally, when the crown price, her son, is being kidnapped. The crew of Head Case fails to stop the kidnappers during the 'Blue Burn' event and must abandon Head Case and flee to Earth in the Mustang.

-On earth, Ben's mom reveals that she's been doing research and discovered that Alonzo Dellacqua had a son on earth named David Morgan. He's a genius that's been manipulated by Alonzo and David's mother to hate Alonzo. To get revenge on the dad that left him, he hacks his way into Alonzo's network and discovers sigiltek equations. Genius David gets hooked on solving these equations. Badabing Badaboom. As a math genius, he is making progress and looks to be capable of creating new sigils and recreating previously discovered sigils.

-In true Team Hondo form, they end up fighting their way back to the farm after grabbing David from Stanford. David's mother tries to nab him and threatens him - David learns some hard lessons about family.

-Team Hondo says goodbye to earth once again to 'drive' the Mustang back to Atlas and Keep's underground lair in the buried city, Old Haydrun, from before the war. They are trying to see Empress Li'an and face some hair-raising moments getting to the surface of the city to sneak into the Palace.

-That's when Ben discovers that he can control Sigiltek in intensity and finesse. The control of the 'force's' intensity after activating it is a big deal - Keep has never heard of anyone able to do that.

-As a side note, Ben is still allergic to the blood catalyst and is still dying. David Morgan is his new hope of a cure.

-Team Hondo sneaks into the Palace and Alter makes it to the Empress only to fail to convince her of the threat from Sedaya. Once again, they flee and barely escape (as usual).

-They decide to hit up Keep's wife's old lab and asteroid base so David has the time and resources he needs to create a 'restore' sigil for Ben.

-They are there for several weeks before discovering the catalyst is all gone from storage and all is lost.

-Ben, about to die-with all hope lost, finally opens the 'Just in Case' gift from the Ackerman's and the Frasier's to discover it's a hunk of catalyst! Shocking! They rush to synthesize it in the assembler on the asteroid. David finalizes the 'restore' sigil in the nick of time and they are about to start the hour long procedure when................

TRUE TO FORM for this series

WHO should appear but another Gilded and the 'we all hoped it was lost' Dominator They drop in at the Asteroid base and easily break in. THEN........

SUPER SHOCK-Ben determines it must be the work of a traitor; he immediately blames Gia, without any proof, which is pretty out of character for Ben, but works for plot, I guess? Gia's promptly killed by the real traitor 'Alter'. Oh, and to boot - Alter is not Alter anymore - Alter has been consumed by Blorb - another Aleal. Freaking BLORB

-Sedaya's team is there for David, so Blorb takes David after killing Gia and leaving Ben to die in the lab. Ben can't even walk at this point.

-The Gilded takes the rest of Team Hondo onto Dominator , along with David and Blorb. Ben is left to die alone on the asteroid. He closes his eyes
AND RUNS INTO THE MOST OBNOXIOUS AND JAGGED ASS CLIFFHANGER WALL an author could think up

UGH!
I'll probably still read the next book, smh

[Dr susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent sci fi adventure

First: MASSIVE CLIFFHANGER! I'm not sure that I would have read Blue Burn if I had known about the ending, although it would have been very difficult to wait for book 6 since I love this series. David is a great addition to the group. The uncertain fates of several characters left me feeling like I did when I saw The Empire Strikes Back when it was originally in theaters. Multiple unexpected plot twists added to my dismay when the book ended. I will be chewing my nails until the next book is released.

[Olle Lindgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit juvenile but still worth reading.
I have read the first five books in the series and honestly got a bit put off when 'sigil tech' was introduced. A bit to isoteric for my taste really. Still, the general plot, the characters and the way it is written gave me a good read. I can always tell by how fast I read a book, if I like it on a subconscious level. I plowed these five quite fast, so I would be dishonest of me not to give a 'thumbs up' despite my concerns.

[John Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a great story / concept but I'm growing tired of Ben struggling for a cure to his cancer. I'm ok with authors stretching out their series as long as they don't overdue it. This book explodes in the last couple of pages and then leaves you hanging big time. Yes I will want to read the next but I feel the author is torching me with the main character's cancer :-)

[Martin Belcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m absolutely addicted to the Starship for Sale series. Blue Burn has to be my favourite book of the series so far, so much happens, from a flying visit back to Earth to a scary trip on the planet Atlas to a meeting with the Empress herself. The end leaves us on a climax of peril, Literally cannot wait for the next instalment!

[Paul Fernback · Rating 5 out of 5]

blinking wondering

There are some book s when you get to the end and you know that at least one more is out there in the ether or at least residing in the brain of the creator MR Forbes, then you hesitate and wait.
Boy oh boy am I waiting for the next and possibly last instalment of this series, which has been oh so enjoyable so far. Thanks buddy

[Robbie Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

crap on a stick

Holly Maloney Batman, M.R.Forbes has strung me along for another whirlwind ride and I want more!

Ben, Matt, Keep, Alter, and the others are so close to saving the universe, but… well you have to read the book to find out what happens. Some revelations, some roller coaster rides and some down right dirty double crossing, all contained within this one book…

[Timothy McClain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got sucked into an endless teen space pilot serial. Oy. How long can this kid keep dying? And now a plot twist seemingly put in place just to be a plot twist and you already know it's likely to heroicly untwist. Easy easy reading so there's that. And it's impressive to see a writer churning out books almost in real time.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serious cliffhanger!

Ben & the rest are still doing their best to both survive and hopefully strike a blow against the evil Sedeya. Unfortunately Ben’s health is growing increasingly at risk. I won’t give spoilers so all I can say is that the author gave an apology after the book ended because of the difficulty he left everyone in.

[Chris Brogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in the series

This book is full of action and intrigue. Lots of ups and downs. Probably a few more downs than ups. Lol. It moves forward in ways that people who are normal readers of the series probably won't expect. And a few that they will. It has twists on the level of M. Night Shyamalan himself.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although some parts of this book were a continuation of a wider story, and thus somewhat interesting, the book is clearly an incomplete story. The author even apologizes for the failure of the ending: "I'm sorry. I know I left Ben in a bad state, but the series isn't over!". The way the series is separated into books is just a blatant sales gimmick. I wish goodreads had a zero star rating.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uncertain how I feel.

You took a long time taking us no where! Like most people, I read for entertainment. This one wasn't very much that, I am uncertain I will be reading the next one. Maybe the rest of your fans will feel differently.

[Douglas Del mastro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing.

It would be difficult to really express my disappointment without spoilers. Too much padding and another cliff hanger. I have read many great sci-fi series with dozens of books in them but this one seems to be just milking me...

[Thomas P. Harkenrider · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE IT!!

I have been reading this series since read the first book. Plot is well developed, the characters well defined. I guess I must wait until I have the chance to acquire the next book. I definitely will some of your books. KEEP THE PLOTS ALIVE!

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Series

Brilliant series and non stop action from Mr Forbes.
Would highly recommend.
Please release the next instalment soon as you have left this one on such a cliffhanger.

[DUANE L KOCH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

What a book! Plot. Is there; in between the action is descriptive text that keeps you up with the it. Hope the next book is as good because I'm looking for Book 6 right now.

[James Arthur Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ends wit a cliffhanger

The book is sort of interesting, predictable but entertaning if you like mediocre books tat end with a cliffhanger ; you might like this book I didn't and I don't recommend it.!!!

[Laurie Link · Rating 1 out of 5]

garbage

I hate book series that do this, string you all with crap that we know needs to happen to continue the series. It should have bee done this book and let us move forward with all the other plots going on.

[Nanette Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

cliffhanger extreme

Wow what a roller coaster ride and enjoyed meeting new characters but this ride has some rough edges that are difficult to accept. I am hopeful the next book will have more resolution

[Bill Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good with an exception

The Peril of Pauline endings are getting a tad trite. Go back to a mystery is still there but not the last second hero dying trope. Not necessary only annoying.

[Michael R. Smith]

This was another extremely well crafted book. The author has created a dynamic novel which takes the story line into much darker terrain. I find that this story pulls me along like a tornado; I'm not sure where it's headed, but it's definitely a wild ride.

[Lawrence W. Jachimowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took a while....

This is one of the first series...that I have readed from this author...that I had a hard Time understanding where it was going...but now I do... Great Read so far....onto the next episode...

[Virginia Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are on the cliff's edge.

Ups and downs. Adventure, yes. Action, yes. Defeat, yes. Giving up, NO!
Our team is in a bad spot, but will devotion and heart bring them out of disaster?

[Patrick Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book, though a real cliff hanger, I can hardly wait for the next one. This is the 5th book, and it is a good series.

[Russell Witte-Dycus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read. Cliffhanger ending and the next book isn’t out yet.

[Mitch & Connie Traywick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breath taking

When things appear the darkest how can they get any worse? It appears that the old saying 'out of the frying pan and into the fire' holds true.

[bob rausch · Rating 5 out of 5]

It continues!

Another installment of the saga! This one read fast and I was blown away again! What comes next? Cannot wait!

[William l Hancock sr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild bill

Great reading as always quite the imagination Lee up the good work and I'll keep reading thanks william hancock.10 stars

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 5 in the series

Ben and the rest of the crew are zooming around the galaxy fighting bad guys and getting into trouble. Lots of space battles. A great story.