They tried to destroy our planets. Or way of life. They tried to send us into extinction. But we, the Coalition, fought them and won. That was a decade ago. We had assumed they were beaten for good.
We were wrong.
They’re known as the Host: a cabal of aliens seeking to dominate our sector of space. And they’re back—with help from a powerful new enemy.
Against their wrath, we must stand. We’re outnumbered and unprepared. If we lose, we lose everything.
But there is hope. An ancient race of long-dead but technologically advanced aliens called the Navigators have a ship called the Blackstar that could potentially turn the tide. That is if I, Kai Locke, a humble ship racer, can find it and learn how to harness its power in time.
If I fail, the Coalition will fall, and the Host will consign us to a distant memory. I refuse to let that happen. I will fight to my last breath for the Coalition’s survival.
A.C. Hadfield is long-time Star Trek and Star Wars fan and dreamed of writing space adventures as a young child. As an adult, he's now living that dream and writing exciting space operas in distant galaxies as well as our own solar system.
Author of the Carson Mach Series, Blackstar Command, and Vanguard Rising.
This book was hard to finish. The lead character was 17 and the book read and felt like YA fiction, not space opera. Please see my full review here: http://www.morebooksthantime.com/two-...
These days, anyone can self-publish anything. This is a perfect example. Strictly paint by numbers amateur hour. I gave it 100 pages, and that was more than enough. The story wasn't getting anywhere special, and the writing is so weak. Life is too short . . .
Kais ir puisis, kas grib irauties no savas smirdīgās planētas, lai atrastu savu pazudušo tēvu, kurš pazudis, meklējot sen izmirušas rases artefaktu - Melno zvaigzi. Forši atpūtos.
Action packed and boring as hell. One heck of a combination.
There are no moments here. No moments of surprise. No moments of enjoyable banter. No moments of great triumph. Just blah, boring, blah. You can almost sense the moments out there.
Potentially interesting characters are introduced and then we move on before they can become interesting. "You have an interesting back story, let's skip it and move onto the plot that nobody really cares about."
You don't care about the characters. You don't care about the big drama. Nothing feels earned.
This is the fourth time I have read a Hadfield novel, and the fourth time I give one five stars! Young Kai searches for his father, who disappeared while on a black ops/intelligence mission. He has not seen much of his mother, as she too, is an intelligence operator. Actually, he has been stuck on a poor planet, trying to get the money to get off world. (Without much success). He meets a notorious brigand, who might be able to help...for a price. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed. The world-building was great, the technology contained in the ship was really intriguing, the Veil was a wonderful concept... but ultimately, the characters and the storytelling were fairly predictable and didn't get me excited to read on in the series. For me, the "cool factor" elements of a story are always appreciated, but I want them to be in addition to great characters and a compelling story. In the case of this book, it felt like the cool elements were trying to cover up for lack of originality in character and story development. It was an okay read, but I don't think I'll be continuing in the series.
I barely got an hour into this book. Maybe I didn't give it enough time, but man, it was so boring, I just couldn't keep going.
It was hard to tell who the MC was, as perspectives kept shifting. But even when it was on a single person, the author gave me no reason to like these characters. It was as if the characters were just there to explain the world and what was happening in the story. The characters themselves were unimportant. Great premise ruined by a terrible story.
This was a pretty intriguing read. I enjoyed it, though I also wasn't "addicted" to reading it, as I am some books (looking at you, Sanderson). Neat premise, pretty solid world-building, and the sci-fi tech was not overwhelming, though some aspects of it were at the center of the plot (which is the key mark of good sci-fi). It was an enjoyable read and I'll probably pick up the sequel at some point to see what happened to the characters.
Kai and all his friends take you on a galactic adventure with the hopes of recovering not only an Ancient vessel but also his family. Well written and the story compels you to ride on with a twist at the end. Enjoy.
This was a good book, it could have been great. The idea was superb! I would have liked the mystery to have lasted a little longer. I believe this could have been 2 books but either way it was a fun read and I will read the next in the series.
This was just ok. There were parts that felt too familiar and some solid unique stuff as well. It's worth checking out if Sci-Fi is your thing. I'm not really interested in continuing the series though.
DNF at 5%. The starting characters seemed naive and wooden. The two "fated" events at the begin were too unbelievable for me. The wilful ignorance of space physics later on were too much for me..
I really loved this story. I miss watching french shows set in space and for some reasons this reminded me or them. I really want to continue this series now.
Dissatisfying. It would make a better movie. Sunday night 90s Disney movie sci-fi. Speeding the narration to 1.95x got me through the last third of the book.
Wanted to like it.. Couldn't do it. It's like listening to a scifi TV show. You hear the dialog, but you cant see anything. Non-descriptive and plain. :(
Felt like a new author trying to hard. It was sometimes confusing and it felt like the story struggled to make since. Because i love sci-fi it had continue reading but i want wowed.
Likeable characters but the writing felt choppy and rushed. This story suffers from a significant lack of world-building and the science fiction has little in the way of a scientific foundation. Needs more depth.
Such a well penned space opera. The likeable characters are very well developed, the universe intriguing and the array of aliens is fascinating. There are also some awesome twists, great tech, and riveting battle scenes. Conspiracy abounds.
Would like to read the next book right now, but I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait for it to be written!