What do you think?
Rate this book
Axiom #3
The Forbidden Stars
This “witty, heartfelt sci-fi romp” is the dazzling third installment in a diverse space opera series for fans of The Expanse and John Scalzi’s The Collapsing Empire—from a Hugo Award–winning author (Tor.com) The ancient alien gods are waking up—and there’s only one spaceship crew ready to stop them . . . Aliens known as the Liars gave humanity access to the stars through twenty-nine wormholes. They didn’t mention that other aliens, the ancient, tyrannical—but thankfully sleeping—Axiom occupied all the other systems. When the twenty-ninth fell silent, humanity chalked it up to radical separatists and moved on. But now, on board the White Raven, Captain Callie and her crew of Axiom-hunters receive word that the twenty-ninth colony may have met a very different fate. With their bridge generator, they skip past the wormhole—and discover another Axiom project, fully awake, and poised to pour through the wormhole gate into all the worlds of humanity . . .
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 8, 2019
114 people are currently reading
649 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
August 16, 2020
Entertaining, in a Star Trek deus ex machina kind of way.
You know that episode where they use their skills to avoid the baddie, then bump into the baddie in a different place, and then they pull out their sophisticated computer thing, and cleverly get out of hard place? But then there is another obstacle that courageous maneuvers overcome with good planning, although maybe it doesn't seem so at the time, because the Captain had A Plan All Along? Then, even though they are on the edge of the nowhere in the universe, they decide to take on the Big Baddie For Real because it could mean The End Of All Living Things, so why not, even though it's only Enterprise/Voyager/Discovery against a fleet, but never worry, because they've got technology and Human Ingenuity on their side?
It's pretty much like that, only instead of Klingons/Romulans/Borg/Dominion, we've got squid.
"'If there’s Axiom shit behind this, and I bet there is, we need to comprehensively ruin that, too.'
'Hurray, a goal,' Ashok said. 'How should we start?'”
I liked it, even though it wasn't nearly as good as the first in the series, All the Wrong Stars, which delighted and surprised me by turns. Something about this felt expected, more like the third episode of a movie--Die Hard 3, if you will--where we're doing the familiar thing and making the familiar jokes and we know it's all going to turn out cool. More predictable and yet less sensible, if you can catch my drift. Which, if it doesn't, then you are totally not the candidate for reading this book.
Wilfred gaped. 'I… we… I’m going to have to check on that, and get confirmation…'
'Of course. Trust, but verify, just like it says in the Bible,' Ashok said."
Note: I skipped the second book because reviews from friends who loved both the first book and this one were kind of lukewarm. For what it's worth, I did add both this book and the first to my library, and I'm definitely not sorry to have spent actual dollars on it. Similar to Finder, The Expanse, Retribution Falls, and, you know, that sort of rogues in space thing (see, I didn't say Firefly).
Three and a half stars, rounding down today because it really wasn't as fab as the first book.
You know that episode where they use their skills to avoid the baddie, then bump into the baddie in a different place, and then they pull out their sophisticated computer thing, and cleverly get out of hard place? But then there is another obstacle that courageous maneuvers overcome with good planning, although maybe it doesn't seem so at the time, because the Captain had A Plan All Along? Then, even though they are on the edge of the nowhere in the universe, they decide to take on the Big Baddie For Real because it could mean The End Of All Living Things, so why not, even though it's only Enterprise/Voyager/Discovery against a fleet, but never worry, because they've got technology and Human Ingenuity on their side?
It's pretty much like that, only instead of Klingons/Romulans/Borg/Dominion, we've got squid.
"'If there’s Axiom shit behind this, and I bet there is, we need to comprehensively ruin that, too.'
'Hurray, a goal,' Ashok said. 'How should we start?'”
I liked it, even though it wasn't nearly as good as the first in the series, All the Wrong Stars, which delighted and surprised me by turns. Something about this felt expected, more like the third episode of a movie--Die Hard 3, if you will--where we're doing the familiar thing and making the familiar jokes and we know it's all going to turn out cool. More predictable and yet less sensible, if you can catch my drift. Which, if it doesn't, then you are totally not the candidate for reading this book.
Wilfred gaped. 'I… we… I’m going to have to check on that, and get confirmation…'
'Of course. Trust, but verify, just like it says in the Bible,' Ashok said."
Note: I skipped the second book because reviews from friends who loved both the first book and this one were kind of lukewarm. For what it's worth, I did add both this book and the first to my library, and I'm definitely not sorry to have spent actual dollars on it. Similar to Finder, The Expanse, Retribution Falls, and, you know, that sort of rogues in space thing (see, I didn't say Firefly).
Three and a half stars, rounding down today because it really wasn't as fab as the first book.
October 11, 2025
I would say this about the trilogy:
The first book was amazing in a Mild Sci-fi Space Opera First Contact scenario. Evokes feelings of Arthur C. Clarke's - Odyssey and Rama series and Alastair Reynolds' - Pushing Ice without the necessary Hard Sci-fi elements.
The sequel builds on the premise laid out in the first but lacking the awe it evokes with the Alien 👽 elements that intrigued me, while the last is an awesome conclusion to the saga so I'd rate the whole trilogy as a solid 4 stars.
A very interesting read all in all, so I'd highly recommend it for fans of the Space Opera and First Contact sub-genre.
2022 Read
The first book was amazing in a Mild Sci-fi Space Opera First Contact scenario. Evokes feelings of Arthur C. Clarke's - Odyssey and Rama series and Alastair Reynolds' - Pushing Ice without the necessary Hard Sci-fi elements.
The sequel builds on the premise laid out in the first but lacking the awe it evokes with the Alien 👽 elements that intrigued me, while the last is an awesome conclusion to the saga so I'd rate the whole trilogy as a solid 4 stars.
A very interesting read all in all, so I'd highly recommend it for fans of the Space Opera and First Contact sub-genre.
2022 Read
November 18, 2019
Real Rating: 4.5* of five
We're not under any illusions about the Axiom anymore, are we? They're the xenocidal monsters of which nightmares were first brewed, they're cruel and thoughtless and smugly superior...no, scratch that, they're oblivious to lesser life's reality and so find nothing or no one convincingly sentient except themselves. They're even working, while in hibernation, on changing the fundamental constants of the Universe! And all so they can prolong their own nasty existences (and those of some slaves to do the scut work, one supposes) in complete disregard of the fact that this fundamental alteration would destroy whatever life there already is in it. In spite of all that, here's Captain Callie Machedo and Ashok the engineer, the White Raven's Scotty, met in the middle of blowing the (apparently awakening, shudder) Axiom's shit up some more!
Some people don't want to live.
Or rather, some people are willing to risk death so that the Universe and its untold trillions of life-forms can, and will, live. An altogether more noble formulation of the same set of behaviors, no?
The rest of the review will go live on my blog, Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud, on the 29th...the first day of my annual #Booksgiving review-fest!
We're not under any illusions about the Axiom anymore, are we? They're the xenocidal monsters of which nightmares were first brewed, they're cruel and thoughtless and smugly superior...no, scratch that, they're oblivious to lesser life's reality and so find nothing or no one convincingly sentient except themselves. They're even working, while in hibernation, on changing the fundamental constants of the Universe! And all so they can prolong their own nasty existences (and those of some slaves to do the scut work, one supposes) in complete disregard of the fact that this fundamental alteration would destroy whatever life there already is in it. In spite of all that, here's Captain Callie Machedo and Ashok the engineer, the White Raven's Scotty, met in the middle of blowing the (apparently awakening, shudder) Axiom's shit up some more!
Some people don't want to live.
Or rather, some people are willing to risk death so that the Universe and its untold trillions of life-forms can, and will, live. An altogether more noble formulation of the same set of behaviors, no?
The rest of the review will go live on my blog, Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud, on the 29th...the first day of my annual #Booksgiving review-fest!
November 25, 2021
4.0 Stars
Spoiler-Free Trilogy Review Video: https://youtu.be/tn9ktLmfYcc
This was an excellent final installment to the Axiom trilogy. Picking up right where the last book left off, this book jumps right into the action with little time wasted on recapping past events. As the third book in the series, readers should not read this one until they have read The Wrong Stars as well as the Forbidden Stars. This trilogy is highly bingeable so readers can easily catch up.
I always pitch this series as “The Expanse meets The Wayfarers”, although these books certainly stand on their own. This book has the epicness of The Expanse (with less politics) and the diverse, well developed characters of the Wayfarers series. If you are looking for another fantastic space opera to pick up, this should be it.
Without giving away any spoilers, this trilogy ends strong with an entertaining and satisfying conclusion. When so many series have disappointing endings, it is refreshing to find a series that ends as strongly as it started.
Compared to a lot of other space opera, this series is quite short, in both page length and number of books. This makes the Axiom trilogy an excellent place to start for readers looking to get into the subgenre of space opera, but do not want to commit to a giant series of long books. Impressively, in a limited number of pages, the author still manages to write a well fleshed out story of epic proportions.
One of the best aspects of these novels continues to be the characters, who are entertaining and wonderfully diverse. There is great witty banter between the characters as they often use humour to diffuse some rather dire situations.
I would absolutely recommend this series to both avid science fiction readers as well as those new to the genre. There are just so many reasons to love these books.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Angry Robot Books.
Spoiler-Free Trilogy Review Video: https://youtu.be/tn9ktLmfYcc
This was an excellent final installment to the Axiom trilogy. Picking up right where the last book left off, this book jumps right into the action with little time wasted on recapping past events. As the third book in the series, readers should not read this one until they have read The Wrong Stars as well as the Forbidden Stars. This trilogy is highly bingeable so readers can easily catch up.
I always pitch this series as “The Expanse meets The Wayfarers”, although these books certainly stand on their own. This book has the epicness of The Expanse (with less politics) and the diverse, well developed characters of the Wayfarers series. If you are looking for another fantastic space opera to pick up, this should be it.
Without giving away any spoilers, this trilogy ends strong with an entertaining and satisfying conclusion. When so many series have disappointing endings, it is refreshing to find a series that ends as strongly as it started.
Compared to a lot of other space opera, this series is quite short, in both page length and number of books. This makes the Axiom trilogy an excellent place to start for readers looking to get into the subgenre of space opera, but do not want to commit to a giant series of long books. Impressively, in a limited number of pages, the author still manages to write a well fleshed out story of epic proportions.
One of the best aspects of these novels continues to be the characters, who are entertaining and wonderfully diverse. There is great witty banter between the characters as they often use humour to diffuse some rather dire situations.
I would absolutely recommend this series to both avid science fiction readers as well as those new to the genre. There are just so many reasons to love these books.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Angry Robot Books.
October 19, 2019
The preceding volumes in this series were a fun romp through the Galaxy, but only echoes of that remain here. In this final instalment, there’s only a couple of pages of real tension, little meaningful camaraderie, and not much new plot development. Evil alien overlords who used to be scary and all-powerful are now just cartoonish and pathetic. It felt like the author was out of ideas and just going through the motions - a disappointing end to this story.
December 7, 2019
More 3.5 than 4 stars, this book is fun like the rest of the trilogy, and wraps the storyline up in a mostly-satisfying fashion without sacrificing the possibility of more work in the universe.
Not deep, but I do not regret spending either the time reading or the money purchasing.
Not deep, but I do not regret spending either the time reading or the money purchasing.
May 30, 2020
2.5 stars
I really liked the first two books in this series, but this one just fell flat for me. I didn't believe the stakes because everything came too easy for the main characters. I also felt like the author tried to shove too much character development and plot reveals into the last 1/4 of the book. I was not impressed with the final reveal of what the axiom looked like, who the Benefactor was, etc. This book somehow made me less attached to these characters that I liked so much in the first two, making it so I didn't care about anything that was happening even if the stakes had been believable. Overall, I was disappointed in this one and I honestly would have rather the series just ended with the second one, even with the unanswered questions.
I really liked the first two books in this series, but this one just fell flat for me. I didn't believe the stakes because everything came too easy for the main characters. I also felt like the author tried to shove too much character development and plot reveals into the last 1/4 of the book. I was not impressed with the final reveal of what the axiom looked like, who the Benefactor was, etc. This book somehow made me less attached to these characters that I liked so much in the first two, making it so I didn't care about anything that was happening even if the stakes had been believable. Overall, I was disappointed in this one and I honestly would have rather the series just ended with the second one, even with the unanswered questions.
September 10, 2020
The first book was really tightly written, really well executed, without any unnecessary part.
The second book was probably rushed, and because of this, the first part way tooo long (the story starts at 40%), and way too easily resolved.
I was expecting a better comeback: but the third book is just the exact opposite of the first.
It feels like a fanfiction: the hero is the definition of a Mary Sue, she is unbeatable to a point where she is fired alone on the enemy as a torpedo. That was funny, but in a sad sense.
I’m really sad, because the writer feels like just winging it, and not even trying to create mistery or any meaningful story.
The second book was probably rushed, and because of this, the first part way tooo long (the story starts at 40%), and way too easily resolved.
I was expecting a better comeback: but the third book is just the exact opposite of the first.
It feels like a fanfiction: the hero is the definition of a Mary Sue, she is unbeatable to a point where she is fired alone on the enemy as a torpedo. That was funny, but in a sad sense.
I’m really sad, because the writer feels like just winging it, and not even trying to create mistery or any meaningful story.
April 25, 2021
lighthearted SF entertainment.
not as good as a wrap-up of the trilogy as i would've liked, and the same beats echoing throughout all three books have grown a little stale at this point.
RTC!
✎ 2.5 stars.
not as good as a wrap-up of the trilogy as i would've liked, and the same beats echoing throughout all three books have grown a little stale at this point.
RTC!
✎ 2.5 stars.
July 23, 2019
A space opera heist caper, where the target is an entire solar system, and the mark is a group of fascist aliens (servants of Mythos-esque, godlike, ancient malevolent aliens, who are sleeping but not dead).
Because it was structured as a heist, and because it was so enjoyable, I forgave the ease with which the tiny crew achieved everything they set out to do. The third time the main progagonist went in alone into a facility full of enemies, this time almost literally with her hands tied behind her back, rather than being put off by the over-the-top unlikeliness I just thought, "Oh, it's like when Miles Vorkosigan goes into the prison camp, naked and alone, and you know that it's everyone else that's in trouble. This will be cool to watch play out."
The banter and snark are fun, the stakes are high enough to keep up some tension without ever dragging the story into the dark, and overall it's a good ride.
I've read the first of the trilogy, but not the second; I didn't find that caused me any confusion, but I will go back and read the second one, because I enjoy these books so much.
Because it was structured as a heist, and because it was so enjoyable, I forgave the ease with which the tiny crew achieved everything they set out to do. The third time the main progagonist went in alone into a facility full of enemies, this time almost literally with her hands tied behind her back, rather than being put off by the over-the-top unlikeliness I just thought, "Oh, it's like when Miles Vorkosigan goes into the prison camp, naked and alone, and you know that it's everyone else that's in trouble. This will be cool to watch play out."
The banter and snark are fun, the stakes are high enough to keep up some tension without ever dragging the story into the dark, and overall it's a good ride.
I've read the first of the trilogy, but not the second; I didn't find that caused me any confusion, but I will go back and read the second one, because I enjoy these books so much.
February 22, 2020
It’s always a risk to jump into a series or a multi-volume story, like this one, and in general I don’t recommend it. It takes great skill on the author’s part to bring a new reader up to speed without boring those who already know the backstory. When I asked for a review copy of The Forbidden Stars, I assumed it was a direct sequel to The Wrong Stars. Wrong (excuse the pun) book, though. However, since I loved The Wrong Stars, I decided to take a chance. After a little coming-up-to-speed, I found myself immersed in the plot, getting re-acquainted with my favorite characters, and thoroughly enjoying the tale.
Having expanded across the galaxy, humanity considers its future bright. Sure, there are occasional territorial clashes, and aliens called Liars because of their obsessive duplicity. But when, in the first book, Captain Callie Machedo and her crew discover an artifact of an unknown, possibly extinct or unimaginably ancient alien race, the Liars react with horror. Humans are now on the brink of making contact with the long-dormant, genocidal race, the Axiom. The Axiom’s reaction when it contacts another sapient race is to destroy it, and they have technology beyond anything humans have achieved to do it. There is nowhere in the galaxy beyond their reach, and no species has ever survived first contact, except the Liars, their client race.
Now, in the third book, Callie and her crew, aided by their mysterious client, the Benefactor, are determined to bring the battle to the Axiom.
And we get to go along for the ride.
What a ride it is, full of plots and schemes and danger, and most of all, the resourcefulness and devious craft of our heroes. It’s such a joy to have a highly competent, terrifyingly intelligent protagonist as Callie. I kept expecting her bravado to land her in a mess over her head, but that didn’t happen. The result was no less dramatic but endlessly fascinating.
Having expanded across the galaxy, humanity considers its future bright. Sure, there are occasional territorial clashes, and aliens called Liars because of their obsessive duplicity. But when, in the first book, Captain Callie Machedo and her crew discover an artifact of an unknown, possibly extinct or unimaginably ancient alien race, the Liars react with horror. Humans are now on the brink of making contact with the long-dormant, genocidal race, the Axiom. The Axiom’s reaction when it contacts another sapient race is to destroy it, and they have technology beyond anything humans have achieved to do it. There is nowhere in the galaxy beyond their reach, and no species has ever survived first contact, except the Liars, their client race.
Now, in the third book, Callie and her crew, aided by their mysterious client, the Benefactor, are determined to bring the battle to the Axiom.
And we get to go along for the ride.
What a ride it is, full of plots and schemes and danger, and most of all, the resourcefulness and devious craft of our heroes. It’s such a joy to have a highly competent, terrifyingly intelligent protagonist as Callie. I kept expecting her bravado to land her in a mess over her head, but that didn’t happen. The result was no less dramatic but endlessly fascinating.
July 17, 2024
Would be an interesting series for a book group to philosophically explore life, death, and genocide? The action pace kept me reading but the “big secret” was very easily sussed from early on. If you like stories when there’s no nuance in characters (good folks are good always and bad folks are irredeemably evil always so definitely always kill them) this series will satisfy.
July 21, 2020
I love this series! And this is an excellent conclusion to it. There is a good amount of weird shenanigans going on in this book, but things were pretty well concluded, and in a way that made sense and didn't feel weird and too convenient.
December 12, 2020
This is it. This is the end of the series…
On one hand, I feel that satisfaction of a series well finished and rounded up but on the other, I also feel disappointment... Let's just get the positives out of the way first.
The Forbidden Stars was soooo much better than it's prequel, The Sleeping Stars. Where the second book felt like a snooze fest and was more along the lines of relationship building (of the sexual nature) and less action, The Forbidden Stars actually had a better balance of the two. Not the greatest balance, but it was better than the second book. The relationship between Callie and Elena wasn't in your face this time around and even had moments of flirting and banter that was actually cute and made me smile.
Another thing that I liked was the attention to the rest of the crew on the White Raven, we got to hear more from Janis and Drake, who are great and I just can't get enough of Shall's sassiness and Ashok's energetic behavior. Everyone was so snarky and sarcastic and witty that it genuinely kept me going throughout the book when things started to slow down.
Now onto the negatives. *Sighs* Boy, where do I begin…
I genuinely like this series, I really do. But my biggest problem has to be with the way Pratt writes his conflicts and resolutions. There's so many conflicts within the story that get introduced and resolved way too quickly that it drove me crazy sometimes. There always seemed to be a quick well thought up plan that immediately worked and went without hitch every time that it eventually got to the point where some of the conflicts that were introduced (late into the book, I may add) started to feel like they were specifically introduced just to create shock value, and if you know me at all, you know that I HATE when authors abuse that tactic. That's lazy writing.
For example (SPOILERS AHEAD-You know for those that skipped over the spoiler tag in the beginning) Janis and Drake meeting the Liars that put them back together wrong. They freaked the hell out to the point where it had me going "Oh shit." in shock...only for the Liars to apologize for what they did and fix them up with newer bodies in the next chapter. Like, I know now that this was a minor conflict but...why? Why set this up like it's going to be something big and huge and potentially triggering and then just go "Tee-hee, the Liars said sorry and now they have new bodies!" AND CALLIE AND THE REST OF THE CREW JUST GIVES THEM A SINGLE LOOK AND IS LIKE "Huh, neat." AND THAT'S IT? THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA GET?! Pratt what the actual FUCK dude?
The Benefactor being Axiom and Kaustikos was obvious. Them actually being evil was even more obvious (Though I enjoyed Kaustikos' attitude and snark), but the way Pratt went about doing so and revealing it was so poorly done that it made my eyes roll.
And then Ashok?! YOU'RE JUST GONNA KILL OFF MY BEST BOY ASHOK?! Less than twenty damn pages left in the book and you kill off Ashok, barely give us a chance to mourn his death when you go "Tee-hee, Ashok downloaded his consciousness into a black box so you can make an android of him so it'll be like he never left!" Huh? HUH???? This is EXACTLY my problem! The true conflicts always seem to arise too late into the book and then get resolved in a chapter or less, barely giving the reader any time to even process just what even happened! That's. FRUSTRATING.
...Wow that's a lot of negatives…
Yet despite all the gripes I had, I still found myself enjoying the ride, the character interactions and quick wit and little quips made the book more enjoyable and eased my frustration with the plot holes; not enough to make it go away but enough to leave me happy and somewhat pleased with the ending.
With that in mind, I'm giving The Forbidden Stars a solid 3. Not quite frustrating enough to be a 2.5 but not good enough to be a 3.5 either. It was an okay ending to a series with characters that I love very much.
On one hand, I feel that satisfaction of a series well finished and rounded up but on the other, I also feel disappointment... Let's just get the positives out of the way first.
The Forbidden Stars was soooo much better than it's prequel, The Sleeping Stars. Where the second book felt like a snooze fest and was more along the lines of relationship building (of the sexual nature) and less action, The Forbidden Stars actually had a better balance of the two. Not the greatest balance, but it was better than the second book. The relationship between Callie and Elena wasn't in your face this time around and even had moments of flirting and banter that was actually cute and made me smile.
Another thing that I liked was the attention to the rest of the crew on the White Raven, we got to hear more from Janis and Drake, who are great and I just can't get enough of Shall's sassiness and Ashok's energetic behavior. Everyone was so snarky and sarcastic and witty that it genuinely kept me going throughout the book when things started to slow down.
Now onto the negatives. *Sighs* Boy, where do I begin…
I genuinely like this series, I really do. But my biggest problem has to be with the way Pratt writes his conflicts and resolutions. There's so many conflicts within the story that get introduced and resolved way too quickly that it drove me crazy sometimes. There always seemed to be a quick well thought up plan that immediately worked and went without hitch every time that it eventually got to the point where some of the conflicts that were introduced (late into the book, I may add) started to feel like they were specifically introduced just to create shock value, and if you know me at all, you know that I HATE when authors abuse that tactic. That's lazy writing.
For example (SPOILERS AHEAD-You know for those that skipped over the spoiler tag in the beginning) Janis and Drake meeting the Liars that put them back together wrong. They freaked the hell out to the point where it had me going "Oh shit." in shock...only for the Liars to apologize for what they did and fix them up with newer bodies in the next chapter. Like, I know now that this was a minor conflict but...why? Why set this up like it's going to be something big and huge and potentially triggering and then just go "Tee-hee, the Liars said sorry and now they have new bodies!" AND CALLIE AND THE REST OF THE CREW JUST GIVES THEM A SINGLE LOOK AND IS LIKE "Huh, neat." AND THAT'S IT? THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA GET?! Pratt what the actual FUCK dude?
The Benefactor being Axiom and Kaustikos was obvious. Them actually being evil was even more obvious (Though I enjoyed Kaustikos' attitude and snark), but the way Pratt went about doing so and revealing it was so poorly done that it made my eyes roll.
And then Ashok?! YOU'RE JUST GONNA KILL OFF MY BEST BOY ASHOK?! Less than twenty damn pages left in the book and you kill off Ashok, barely give us a chance to mourn his death when you go "Tee-hee, Ashok downloaded his consciousness into a black box so you can make an android of him so it'll be like he never left!" Huh? HUH???? This is EXACTLY my problem! The true conflicts always seem to arise too late into the book and then get resolved in a chapter or less, barely giving the reader any time to even process just what even happened! That's. FRUSTRATING.
...Wow that's a lot of negatives…
Yet despite all the gripes I had, I still found myself enjoying the ride, the character interactions and quick wit and little quips made the book more enjoyable and eased my frustration with the plot holes; not enough to make it go away but enough to leave me happy and somewhat pleased with the ending.
With that in mind, I'm giving The Forbidden Stars a solid 3. Not quite frustrating enough to be a 2.5 but not good enough to be a 3.5 either. It was an okay ending to a series with characters that I love very much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2025
Violent, pacy, lots of things are blown up, and found family.
July 10, 2019
The Forbidden Stars is the third book in Tim Pratt’s excellent Axiom series of space opera sci-fi.
These books have picked up and hijacked some classic sci- fi plot devices and tropes – and taken them for a joy-ride. The Forbidden Stars is no different and it makes for a fun read.
A story of a found family fighting to protect everything and everyone they hold dear in the universe from an existential threat to all things – using more than a few explosives along the way – Reading The Forbidden Stars was joyous as I had missed following the adventures of the main characters.
With every book in this series, Tim Pratt has steadily levelled up his worldbuilding and expanded upon the previous works.
The Forbidden Stars ends with a satisfactory ending but leaves plenty of scope for more stories within the worlds of the series – and I for one hope there will be more to come.
Definitely one for fans of Becky Chambers Wayfarer series.
4.5 out of 5.
The Forbidden Stars will be available from 8th October 2019. (This review is based upon an uncorrected proof kindly provided by the publisher, Angry Robot, through Netgalley.)
These books have picked up and hijacked some classic sci- fi plot devices and tropes – and taken them for a joy-ride. The Forbidden Stars is no different and it makes for a fun read.
A story of a found family fighting to protect everything and everyone they hold dear in the universe from an existential threat to all things – using more than a few explosives along the way – Reading The Forbidden Stars was joyous as I had missed following the adventures of the main characters.
With every book in this series, Tim Pratt has steadily levelled up his worldbuilding and expanded upon the previous works.
The Forbidden Stars ends with a satisfactory ending but leaves plenty of scope for more stories within the worlds of the series – and I for one hope there will be more to come.
Definitely one for fans of Becky Chambers Wayfarer series.
4.5 out of 5.
The Forbidden Stars will be available from 8th October 2019. (This review is based upon an uncorrected proof kindly provided by the publisher, Angry Robot, through Netgalley.)
January 2, 2020
The adventures of the White Raven crew come to an end...
The Forbidden Stars is third in Tim Pratt's Axiom series, which began with The Wrong Stars back in 2017. If you're interested in the series of a whole and only want one book worth of spoilers, you may be interested in my review of the second book, The Dreaming Stars, which also includes a summary of what to expect from the first book if you add it to your TBR. In that review, I expressed a wish for the Axiom to be one of those neverending speculative series, where everything feels like a pivotal TV episode with its own satisfying wrap-ups as well as a contribution to a wider, slow moving plot arc. Alas, The Forbidden Stars confirms that the White Raven's adventures are ending at the trilogy point, and this is therefore the climax of their story.
All the core characters from the book 1 are back: Captain Callie Machado and her ancient (in the sense of cryogenic freezing, anyway) girlfriend Elena; Ashok the amiable if slightly emotionally unintelligent cyborg; Drake and Janice, survivors of what should have been a fatal crash and a subsequent phsyical rebuild by aliens without a proper blueprint for what humans should look like; and Shall, the ship's AI. Also on the mission is Lantern, member of the alien race called the Liars which originally gifted humanity the stars in a limited form, in order to prevent them from stumbling across the secrets of the Axiom. As it transpires, the galaxy that humans have come of age in is a galaxy that's controlled by a genocidal, warlike species convinced of its own superiority - that's the Axiom themselves - and while most members of the species are now in hibernation or otherwise out of action while they wait for some of their pet projects to come to fruition, they're not going to be happy that their place has become infested with another (vaguely) successful spacefaring species while they've been away. Though its fun to get back to the core cast, I missed some of the previous characters, and there's not really anyone new to love - the new robot pal Kaustikos, sent to join the crew by their mysterious Benefactor, has some fun moments but is mostly engaged in unsympathetic whining, and there's not a lot of time for any of the in-system characters to really shine.
Full review at Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together: http://www.nerds-feather.com/2019/11/...
The Forbidden Stars is third in Tim Pratt's Axiom series, which began with The Wrong Stars back in 2017. If you're interested in the series of a whole and only want one book worth of spoilers, you may be interested in my review of the second book, The Dreaming Stars, which also includes a summary of what to expect from the first book if you add it to your TBR. In that review, I expressed a wish for the Axiom to be one of those neverending speculative series, where everything feels like a pivotal TV episode with its own satisfying wrap-ups as well as a contribution to a wider, slow moving plot arc. Alas, The Forbidden Stars confirms that the White Raven's adventures are ending at the trilogy point, and this is therefore the climax of their story.
All the core characters from the book 1 are back: Captain Callie Machado and her ancient (in the sense of cryogenic freezing, anyway) girlfriend Elena; Ashok the amiable if slightly emotionally unintelligent cyborg; Drake and Janice, survivors of what should have been a fatal crash and a subsequent phsyical rebuild by aliens without a proper blueprint for what humans should look like; and Shall, the ship's AI. Also on the mission is Lantern, member of the alien race called the Liars which originally gifted humanity the stars in a limited form, in order to prevent them from stumbling across the secrets of the Axiom. As it transpires, the galaxy that humans have come of age in is a galaxy that's controlled by a genocidal, warlike species convinced of its own superiority - that's the Axiom themselves - and while most members of the species are now in hibernation or otherwise out of action while they wait for some of their pet projects to come to fruition, they're not going to be happy that their place has become infested with another (vaguely) successful spacefaring species while they've been away. Though its fun to get back to the core cast, I missed some of the previous characters, and there's not really anyone new to love - the new robot pal Kaustikos, sent to join the crew by their mysterious Benefactor, has some fun moments but is mostly engaged in unsympathetic whining, and there's not a lot of time for any of the in-system characters to really shine.
Full review at Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together: http://www.nerds-feather.com/2019/11/...
September 2, 2020
I needed a break from reading Harrow the Ninth so i started the next book in my queue, The Forbidden Stars. After reading some Harrow and finishing the second book in the series, The Dreaming Stars, Forbidden was enjoyable. It was not as good as the first in the series, The Wrong Stars, but many of the elements that made that book engaging were present in the last book.
Forbidden opened with action and action continued until the last few chapters. Action took precedence over relationship building, although some interesting backstories were provided for some of the Raven's crew and the Axiom. There weren't as many chuckles in this book as the first, but there were some.
Someone called the "Benefactor" dropped a clue at the end of Dreaming and more clues are added in the beginning of this book. These convince the crew to investigate the closed Vanir system where every ship that goes through the gate never returns. Callie and crew manage to find a way into the system and discover what has happened. They also learn more about the thinking and capabilities of the Liar or Free factions and the Axiom. For instance the Axiom are blind to certain flaws in their thinking which first became evident in the second book. There is a fairly well telegraphed twist that leads to the book's final confrontation and further points out the Axiom's deficiencies.
Forbidden closes with a major challenge and openings for future missions if the author desires to add to the series. I wouldn't read Forbidden without having read at least Wrong first, although you could muddle through. I classify these as decent reads, quick, not too challenging. Books for reading when you are forced to hang around some where and need to kill time. I liked the books well enough that I would read more of them if the author adds to the trilogy.
Forbidden opened with action and action continued until the last few chapters. Action took precedence over relationship building, although some interesting backstories were provided for some of the Raven's crew and the Axiom. There weren't as many chuckles in this book as the first, but there were some.
Someone called the "Benefactor" dropped a clue at the end of Dreaming and more clues are added in the beginning of this book. These convince the crew to investigate the closed Vanir system where every ship that goes through the gate never returns. Callie and crew manage to find a way into the system and discover what has happened. They also learn more about the thinking and capabilities of the Liar or Free factions and the Axiom. For instance the Axiom are blind to certain flaws in their thinking which first became evident in the second book. There is a fairly well telegraphed twist that leads to the book's final confrontation and further points out the Axiom's deficiencies.
Forbidden closes with a major challenge and openings for future missions if the author desires to add to the series. I wouldn't read Forbidden without having read at least Wrong first, although you could muddle through. I classify these as decent reads, quick, not too challenging. Books for reading when you are forced to hang around some where and need to kill time. I liked the books well enough that I would read more of them if the author adds to the trilogy.
April 17, 2023
I became very frustrated with this book about halfway through for two reasons: One, I realized nothing bad would happen in it; Two: It was clearly two or three books crammed together to wrap up all the lose ends. It felt very much like Pratt had planned at least five novels in this series, but I imagine the publisher did not want to sign a contract to complete the series as he saw fit. The result is a wholly unsatisfying conclusion that felt rushed and too clean for my tastes.
Some Thoughts w/ Spoilers:
There is no tension in this book whatsoever. Every one of the characters' plans go off without a hitch. Any time there is a setback, or a hint that a new hurdle is coming, it's resolved within a dozen pages. Even the "casualty" in the last twenty pages is retconned pages later with computer magic. The continued success of the characters despite any obstacle robbed the story of any tension, and the witty banter and smarmy attitude of the characters, once charming, became grating and insufferable. It's a real shame, because the first two books are really good at creating tension and intrigue. There is none in this. I quickly became impatient and just wanted to know how they'd resolve the Axiom threat (Also unsatisfying). The book is too neat, the ending too "good". In the acknowledgements, Pratt states that happy endings can be a good thing, and I generally agree, but this was not a happy ending. It was a utopic ending, and that made the novel incredibly unsatisfying.
Some Thoughts w/ Spoilers:
There is no tension in this book whatsoever. Every one of the characters' plans go off without a hitch. Any time there is a setback, or a hint that a new hurdle is coming, it's resolved within a dozen pages. Even the "casualty" in the last twenty pages is retconned pages later with computer magic. The continued success of the characters despite any obstacle robbed the story of any tension, and the witty banter and smarmy attitude of the characters, once charming, became grating and insufferable. It's a real shame, because the first two books are really good at creating tension and intrigue. There is none in this. I quickly became impatient and just wanted to know how they'd resolve the Axiom threat (Also unsatisfying). The book is too neat, the ending too "good". In the acknowledgements, Pratt states that happy endings can be a good thing, and I generally agree, but this was not a happy ending. It was a utopic ending, and that made the novel incredibly unsatisfying.
January 23, 2020
Bang up close, with betrayals, reversals, clever tricks, and explosions galore. Not to mention a happy ending with just deserts all round. Here’s my favorite line: “Callie, that’s not a tumor. It’s a ship. It’s a ship made out of meat!” Writers, you cannot buy lines like that, they must be earned.
January 29, 2025
A disappointingly hasty ending to the series, with key events in the last few chapters largely made possible by Callie and company picking up the idiot ball while having a massive security blind spot on their home base. It's not only shoddy plotting, it's OOC.
Mind you, I'm not saying that the crew's security should be utterly impossible for someone to circumvent. I'm saying it shouldn't be this simple, nor should it rely on the characters suddenly being incredibly stupid.
I also think the crew succeeded too easily in their campaign. Again, events unfolded by making the characters--in this case the antagonists--carry the idiot ball. Their arrogance was completely in character, but their suspicion and adaptability being non-existent strikes me as less so.
Mind you, I'm not saying that the crew's security should be utterly impossible for someone to circumvent. I'm saying it shouldn't be this simple, nor should it rely on the characters suddenly being incredibly stupid.
I also think the crew succeeded too easily in their campaign. Again, events unfolded by making the characters--in this case the antagonists--carry the idiot ball. Their arrogance was completely in character, but their suspicion and adaptability being non-existent strikes me as less so.
April 5, 2021
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5
Humanity was given access to a greater section of the universe when an alien race gave us access to 29 wormholes, bringing humans to twenty-nine new star systems. What the alien race never mentioned was that another race of beings, now known as the Axiom, controlled every other system in the galaxy. The Axiom are an aggressive, dominating race, but fortunately they've been asleep since humans gone out to the new systems.
When communication from the 29th wormhole/system has gone silent most assume it the result of internal strife. But Captain Callie and her crew of White Raven have heard that there might be something else happening at 29 - something that would be much more devastating to humanity - and so they pay a visit and discover humans who have been grafted with all manner of additional and strange limbs and other parts. The Axiom, it seems, are awake and running a human harvesting facility and making plans to attack full force.
This is the third book in author Tim Pratt's The Axiom series, and just as with the first two, I found this to be some really fun space opera. In my review of the previous book I mentioned that the stakes were about as high as they could get and having high stakes was a key ingredient in space opera. Now, of course, I see that the stakes could get higher ... and do.
There are some twists and turns along the way in this book. Just as we think we know someone and how they will react, they tend to surprise us. Some people will step up and make some life or death choices.
One of the things that stood out to me here is the action level. Pratt ramps up the actions and we have some all-out slug fests that are really page-turning. High on threat level, high on action, with characters who are flawed heroes - just what we need in some really exciting sci-fi.
Looking for a good book? Tim Pratt's The Forbidden Stars is the third in his Axiom series. This one is a fast-paced thriller with mad-scientist-like aliens bent on taking over the universe.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Humanity was given access to a greater section of the universe when an alien race gave us access to 29 wormholes, bringing humans to twenty-nine new star systems. What the alien race never mentioned was that another race of beings, now known as the Axiom, controlled every other system in the galaxy. The Axiom are an aggressive, dominating race, but fortunately they've been asleep since humans gone out to the new systems.
When communication from the 29th wormhole/system has gone silent most assume it the result of internal strife. But Captain Callie and her crew of White Raven have heard that there might be something else happening at 29 - something that would be much more devastating to humanity - and so they pay a visit and discover humans who have been grafted with all manner of additional and strange limbs and other parts. The Axiom, it seems, are awake and running a human harvesting facility and making plans to attack full force.
This is the third book in author Tim Pratt's The Axiom series, and just as with the first two, I found this to be some really fun space opera. In my review of the previous book I mentioned that the stakes were about as high as they could get and having high stakes was a key ingredient in space opera. Now, of course, I see that the stakes could get higher ... and do.
There are some twists and turns along the way in this book. Just as we think we know someone and how they will react, they tend to surprise us. Some people will step up and make some life or death choices.
One of the things that stood out to me here is the action level. Pratt ramps up the actions and we have some all-out slug fests that are really page-turning. High on threat level, high on action, with characters who are flawed heroes - just what we need in some really exciting sci-fi.
Looking for a good book? Tim Pratt's The Forbidden Stars is the third in his Axiom series. This one is a fast-paced thriller with mad-scientist-like aliens bent on taking over the universe.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
October 21, 2020
The Forbidden Stars by Tim Pratt is the third installment of his Axiom series.
The story centers around the crew of the White Raven going to the lost Vaneheim star system to discover what became of the human colonists and resulting rescue parties sent there. This at the behest of the mysterious "Benefactor" who sends an AI drone (Kaustikos) along for the ride.
Loved the setup. Wasn't thrilled with the execution and resolution. First, the lack of meaningful conflict throughout the book was a problem for me. The conflicts were there, but the protagonists blew through all of them with nary a stumble. The main planet was setup as a biological terror of a petri dish waiting to happen ... nothing. Thousands of Scourge ships? No problem ... poof their gone. Exalted Slavers performing hideous experiments on human chattle? Backhand slap them and take over everything.
The finale was interesting and finally with an Axiom reveal and a good one to boot. Felt a little cheated by the resolution but that part I could live with.
The story moves along nicely and I tore through this book in a couple of sittings. Fans of the crew of the White Raven won't be disappointed here as they show up in their sarcastic-snarky best.
Tim Pratt termed this as an end to the trilogy but it felt like there are more installments to come (or at least should come).
Overall worth reading if you were a fan of the first two books (which I loved). I wasn't as in love with this one but it was entertaining in its own right so thumbs up from me.
The story centers around the crew of the White Raven going to the lost Vaneheim star system to discover what became of the human colonists and resulting rescue parties sent there. This at the behest of the mysterious "Benefactor" who sends an AI drone (Kaustikos) along for the ride.
Loved the setup. Wasn't thrilled with the execution and resolution. First, the lack of meaningful conflict throughout the book was a problem for me. The conflicts were there, but the protagonists blew through all of them with nary a stumble. The main planet was setup as a biological terror of a petri dish waiting to happen ... nothing. Thousands of Scourge ships? No problem ... poof their gone. Exalted Slavers performing hideous experiments on human chattle? Backhand slap them and take over everything.
The finale was interesting and finally with an Axiom reveal and a good one to boot. Felt a little cheated by the resolution but that part I could live with.
The story moves along nicely and I tore through this book in a couple of sittings. Fans of the crew of the White Raven won't be disappointed here as they show up in their sarcastic-snarky best.
Tim Pratt termed this as an end to the trilogy but it felt like there are more installments to come (or at least should come).
Overall worth reading if you were a fan of the first two books (which I loved). I wasn't as in love with this one but it was entertaining in its own right so thumbs up from me.
October 26, 2020
I needed something light to take off my mind amidst of all “serious” books I’m currently reading. I’m also suffering a bit of fantasy overload; enter Tim Pratt’s Axiom series.
It is like Star Trek in a book, boldly going where no man has gone before... No, seriously, these books read like tv programs with lively characters and witty dialogue, quick pace, and each chapter almost its own episode. I adored the first book, and think it was executed a bit better than this one; regardless, Forbidden Stars too was a very entertaining read.
We already know the crew of the White Raven and find them in the middle of doing some “Axiom sabotage” under instructions of the mystical “Benefactor”. Upon their return, they receive another note from him, suggesting the White Raven to examine a section in the universe that has “gone dark” (meaning, it had human settlement before a bit over hundred years it suddenly got cut off and no one knows what has happened) and decide to check out the system.
Enter another Axiom project, with their servant Liars overseeing it; and of course mayhem and chaos ensues with our fearless crew doing their utmost best to spoil the nefarious project spelling doom for the whole universe.
So, why not 4 or more stars?
Despite the book was well written and the plot tight, I felt the mystery somewhat lacking. The plot was somewhat predictable, and I never sat on the edge of my seat, anxious for the fate of my beloved characters.
Regardless, a well-written book. Go on give it a try.
It is like Star Trek in a book, boldly going where no man has gone before... No, seriously, these books read like tv programs with lively characters and witty dialogue, quick pace, and each chapter almost its own episode. I adored the first book, and think it was executed a bit better than this one; regardless, Forbidden Stars too was a very entertaining read.
We already know the crew of the White Raven and find them in the middle of doing some “Axiom sabotage” under instructions of the mystical “Benefactor”. Upon their return, they receive another note from him, suggesting the White Raven to examine a section in the universe that has “gone dark” (meaning, it had human settlement before a bit over hundred years it suddenly got cut off and no one knows what has happened) and decide to check out the system.
Enter another Axiom project, with their servant Liars overseeing it; and of course mayhem and chaos ensues with our fearless crew doing their utmost best to spoil the nefarious project spelling doom for the whole universe.
So, why not 4 or more stars?
Despite the book was well written and the plot tight, I felt the mystery somewhat lacking. The plot was somewhat predictable, and I never sat on the edge of my seat, anxious for the fate of my beloved characters.
Regardless, a well-written book. Go on give it a try.
January 10, 2020
Tim Pratt brings his ‘Axiom’ trilogy to a satisfying end in ‘The Forbidden Stars’. The intrepid crew of the ‘White Raven’ follow tantalizing breadcrumb clues left for their benefit by a mysterious benefactor. These lead to juicy Axiom artifacts, Their first find is a fancy cross-dimensional Key, cryptically labelled for use on the ‘last day of the war’. Found in a vault in a pocket universe. Of course, since nothing could go wrong with such a device they are soon gallivanting off to the Vanir system, where a wormhole gate mysteriously has closed, cutting off a colony. Later investigators likewise have failed to return. It seems that something is rotten in the Colony of Vanir.
The mysterious Benefactor has implied that there may be something of interest to members of the crew to be discovered in the lost system. In addition perhaps to Axiom related stuff to investigate and to blow up.
A light-hearted and even jocular tone pervades the text. Our heroes never seem at too much risk, even when things are pretty dire. Captain Callie and AI Shall’s almost god-like powers of infiltration, and failing that just blowing things up prove effective in getting them out of scrapes. Also their opponents are remarkably dumb. Probably a comment on the state of our world today. Bad guys seem so dumb. But if that is the case, how is it that they have not lost?
There is a neat little twist in the tail, elegantly revealed at the conclusion wraps things up in a neat enough bow, and it appears that the ‘White Raven’ might be retired for the time being, though opportunity exists for Pratt to reuse the Axiom universe, which is replete with narrative possibilities.
The mysterious Benefactor has implied that there may be something of interest to members of the crew to be discovered in the lost system. In addition perhaps to Axiom related stuff to investigate and to blow up.
A light-hearted and even jocular tone pervades the text. Our heroes never seem at too much risk, even when things are pretty dire. Captain Callie and AI Shall’s almost god-like powers of infiltration, and failing that just blowing things up prove effective in getting them out of scrapes. Also their opponents are remarkably dumb. Probably a comment on the state of our world today. Bad guys seem so dumb. But if that is the case, how is it that they have not lost?
There is a neat little twist in the tail, elegantly revealed at the conclusion wraps things up in a neat enough bow, and it appears that the ‘White Raven’ might be retired for the time being, though opportunity exists for Pratt to reuse the Axiom universe, which is replete with narrative possibilities.
Want to read
August 15, 2019PW Starred: " The lightning-paced latest installment in Pratt’s Axiom space opera series (after The Dreaming Stars) launches the crew of the White Raven head-first into another deadly encounter with ancient alien forces. The first aliens contacted by humans, a race who call themselves the Liars, gave humans access to 29 other stars via wormhole “bridges,” but never revealed that the Liars themselves were hiding from a powerful enemy known as the Axiom. Allied with a secret Liar faction, White Raven Capt. Callie Mechado and her crew travel to the Vanir system to investigate a colony that’s been silent for almost a century. As with previous chapters in the series, nothing is as it initially seems, and Callie and her crew have their work cut out for them when they finally uncover what’s really happened at Vanir. Readers new to the series will have some serious backstory catch-up to do, but they’ll be rewarded by lively characters—human, transhuman, and AI—and wry humor (“I would be a wonderful battleship,” claims smarmy AI Kaustikos), as well as enough action and intrigue for three novels. Pratt’s high-tech universe of tangled alien half-truths and hidden motivations provides a fascinating setting for a gripping series that has plenty of room for future surprises. (Oct.) "
October 22, 2019
"The Forbidden Stars" is the last book of the Axiom Trilogy. This novel is the best of the trilogy and continues the story of the protagonist Captain Callie and her crew as they visit a the lost Vanir System in the Milky Way Galaxy and discover the fate of their human colony. Through their adventure they discover a deeper connection between a new faction of the alien species called the "Liars" and another faction of the beings called the Axiom which threaten all intelligent life.
This novel answers the questions from the first two books while inviting two new mysterious characters. The overall story is completed by the end of this book while a new smaller twist is included which puts the cherry on the cake on this fantastic space opera. Some questions are answered and there are a few satisfying and unexpected solutions by the end of this book. What I love about this series, is just how fun it is to read! I found myself finishing this novel faster than any book in 2019! I also did not fully expect the ending of the book and the conclusion made me give this novel 5 stars. The overall series I give 4 stars. This was a very strong finish for the author Tim Pratt. I can't wait to see what he writes in the future!
This novel answers the questions from the first two books while inviting two new mysterious characters. The overall story is completed by the end of this book while a new smaller twist is included which puts the cherry on the cake on this fantastic space opera. Some questions are answered and there are a few satisfying and unexpected solutions by the end of this book. What I love about this series, is just how fun it is to read! I found myself finishing this novel faster than any book in 2019! I also did not fully expect the ending of the book and the conclusion made me give this novel 5 stars. The overall series I give 4 stars. This was a very strong finish for the author Tim Pratt. I can't wait to see what he writes in the future!
December 5, 2025
Another book that I should have read ages ago, but the since the middle book of the trilogy felt a little "meh," I couldn't quite bring myself to pick it up.
Flash forward five or so years, and I'm here to tell you that Pratt does a pretty good job of wrapping up his creation. Is this the best space opera I've read in the last few years? No. That would be Adrian Tchaikovsky's "The Final Architecture," or, to a lesser degree, "Some Desperate Glory" by Emily Tess; books that have a lot of thematic common ground with "The Axiom."
Pratt's particular virtue is snappy banter, and he does a pretty good job of keeping his "one damn thing after another" plot rolling rolling along. There were times when Tchaikovsky or Tess felt like they were losing control of their material in their books, and I never had that feeling in this book. Though maybe Pratt made his mistakes in "The Dreaming Stars" and enough water has flowed under the bridge so that I've forgotten about them!
Be that as it may, in what seems like fallow times for smart space opera, I was happy to get back to wrapping up this trilogy.
Actual rating: This trilogy had its ups and downs, but since Pratt stuck the landing I'm feeling charitable.
Flash forward five or so years, and I'm here to tell you that Pratt does a pretty good job of wrapping up his creation. Is this the best space opera I've read in the last few years? No. That would be Adrian Tchaikovsky's "The Final Architecture," or, to a lesser degree, "Some Desperate Glory" by Emily Tess; books that have a lot of thematic common ground with "The Axiom."
Pratt's particular virtue is snappy banter, and he does a pretty good job of keeping his "one damn thing after another" plot rolling rolling along. There were times when Tchaikovsky or Tess felt like they were losing control of their material in their books, and I never had that feeling in this book. Though maybe Pratt made his mistakes in "The Dreaming Stars" and enough water has flowed under the bridge so that I've forgotten about them!
Be that as it may, in what seems like fallow times for smart space opera, I was happy to get back to wrapping up this trilogy.
Actual rating: This trilogy had its ups and downs, but since Pratt stuck the landing I'm feeling charitable.
July 10, 2019
The Forbidden Stars is the third book in Tim Pratt’s excellent Axiom series of space opera sci-fi.
These books have picked up and hijacked some classic sci- fi plot devices and tropes – and taken them for a joy-ride. The Forbidden Stars is no different and it makes for a fun read.
A story of a found family fighting to protect everything and everyone they hold dear in the universe from an existential threat to all things – using more than a few explosives along the way – Reading The Forbidden Stars was joyous as I had missed following the adventures of the main characters.
With every book in this series, Tim Pratt has steadily levelled up his worldbuilding and expanded upon the previous works.
The Forbidden Stars ends with a satisfactory ending but leaves plenty of scope for more stories within the worlds of the series – and I for one hope there will be more to come.
Definitely one for fans of Becky Chambers Wayfarer series.
4.5 out of 5.
The Forbidden Stars will be available from 8th October 2019. (This review is based upon an uncorrected proof kindly provided by the publisher, Angry Robot, through Netgalley.)
These books have picked up and hijacked some classic sci- fi plot devices and tropes – and taken them for a joy-ride. The Forbidden Stars is no different and it makes for a fun read.
A story of a found family fighting to protect everything and everyone they hold dear in the universe from an existential threat to all things – using more than a few explosives along the way – Reading The Forbidden Stars was joyous as I had missed following the adventures of the main characters.
With every book in this series, Tim Pratt has steadily levelled up his worldbuilding and expanded upon the previous works.
The Forbidden Stars ends with a satisfactory ending but leaves plenty of scope for more stories within the worlds of the series – and I for one hope there will be more to come.
Definitely one for fans of Becky Chambers Wayfarer series.
4.5 out of 5.
The Forbidden Stars will be available from 8th October 2019. (This review is based upon an uncorrected proof kindly provided by the publisher, Angry Robot, through Netgalley.)
January 30, 2023
The near-amateur level writing is very apparent after reading a long string of very well-written books.
I'm not talking about the prose, mostly about the story structure and the immersion and building of tension (or lack thereof).
Like in the previous books, the premise and setting are interesting, the characters are diverse and distinct, although pretty one-dimensional.
But my main gripe is the utter lack of stakes and urgency.
Even though the main cast is jumping from one precarious situation to the next (often literally), you never feel like any of them is in any real danger. The story is just a linear line that goes something like this:
Character faces problem, problem is immediately solved by said character or a deus ex machina takes care of it. Repeat that about 15times and you have the entire novel covered.
Extra frustrating were the occasions where a "major" problem/obstacle is encountered again a few chapters later (often increased in scale/intensity) and it is treated as a complete non-issue the second time...
I don't regret reading it, it's a fun little space-romp, I breezed through it in no-time, but I cannot bring myself to give it more than 3 stars.
I'm not talking about the prose, mostly about the story structure and the immersion and building of tension (or lack thereof).
Like in the previous books, the premise and setting are interesting, the characters are diverse and distinct, although pretty one-dimensional.
But my main gripe is the utter lack of stakes and urgency.
Even though the main cast is jumping from one precarious situation to the next (often literally), you never feel like any of them is in any real danger. The story is just a linear line that goes something like this:
Character faces problem, problem is immediately solved by said character or a deus ex machina takes care of it. Repeat that about 15times and you have the entire novel covered.
Extra frustrating were the occasions where a "major" problem/obstacle is encountered again a few chapters later (often increased in scale/intensity) and it is treated as a complete non-issue the second time...
I don't regret reading it, it's a fun little space-romp, I breezed through it in no-time, but I cannot bring myself to give it more than 3 stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews