The Widening Gyre

The Remembrance War #1

by Michael R. Johnston

Eight hundred years ago, the Zhen Empire discovered a broken human colony ship drifting in the fringes of their space. With only a third of the original colonists left alive in their cryo-pods, and the ship's computers damaged beyond repair, there was no way to know where the humans were from. The Zhen gave them a place to live and folded them into their Empire as a client state.

Humans are safe. But it hasn't been easy. Not all Zhen were eager to welcome another species into their Empire, and humans have faced persecution. One of the first humans to be allowed to serve in the Zhen military, Tajen Hunt became a war hero at the Battle of Elkari, the only human to be named an official Hero of the Empire. He was given command of a task force, but when he failed in a crucial mission, causing the deaths of millions of people, he resigned in disgrace and faded into life on the fringes as a lone independent pilot.

When Tajen discovers his brother, Daav, has been killed by agents of the Empire, he, his niece, and their newly-hired crew set out to finish his brother's quest: to find Earth, the legendary homeworld of humanity.

Genres: Science Fiction, Queer, LGBT, Space Opera, Aliens, Space, Fiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2019

About the author

Michael R. Johnston is a high school English teacher and writer living in Sacramento, California with his cats, Loki and Rory. He can be found at mjohnstonbooks.com and @johnstonmr.bsky.social.

Reviews

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

People tend to believe whatever will maintain their worldview with the least amount of work.

On my blog

Galley provided by publisher

Rep: gay mc, non-white side characters

Sometimes you come across a book that is basically the synthesis of all the best things in life. For me, this book was one of those. It's an action-packed space opera, featuring (best of all) LGBT characters! (Well. G, as opposed to L, B or T, but. It's a start.) Plus, it gave me distinct Star Trek vibes, which is always a good thing.

In The Widening Gyre, humans are a client people under the Zhen Empire, ostensibly because their ship had been saved by the Zhen many years back, and the true location of Earth lost. We are introduced to Tajen Hunt, a human ex-commander in the Zhen Empire fleet, who has spent the last 15 years exploring space in his ship, for reasons that are not initially clear. When he gets an urgent call from his brother, who he hasn't spoken to in a decade and a half, Tajen drops everything to go help him.

One of the reasons I really enjoyed this book was because of the main character. Tajen is a war hero to the Zhen, and not quite that to humanity. He's the highest ranked human in the Zhen empire, and the only one to be awarded what is effectively a medal of honour. But, he's also a ball of guilt and self-hatred, complete with some family angst, so obviously he was always going to be my favourite character (I have a type, I realise). And he gets to work through all that angst and guilt and self-hatred with the help of a found family!

Which brings me to my next point: the supporting cast. They were perhaps a little less developed than I would have liked. There were a couple of times I wanted to know more about them, but given how the length of the book and how much had to happen, I let that slide a bit. Besides, they still had some really good (and angsty) moments with the main character and he learned and developed from those, so. I thrived.

Another thing I loved about this book was how fast-paced the plot was. I often have very little patience reading books (blame uni), so an action-packed space opera was just what I wanted. However, I did think at times that there was maybe too much was shoved into it. Some scenes felt like they happened pretty rapidly, but could have had more to them, especially towards the end when it did feel a little like things started to get rushed.

And I guess that kind of translated a little over into the romantic relationship. There wasn't a lot of tension there. I mean, they were clearly attracted to one another, and they did have some good conversations. But the tension wasn't there and when they said "I love you", it felt kind of underdeveloped, honestly. I do recognise though that it was only secondary to the main plot, so that wasn't a huge issue. And it was so refreshing to see more gay relationships in adult lit that isn't just advertised as being gay.

So basically, I have one last thing to say, which is: read this book.

[M.E. Garber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A character-driven space opera spanning a wide universe, this story focuses on the human Tajen Hunt. A former loyal commander in the alien military that saved the final remnant of humanity, when Tajen failed in his final command, an entire colony got obliterated as he watched. He's never forgiven himself. Neither did his brother. But things get interesting when Tajen receives an unexpected and very mysterious message from his brother, calling him home.

The story is fast-paced, and I really liked the development of the Zhen race and culture, and how humanity--and the other client races--have been forced to fit in. The stakes are high, and only get higher as the book progresses. You'll be rooting for Tajen and his crew all the way, as I did. Full of personal snark and with a quick-thinking, but flawed, protagonist, I think this book will appeal to fans of Scalzi-style space opera.

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE WIDENING GYRE is exciting "hard" science fiction, meaning it's strong on technology, science, and space travel. In a future when the Zhen Empire rules the universe and humans are rated lower than an unwanted stepchild, former hero Tajen Hunt and his crew embark on a quest to locate Earth, humanity's original home planet, which after so many centuries has become a legend rather than an actual location.

Smooth writing, empathetic characters, and great world-building combine to make THE WIDENING GYRE a compelling science fiction read.

[Liviu · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it had a great premise and some early promise, the book became fairly predictable soon and there was nothing not seen many times before, while characters and prose were ok but not that memorable to raise this one above an average space opera; most likely won;t read more in the series, but who knows, maybe book 2 will have the
extra" - though given the ending of this one I kind of doubt as the predictable conclusion settled it firmly into the typical good guys vs bad guys next shootout to come

Overall ok, but far from fulfilling its early promise or the interesting blurb

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and fast paced space opera, entertaining and engaging.
The plot is fascinating, the world building very good.
I loved the characters and was hooked till the last page.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for this ARC

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review copy

Warning: The Widening Gyre: The Remembrance War Book 1 is the beginning of a series. The good news is this is a complete story. Should you decide not to read future tales in said series, you can rest assured you've read a great yarn. But, then again I can't imagine you not wanting to read the rest of the stories Michael R. Johnston has planned. The Widening Gyre is the best Space Opera I've read in years.

Recently, author Chuck Wendig has been encouraging his Twitter followers to read outside their genre. I try to do this periodically. I don't just read horror, although I read a lot of that. I also read crime, the occasional biography, and of course, science fiction which was my first love some fifty plus years ago.

It's nice to revisit those roots now and again and this book definitely took me back to the glory days of Sci-Fi.

What is it about? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here are some highlights from the official synopsis...

"Eight hundred years ago, the Zhen Empire discovered a broken human colony ship drifting in the fringes of their space. With only a third of the original colonists left alive in their cryo-pods, and the ship's computers damaged beyond repair, there was no way to know where the humans were from. The Zhen gave them a place to live and folded them into their Empire as a client state.

Humans are safe. But it hasn't been easy. Not all Zhen were eager to welcome another species into their Empire, and humans have faced persecution.

When Tajen Hunt discovers his brother, Daav, has been killed by agents of the Empire, he, his niece, and their newly-hired crew set out to finish his brother's quest: to find Earth, the legendary homeworld of humanity."

The Widening Gyre is a story well told. It has it all...drama, an epic mission, space battles, and a good deal of humor. What's more, there's this allegory for the way minorities are too often treated in the good old USofA. It left me wanting more and I can't wait to see what is next for Tajen and his eclectic crew.

If you're willing to read beyond horror, I can readily recommend The Widening Gyre.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, really, and for a good while I was going to round it up to three because it's not a bad book (I kept getting irrationally annoyed by it, but I think that's more of a me problem rather than because of the book per se), but then I got to the last fight and it felt so silly in the worst way possible that I just. Can't. (Why oh why are the Big Bad so damn incompetent when there really is no reason for them to be this incompetent. It pains me.) I mean, don't get me wrong, I might still read the other two books as well, but. Still.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This is a fairly standard space opera.
Although the characters are entertaining the story line is nothing that hasn't been written previously.
It was good enough to keep me engaged for a couple of days, just seemed to be missing something.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mini review soon.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Start. Loved the characters, the backstory, the world building and the mystery. Then the whole thing just seemed to stop. The end left a whole lot to be desired. This is book one of a series but while one mystery was solved it left everything up in the air. I will pick up the next book just to see how everyone survives. At least I hope they survive.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

[Lel Budge · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Widening Gyre, humans are a second class people under the Zhen Empire, they had been saved by the Zhen many many years ago and Earth’s location has been forgotten or lost.

Tajen Hunt is a human who used to be in the Zhen Empire fleet, a hero to them but after a military disaster he retired and now and spends his time exploring space in his ship.

He’s contacted by his estranged brother and races to go help him....but he’s too late......!

Tajen and his ‘crew’ then start a quest to find Earth, but the Zhen do not want it found.......what follows is an action packed, fast paced space opera, with great characters, some fantastic world building and lots of tech and weaponry. An overall enjoyable read.

Thank you to the author, publishers and netgalley for the opportunity to read a free copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest, unbiased review

[Alexia Cambaling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Widening Gyre is a fantastic space opera wherein humans became second-class citizens when a space empire rescued human colonists. The protagonist is Tajen Hunt, one of the few humans who rose to the military ranks of the empire and became something of a hero. Here, humans must reckon with their past in order to chart the course for their future. For our heroes, that means looking for Earth, the homeworld of humanity. What they find out, is of course not quite what they expected and the truth may be far worse than what history dictates. I really liked this book because it's a space opera and contemplates a future where humans are oppressed, lied to, and used, but their resilience and strength continues to shine through. The writing and world-building are consistently strong throughout and very enjoyable to read. The ending can be taken as is, but it can also serve as a bridge to a sequel. All in all, I can recommend this book.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always a good sign when I start and finish a book on the same day. It was a fun and fast paced read. I liked the characters and their banter. The world building is good with believable characters, alien races, technology,etc. If you like space operas, heists, witty banter, sarcasm, and/or are a fan of Firefly this should be right up your alley.

That being said I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars for just a couple of reasons. I think it might be a little too fast paced when it comes to certain events happening in the book that I can't talk about as they would be spoilers. It is possible this is because this is going to be a series and taking longer to get to a certain point would take away from what the author is setting it up for in the next books. I wanted the book to be a good 100 pages longer so that there could be some down time to explore the relationships between crew members a bit more.

Other than that and a couple of other nitpicky things that often come up for me when I am reading people's books set in the future (i.e. would I have written it that way or would humans 800+ years in the future make that reference?) I would have to say it was an overall successful book that I enjoyed reading. I am looking forward to the next book in the series and would highly recommend it to others.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first novel in in the Remembrance War series published by Flametree Press. 800 years ago the remnants of the human race was saved by an alien race. This novel follows the a daring space jockey as stumbles across the secret past of the human race.

This is a fun a novel that harkens back to the pulps without indulging too deeply. It reminds me of Star Wars without the Jedi. Like if everything just followed around a gay Han Solo, as he battled his way from one sticky situation to the next, always with a clever response to the situation. Anyone who prefers the X-wing scenes from Star Wars to the jedi stuff, should check this one out.

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Abi Walton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the plot sounded fun and exciting the writing was terrible and in the end, I could not finish it.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
The story has a good start but it soon becomes terribly predictable and full of contrived coincidences.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

We don’t expect much from pulp fiction—and this IS pulp fiction, written less to tell an engaging story (it doesn’t) than to participate in a fantasy others’ work originated--but this is thin and wooden stuff (last remnant of humanity! shipwrecked in space! alien overlords! struggle for redemption! nothing we haven’t seen before!) even in a derivative genre: as others here note, it’s dull, formulaic fan fiction, without anything that wasn’t borrowed from more skillful writers. Most of it comes off at best as a Saturday serial installment: Buck Rogers facing a midlife crisis.

The quality of the writing itself is truly bad: the narrative voice is dull and, sentence by awkward sentence, feels as if we’re reading a schoolteacher’s vocabulary lesson. Characters are flat, trite and unbelievable (a ship’s captain has a gratuitous same-sex relationship that does nothing for the plot), and sentences are confused, jerky in their diction and often fail the test of clear grammar and syntax. Somebody—from author through publisher—really needed to get an editor involved, here.

Even the title: this book is part of a trilogy (but of course), and each one’s name is taken from a single, well-known and oft-quoted poem by Yeats. It’s the sort of obvious and high-flown reference that screams that someone wants you to know he’s read a poem—but there are, literally, dozens of books that have already used all three of them. Literary, much?

All of this would be inoffensively mediocre if the book didn’t drip with pomposity and deep import—perhaps inevitable in a self-serious genre, though the writer seems to positively lap it up--whole sections are unintentionally funny. That’s perhaps the best way to see this book—the sort of thing that an adult who still dresses up as Obi-Wan for Halloween could just pull off: but genuine parody would require some knowing acknowledgement of how bad this is. The author here is dead—and deadeningly—serious. That’s what's laughable.

[Jacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Zhen rescued all that was left of humanity from a deep space colony vessel and for hundreds of years have treated them as second class citizens, telling them that Earth had been lost. Tajen Hunt climbed as high as any human could climb in the Zhen military. Hero of one battle, loser of the next he left the forces and now pilots his own spacecraft, alone by choice. When he rescues an old military buddy and her crew from marauders he acquires a family of sorts. They sign on as his crew when he gets an urgent call from his estranged brother. Come quickly, come quietly and bring a crew you can trust. He does, but he's too late. His eighteen year old computer whizz-kid niece tells him her historian dad is dead, but he uncovered a secret. Earth is not lost, and the Zhen have been lying to them. They know where it is, and Tajen must find it. That's the start of a rip-roaring space adventure as Tajen and his crew in The Dream of Earth set out to make that dream a reality. Unfortunately the Zhen have other ideas. This is fast paced space opera with good characters in impossible situations. It doesn't quite end on a cliffhanger, but there's obviously going to be a sequel. The next book is The Blood-Dimmed Tide, but don't hold your breath, it's not due until 2020.

[Christopher Gerrib · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met the author at a science fiction convention where he read from Chapter 2 of his book. I found it fascinating and so bought the book at the convention and had him sign it.

The story starts out as classic space opera. In the far future, a human, Tajen Hunt, a former soldier / hero of the Zhen Empire, is traveling back to his homeworld to take over the family's merchant spaceship. Things look interesting but normal, until he learns that his brother died in a suspicious accident. Oh, and we learn that all humans are descendants of a smallish group of survivors from a spaceship and they don't know where Earth is.

I've said before that science fiction is like a mystery story, except the mystery is how the fictional world works. In this case, the book is a wider mystery in that the way it appears the world works isn't the way it does work. Figuring that out is a key part of the plot.

The other key part of the plot is Tajen's struggle to develop a sense of family. He was estranged from his family and working as a lone pilot when the story starts. Adjusting to working with others is a key part of this book.

Overall, I found the book an exciting and interesting read. I highly recommend it.

[Anne Szlachcic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series but can be read as a standalone - the story arc completes but leaves room for future books in this realm .
The worldbuilding and memorable characters with lots of witty banter makes for an enjoyable read .

Humans rescued from their derelict spaceship have been absorbed into Zhen empire , albeit reluctantly by many Zhen . One such human , Tajen Hunt , rose high but fell just as low after a defeat in which millions died .
But after discovering that his estranged brother , Daav , has been killed by agents of the Empire he decides to take on his brother's quest to find Earth .
With his motley crew what they discover will shatter peace in the Empire … the Zhen have been lying …..will it put the lives of all humanity at risk .

This is a fast paced space opera , character driven book full of witty banter …….. but also shows how minorities can be treated at the expense of others .

I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnston, Michael R. The Widening Gyre. Remembrance War No. 1. Flame Tree Press, 2019.
With characters of several cultural origins and gender orientations, Michael R. Johnston’s debut novel, The Widening Gyre, gets high marks for diversity, but it stays faithful to the tropes of military science fiction. Protagonist Tajen Hunt is a veteran space captain who is drawn back into a war he thought he had left behind. Humanity was almost wiped out in its early days of interstellar exploration and has been folded into the Zhen Empire, where human beings survive as second-class citizens. When Tajen rescues another trading ship from space pirates, they are thrown into a quest to return to Earth. The story is character-driven without being too gushy. And because he teaches high school English, I will forgive Johnston his pretentious titles borrowed from “The Second Coming.” 4 stars.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, solid space opera stuff. Everything is a little bit too reminiscent of things I've seen done elsewhere, but when what you have are notes of Battlestar Galactica, Hyperion/Endymion, Wing Commander, and Firefly, you can't complain too much because all of that is *good*. Good cast of characters, though could do with a bit less Leading Man from the lead character, and a bit more than fade to blacks for every relationship beat of the same-sex romance subplot lurking off to the side, acting a bit ashamed to make too much of itself. That said, more than enjoyable enough that I'll be happily picking up the second book when it's out.

[Alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the intention of this book is good - the metaphors for real life are very clear, particularly near the end - and I really like that the main character is gay, the big twist is very predictable and the start was so weak I almost put the book away. Tajen feels like a power fantasy of the writer, which in itself isn't much of a problem, but it is when thousands of sci-fi authors have the same power fantasy. Once again, at least Tajen is gay, that sets him apart from the rest, but that's the only reason why this book got an extra star.
The idea is good but the execution leaves a lot to wish for.

[Melissa Kibler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story. Unpredictable and keeps you reading.

Words I learned:
sobriquet

"Of course, when you're traveling at nearly sixty per cent of the speed of light, even a magical alien drive unit that somehow cancels out relativity isn't going to keep you from turning into chunky salsa."

"People tend to believe whatever will maintain their worldview with the least amount of work. Changing how you look at the world takes energy a lot of us don't have."

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story

I read this book because of a recommendation from a friend who is related to the author. Enjoyed reading this book because it has a lot of good characters. Can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Jonathan Tripp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the story of this, of course it ended with a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered in the sequel. I was hooked on page one, all the characters had heart! Can't wait to see where the story goes beyond part one! 5 star review!!

[Beverly Caouette · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOLID 4.7 rating

Are you up for a good space adventure? Maybe one with a twist on the hero? This one's for you! I have found myself lost in many good sci-fi novels lately and was pleasantly surprised by this one from an author I didn't know. I can't wait for the next one!!

[Jean Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read with many SciFi components, space travel, different alien species, space wars. I read it in preference to watching TV at night even staying up late to finish it. I don't often do that

[Paul Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely self contained universe building story. The main character is a little too awesome, and things turn out right a little too easily, but it was a fun read and I would mind a few more in the series.