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Starship’s Mage #6
UnArcana Stars
A humanitarian mission into unfriendly stars
A training cruise under the watch of a fortified fleet base
The closing jaws of a trap years in the making
It has been over a year since the UnArcana Worlds of the Protectorate of the Mage-King of Mars seceded, shattering the unity of the human race. The new Republic of Faith and Reason has raised new banners in defiance of the power of the Protectorate's Mage aristocracy.
Now, Hand Damien Montgomery commands a relief mission to a Republic world ravaged by famine. His humanitarian mission collides with a newborn military beginning to flex its muscles--and a newborn nation prepared to accept no violations of its sovereignty, regardless of their needs.
Elsewhere, disaster strikes the Nia Kriti Fleet Base as an earthquake shatters their only communication with the rest of the Protectorate. Officer-in-training Roslyn Chambers is in the middle of the recovery effort when she realizes Nia Kriti is under attack.
The Republic is done with peace. They are coming for the Protectorate--and they will see the fleets of Mars break!
A training cruise under the watch of a fortified fleet base
The closing jaws of a trap years in the making
It has been over a year since the UnArcana Worlds of the Protectorate of the Mage-King of Mars seceded, shattering the unity of the human race. The new Republic of Faith and Reason has raised new banners in defiance of the power of the Protectorate's Mage aristocracy.
Now, Hand Damien Montgomery commands a relief mission to a Republic world ravaged by famine. His humanitarian mission collides with a newborn military beginning to flex its muscles--and a newborn nation prepared to accept no violations of its sovereignty, regardless of their needs.
Elsewhere, disaster strikes the Nia Kriti Fleet Base as an earthquake shatters their only communication with the rest of the Protectorate. Officer-in-training Roslyn Chambers is in the middle of the recovery effort when she realizes Nia Kriti is under attack.
The Republic is done with peace. They are coming for the Protectorate--and they will see the fleets of Mars break!
Audible Audio
First published December 9, 2018
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About the author
Glynn Stewart
115 books1,747 followersGlynn Stewart is the author of over 60 books, including Starship’s Mage, a bestselling science fiction and fantasy series where faster-than-light travel is possible–but only because of magic.
Writing managed to liberate Glynn from a bleak future as an accountant. With his personality and hope for a high-tech future intact, he lives in Southern Ontario with his partner, their cats, and an unstoppable writing habit.
Writing managed to liberate Glynn from a bleak future as an accountant. With his personality and hope for a high-tech future intact, he lives in Southern Ontario with his partner, their cats, and an unstoppable writing habit.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
December 17, 2018
The only issue with this book is not enough of Damien Montgomery. I kept skimming through the other POV'S to reach his and having to go back so I didn't miss anything. I am loving this series and believe anyone that loves space operas and magic books will enjoy them being combined from such a great author. Try it, you won't regret it.
October 24, 2021
UNARCANA STARS is the big space battle book of the series with the vast majority of the story devoted to the first strike of the Republic against the Martian Protectorate. Glynn Stewart's military science fiction background shows up here as Damien finds himself in charge of the last remaining Martian fleet after a massive sneak attack by the Republic. It is a very action packed and entertaining story and I liked seeing Damien call in every favor he's gained over the previous books. Still, I would have preferred a bit more perspective from the Republic as they remain largely uncharacterized.
Sadly, I can already see Glynn Stewart is planning to replace Damien with Rosalyn as the protagonist and I'm not sold.
Sadly, I can already see Glynn Stewart is planning to replace Damien with Rosalyn as the protagonist and I'm not sold.
April 9, 2019
Ugh. Just... ugh.
I could only get through 20% before I had to write this. The entire first quarter of this book is incredulous insanity. Having served in the military and been part of government I can say not a single event would have played anything remotely similar to this in any extant.
The psychology and philosophy behind a guaranteed and known adversarial foe scenario dictates through organizational risk management of multitudes of costly resources that not only would the initial scene not have occurred at all without a major fleet, or no warships at all, but knowing with absolute certainty that the foe is a terrorist insurrectionist entity who employs extreme destructive strategy with absolutely no regard to collateral damage, loss of life, and intent to undermine and cause extreme disarray through espionage and sabotage, any superior force would employ major counter espionage programs. Instead they decide per the author's bludgeoning of events to suit his sense of drama to drop their pants, bend over and wait for the known technologically superior group to unleash hell on them.
The issuance of grand treason followed by an allowed secession from their empire would NOT be followed by a live and let live, let them do whatever they wanted after extreme atrocities and millions murdered. War crimes against humanity and such.
Technological superiority aside, the sheer volume of resources that 1 core world and 2-3 mid worlds and 8 fringe worlds could wield against over 100 worlds is infinitesimal. And yet the 1 planet conjures up multiple battle fleets that could handily wipe out every fleet that the Protectorate has assembled? They built more carriers and support vessels that are larger than the 15 battleships in service faster than the Protectorate could make 4 dreadnaughts? Just in comparison of resources it, that would be like New Zealand or Fiji deciding to declare war on England or the US.
I can see a semblance of possibility for some ships to have been set and established, since in the previous book it was said that they had 20 years operating coverage on Mars... and I fully expect to see the dreadnaughts in operation since they said 18 months to completion and it was 18 months between books... but the tactics, strategy, and the literal assumption with the incredible and staggering degree of technological advance the author has proposed makes the events on Nia Kriti beyond absurd and extremely painful to read. So much so that it needs to be altogether skipped or just toss the book in the trash. An absolute assumption that the moment a doubling of the fleet to the system and the RTA get's demolished, a plateau destroyed, and a major city collapsed and the military assumes it is NATURAL? As if they wouldn't have been able to detect impending geological instability that could cause this? Absolutely absurd! There is absolutely no plausible way that a "massive" military force knowing they are facing an extreme brutal foe that loves to annihilate civilian populations, cities, bases and installations to distract or achieve their ends that the defense fleet would not hold a major force to do massive analysis and threat assessment to determine immediate cause.
During 9/11 firefighters and police responded for the emergency. The military and intelligence agencies did immediate threat assessment. It is directly against every semblance of regulation and training to lose complete scope in tactical and strategic analysis and control. And absolutely no way that foul play would not and should not have immediately been assumed in such a scenario. Every book up until this point has more or less been acceptable if sometimes annoying in crisis to crisis manufacturing, but the last book it was straining credulity and this one it was altogether gone, blasted away by slamming the square peg into the circle hole until the whole puzzle broke.
I could only get through 20% before I had to write this. The entire first quarter of this book is incredulous insanity. Having served in the military and been part of government I can say not a single event would have played anything remotely similar to this in any extant.
The psychology and philosophy behind a guaranteed and known adversarial foe scenario dictates through organizational risk management of multitudes of costly resources that not only would the initial scene not have occurred at all without a major fleet, or no warships at all, but knowing with absolute certainty that the foe is a terrorist insurrectionist entity who employs extreme destructive strategy with absolutely no regard to collateral damage, loss of life, and intent to undermine and cause extreme disarray through espionage and sabotage, any superior force would employ major counter espionage programs. Instead they decide per the author's bludgeoning of events to suit his sense of drama to drop their pants, bend over and wait for the known technologically superior group to unleash hell on them.
The issuance of grand treason followed by an allowed secession from their empire would NOT be followed by a live and let live, let them do whatever they wanted after extreme atrocities and millions murdered. War crimes against humanity and such.
Technological superiority aside, the sheer volume of resources that 1 core world and 2-3 mid worlds and 8 fringe worlds could wield against over 100 worlds is infinitesimal. And yet the 1 planet conjures up multiple battle fleets that could handily wipe out every fleet that the Protectorate has assembled? They built more carriers and support vessels that are larger than the 15 battleships in service faster than the Protectorate could make 4 dreadnaughts? Just in comparison of resources it, that would be like New Zealand or Fiji deciding to declare war on England or the US.
I can see a semblance of possibility for some ships to have been set and established, since in the previous book it was said that they had 20 years operating coverage on Mars... and I fully expect to see the dreadnaughts in operation since they said 18 months to completion and it was 18 months between books... but the tactics, strategy, and the literal assumption with the incredible and staggering degree of technological advance the author has proposed makes the events on Nia Kriti beyond absurd and extremely painful to read. So much so that it needs to be altogether skipped or just toss the book in the trash. An absolute assumption that the moment a doubling of the fleet to the system and the RTA get's demolished, a plateau destroyed, and a major city collapsed and the military assumes it is NATURAL? As if they wouldn't have been able to detect impending geological instability that could cause this? Absolutely absurd! There is absolutely no plausible way that a "massive" military force knowing they are facing an extreme brutal foe that loves to annihilate civilian populations, cities, bases and installations to distract or achieve their ends that the defense fleet would not hold a major force to do massive analysis and threat assessment to determine immediate cause.
During 9/11 firefighters and police responded for the emergency. The military and intelligence agencies did immediate threat assessment. It is directly against every semblance of regulation and training to lose complete scope in tactical and strategic analysis and control. And absolutely no way that foul play would not and should not have immediately been assumed in such a scenario. Every book up until this point has more or less been acceptable if sometimes annoying in crisis to crisis manufacturing, but the last book it was straining credulity and this one it was altogether gone, blasted away by slamming the square peg into the circle hole until the whole puzzle broke.
December 13, 2018
As far as I'm concerned, there will never be too many books in this series and they can't be written fast enough. This brings together many people from the earlier books and it's a pleasure catching up with them and Damien.
December 11, 2018
I loved this book! The Starship's Mage universe is by far one of my favorites! I read this book in one sitting, I just couldn't put it down! The characters draw you in, and are so enthralling! Glynn is such a great writer, and the dialog in this book just shines! I loved the addition of Persephone! I can't wait for the next book! I highly recommend checking this series out! You will love it!
May 23, 2019
Pretty good. I loved the cat scenes and the displays of everyday magic in them. We saw a lot of past characters here, which was nice, but I must say one thing, that holds true for the whole series for me, and I really hope the author might get to read this review.
In my eyes, the first book was awesome, because it combined sci-fi with magic in a pretty good way and the story was rather compelling. The other books were still pretty good, but I see them as a space opera with hints of magic in the background. The story here is not bad, but it's not my reason for reading those books.
For me to be a completely happy reader and to get what I came for, I would like to see more displays of the main character with magic. Specifically...he has this super rare talent of understanding runes. Why can't I recall a single instance of him making a magical discovery, discounting the first book where he "fixed" the amplifier? Why doesn't he have a mass of unique magical items? Other than raw power, he's really no different from other mages shown in the series...Why not?
In regards to wider story... there were hints of the runes being more mysterious... How? Why was this not explored more?
I enjoy space opera, and as far as that goes, this is not a bad one, but it's the magic, that makes this series unique to me, so I would have hoped it will get more exposure.
In my eyes, the first book was awesome, because it combined sci-fi with magic in a pretty good way and the story was rather compelling. The other books were still pretty good, but I see them as a space opera with hints of magic in the background. The story here is not bad, but it's not my reason for reading those books.
For me to be a completely happy reader and to get what I came for, I would like to see more displays of the main character with magic. Specifically...he has this super rare talent of understanding runes. Why can't I recall a single instance of him making a magical discovery, discounting the first book where he "fixed" the amplifier? Why doesn't he have a mass of unique magical items? Other than raw power, he's really no different from other mages shown in the series...Why not?
In regards to wider story... there were hints of the runes being more mysterious... How? Why was this not explored more?
I enjoy space opera, and as far as that goes, this is not a bad one, but it's the magic, that makes this series unique to me, so I would have hoped it will get more exposure.
September 12, 2020
I have reached a point in this series where I can’t help but notice the author’s inconsistencies and unfortunately I can’t stop being slightly irritated every time he contradicts himself. Having said that this wasn’t a bad space opera and there was certainly more ‘space’ action than previous books.
The book starts with an ill prepared humanitarian mission that starts to go wrong as soon as they arrive. During the encounter there is yet more evidence that the Republic has a system of FTL communication, Damien came across this years ago, I can’t believe the Protectorate haven’t done anything about it? In fact the further into the story the more it seems the author has had the Protectorate asleep since the Republic broke away. However making the Protectorate so unprepared does make for an interesting conflict.
The book starts with an ill prepared humanitarian mission that starts to go wrong as soon as they arrive. During the encounter there is yet more evidence that the Republic has a system of FTL communication, Damien came across this years ago, I can’t believe the Protectorate haven’t done anything about it? In fact the further into the story the more it seems the author has had the Protectorate asleep since the Republic broke away. However making the Protectorate so unprepared does make for an interesting conflict.
June 7, 2019
This was so good.
I don't know why the Damien-centered stories are so much better for me than the author's other work, but I just loved this one.
It had a great story, it felt like an organic next step after the events of the last book, really great developments, and well, Damien is simply a good protag, an unusual hero.
Very good read!
I don't know why the Damien-centered stories are so much better for me than the author's other work, but I just loved this one.
It had a great story, it felt like an organic next step after the events of the last book, really great developments, and well, Damien is simply a good protag, an unusual hero.
Very good read!
December 14, 2018
Finally a new book with Damien Montgomery who is probably my favorite out of all of Stewarts characters. I liked that so many characters returned in this one and I'm really looking forward to the next novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2020
Now we're at a traditional "space opera" scope. Warring space-based polities. Some foreshadowing in this (or the previous one, I can't quite recall) is unnecessarily heavy handed.
April 25, 2019
Too frickin' short.
January 2, 2019
Originally posted at www.archeddoorway.com
While I was excited to see this book released earlier this month I was really hesitant to actually pick it up and read it. I’ve been a fan of Glynn Stewarts Starships Mage books since I stumbled across them on Amazon years ago but I didn’t really enjoy the Red Falcon spinoff trilogy he wrote and was a bit worried that was going to continue with this new follow-up series. Happily, that was not the case and I can say that UnArcana Stars was a fun and action-packed read that I was unable to put down once I had started reading it.
UnArcana Stars may feature an ensemble cast of characters with numerous viewpoints, I was happy to see that Damien Montgomery took center stage for a good chunk of the book. While the ending of Judgement Of Mars may not have been a complete cliffhanger it did leave me with many questions and concerns so I was happy to see that they would finally start getting addressed. Damien Montgomery is also just one of my all time favorite characters and the main reason why I enjoy this series as much as I do.
That’s not to say that there was anything wrong with the rest of the characters. I don’t think there was a single viewpoint I disliked in this entire book and the story itself was fantastic. We finally get to see what it means for a Hand to go to war and it is epic. I almost feel bad for the Republic by the end of UnArcana Stars.
The only real issue I had with this book was how much time was spent describing the various weapons and ammunition of every ship that makes an appearance. I know this is supposed to be a story about starships going to war but it honestly felt a bit too much like gun porn at times to me and I had to just skim over some of the descriptions. The detail of the battles was excellent but I could have done without a recap of every ships weapon capacity every few chapters. There were also a few minor story details that bothered me that I can’t go into without spoiling parts of the story, which I won’t do.
All in all though, I thought this was a well-written book with a great story and some really fantastic characters that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for something new to read. Though, I would recommend that anyone who hasn’t done so start with the first book in the series or they will be completely lost. I’ll definitely be rereading this book and I’m eagerly waiting for the audiobook to be available to that I can listen to the entire series again from the beginning.
All in all, I thought this was a well-written book with a great story and some fantastic characters that I would recommend to anyone looking for something new to read. Though I would really recommend that any new readers looking at this start with the first book in the series so they aren’t completely lost. I’ll definitely be reading this book again and I’m eagerly waiting for the audiobook to be available so I can add it to my collection.
While I was excited to see this book released earlier this month I was really hesitant to actually pick it up and read it. I’ve been a fan of Glynn Stewarts Starships Mage books since I stumbled across them on Amazon years ago but I didn’t really enjoy the Red Falcon spinoff trilogy he wrote and was a bit worried that was going to continue with this new follow-up series. Happily, that was not the case and I can say that UnArcana Stars was a fun and action-packed read that I was unable to put down once I had started reading it.
UnArcana Stars may feature an ensemble cast of characters with numerous viewpoints, I was happy to see that Damien Montgomery took center stage for a good chunk of the book. While the ending of Judgement Of Mars may not have been a complete cliffhanger it did leave me with many questions and concerns so I was happy to see that they would finally start getting addressed. Damien Montgomery is also just one of my all time favorite characters and the main reason why I enjoy this series as much as I do.
That’s not to say that there was anything wrong with the rest of the characters. I don’t think there was a single viewpoint I disliked in this entire book and the story itself was fantastic. We finally get to see what it means for a Hand to go to war and it is epic. I almost feel bad for the Republic by the end of UnArcana Stars.
The only real issue I had with this book was how much time was spent describing the various weapons and ammunition of every ship that makes an appearance. I know this is supposed to be a story about starships going to war but it honestly felt a bit too much like gun porn at times to me and I had to just skim over some of the descriptions. The detail of the battles was excellent but I could have done without a recap of every ships weapon capacity every few chapters. There were also a few minor story details that bothered me that I can’t go into without spoiling parts of the story, which I won’t do.
All in all though, I thought this was a well-written book with a great story and some really fantastic characters that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for something new to read. Though, I would recommend that anyone who hasn’t done so start with the first book in the series or they will be completely lost. I’ll definitely be rereading this book and I’m eagerly waiting for the audiobook to be available to that I can listen to the entire series again from the beginning.
All in all, I thought this was a well-written book with a great story and some fantastic characters that I would recommend to anyone looking for something new to read. Though I would really recommend that any new readers looking at this start with the first book in the series so they aren’t completely lost. I’ll definitely be reading this book again and I’m eagerly waiting for the audiobook to be available so I can add it to my collection.
April 14, 2019
This is probably the most space opera-like of all the Starship mage books. Interstellar fleets slugging it out is usually a good time and that is very much the case here.
Unfortunately, there are some aspects that didn't quite work out how I think they were intended to, at least for this reader. Like the enthusiastic attempt to get most of the people from Damien's backstory involved in the events of this book. A certain pattern quickly emerges where women from his past are worked in as captains of ships with plot-centric roles. More than even Damein himself at times. Which comes across as super weird.
The first time I was like "Sure. Ok, I guess."
The second time it was more of a "Huh?" reaction
The third time I was kind of just like "Wait. Which ex-girlfriend is this?"
It's a problem but when the book is working around Damien it still works. But this is treated much more like a multperspective thing. Telling as much, or more of the story, through them as him. Which is really weird because as a reader I don't really have any attachment to any of them because of how indistinct they all are. Then there is a little crossover thing with characters who I assume are in the spinoff of the first book. Who the book presumes you know and are interested in despite having never seen any of them except in the very first book in this series. Basically, when Damien is doing his thing it's good. When it's somebody else it's less good.
Also their is a cat thing that is just odd. Damien has this kitten and, as dire things are going on around him, everybody stops and is like "Awww, he's so cute!". Which completely contrasts with the militant and dire tone. Which works as a joke at first but conversations shift to that cat to a bizarre degree.
So, overall, an enjoyable space opera if you can overlook some less than ideal perspective and tonal choices.
Unfortunately, there are some aspects that didn't quite work out how I think they were intended to, at least for this reader. Like the enthusiastic attempt to get most of the people from Damien's backstory involved in the events of this book. A certain pattern quickly emerges where women from his past are worked in as captains of ships with plot-centric roles. More than even Damein himself at times. Which comes across as super weird.
The first time I was like "Sure. Ok, I guess."
The second time it was more of a "Huh?" reaction
The third time I was kind of just like "Wait. Which ex-girlfriend is this?"
It's a problem but when the book is working around Damien it still works. But this is treated much more like a multperspective thing. Telling as much, or more of the story, through them as him. Which is really weird because as a reader I don't really have any attachment to any of them because of how indistinct they all are. Then there is a little crossover thing with characters who I assume are in the spinoff of the first book. Who the book presumes you know and are interested in despite having never seen any of them except in the very first book in this series. Basically, when Damien is doing his thing it's good. When it's somebody else it's less good.
Also their is a cat thing that is just odd. Damien has this kitten and, as dire things are going on around him, everybody stops and is like "Awww, he's so cute!". Which completely contrasts with the militant and dire tone. Which works as a joke at first but conversations shift to that cat to a bizarre degree.
So, overall, an enjoyable space opera if you can overlook some less than ideal perspective and tonal choices.
January 18, 2019
Damien gets a kitten, how could I ask for more? This entry - the sixth - in the Starship's Mage series was good, as always, though reading about ship, weapon, and size distributions repeatedly does get boring. And as always, the overuse of italics was consistent throughout. I fully intend to read the next one when it’s available.
March 26, 2020
Another great addition to the series
I was gleeful as hell when I realized that there were two books in this series I'd yet to read. I can't get enough of this series and I'm about to dive right into book seven.
I was gleeful as hell when I realized that there were two books in this series I'd yet to read. I can't get enough of this series and I'm about to dive right into book seven.
December 12, 2018
No hands!
Who would have thought a hand with no hands would be a badass. Not me! Book 6 does not disappoint!
Who would have thought a hand with no hands would be a badass. Not me! Book 6 does not disappoint!
February 2, 2023
I took a break from the Starship's Mage series for about a year and so jumping back into this series via UnArcana Stars feels like a mental adrenaline shot. Glynn Stewart writes incredible space opera, with highly developed world-building and a complete and utter lack of regard for the status quo. I've always enjoyed his writing and this is no exception. UnArcana Stars is a triumph within the universe of the Protectorate of Mars, and I highly recommend this novel to anyone who has gotten this far.
What makes this novel stand out is that it does not hold back. Glynn Stewart will break that implicit agreement between author and reader that the foundational elements of a universe are sacrosanct. World-shattering events just keep crushing the reader with their far reaching scope, and UnArcana Stars takes this even further as it ties together multiple plot threads from the previous novels and brings them all together. Our heroes are constantly faced with unbelievable odds and even when you think they're okay, the antagonists come up yet another surprise. I often felt like I needed to take a break from UnArcana Stars, just because it was so fast paced!
And so to summarize - a book that rewards its fans with invested subplots coming to fruition, surprise after surprise having long-term impact, and heroes doing their best facing long odds.
Highly recommended.
What makes this novel stand out is that it does not hold back. Glynn Stewart will break that implicit agreement between author and reader that the foundational elements of a universe are sacrosanct. World-shattering events just keep crushing the reader with their far reaching scope, and UnArcana Stars takes this even further as it ties together multiple plot threads from the previous novels and brings them all together. Our heroes are constantly faced with unbelievable odds and even when you think they're okay, the antagonists come up yet another surprise. I often felt like I needed to take a break from UnArcana Stars, just because it was so fast paced!
And so to summarize - a book that rewards its fans with invested subplots coming to fruition, surprise after surprise having long-term impact, and heroes doing their best facing long odds.
Highly recommended.
July 21, 2025
It is so hard to sum up this series.
Unusually, I was paying rapt attention to the first hour of this audiobook. The protagonist, the original Starship's Mage, was on a humanitarian mission. A planet that had seceded from the Martian government was now facing widespread hunger after a plague ravaged their crops. The story begins with our protagonist bringing millions of tons of food, and even some biologist experts to help tackle the original problem of the plague. But, because he was technically representing a hostile foreign government, there was a great deal of chest thumping and posturing.
Even though I was paying surprisingly close attention, this conflict ended on a whimper. I'm pretty sure that our protagonist dropped off a fraction of his supplies and left, after it was clear that the other government was itching to have a conflict.
While there were some nice, smaller moments (mostly involving our protagonist bemoaning his scarred, burned hands, and gushing about his adorable kitten), the rest of the novel was about military conflict. A young female officer was given a series of battlefield promotions, and we the audience were informed how this was not entirely a good thing.
And then... this became more of the same. It has been a few years, but the last time I listened to the audiobooks of this series, I found myself nodding off to them. They are too much about the minutia of running a starship war. Too many descriptions of gunships and ammo. I remember that the medallions people are awarded aren't just costume jewelry, but they actually contain software with command codes that give the user greater access.
You had to struggle to notice that there was at least one lesbian relationship, and a reference to the "people you married," suggesting that a poly relationship was referenced that I hadn't noticed right away. But, there is no extended discussion about what life is actually like for queer people in this culture. There isn't a great deal of culture at all. These books are "space opera," which means that they tend to focus on the logistics of sci-fi war, to the exclusion of much else. Which sucks, because I preferred earlier books in this series talking about how our protagonist was such a savant, and how his powers worked.
Unusually, I was paying rapt attention to the first hour of this audiobook. The protagonist, the original Starship's Mage, was on a humanitarian mission. A planet that had seceded from the Martian government was now facing widespread hunger after a plague ravaged their crops. The story begins with our protagonist bringing millions of tons of food, and even some biologist experts to help tackle the original problem of the plague. But, because he was technically representing a hostile foreign government, there was a great deal of chest thumping and posturing.
Even though I was paying surprisingly close attention, this conflict ended on a whimper. I'm pretty sure that our protagonist dropped off a fraction of his supplies and left, after it was clear that the other government was itching to have a conflict.
While there were some nice, smaller moments (mostly involving our protagonist bemoaning his scarred, burned hands, and gushing about his adorable kitten), the rest of the novel was about military conflict. A young female officer was given a series of battlefield promotions, and we the audience were informed how this was not entirely a good thing.
And then... this became more of the same. It has been a few years, but the last time I listened to the audiobooks of this series, I found myself nodding off to them. They are too much about the minutia of running a starship war. Too many descriptions of gunships and ammo. I remember that the medallions people are awarded aren't just costume jewelry, but they actually contain software with command codes that give the user greater access.
You had to struggle to notice that there was at least one lesbian relationship, and a reference to the "people you married," suggesting that a poly relationship was referenced that I hadn't noticed right away. But, there is no extended discussion about what life is actually like for queer people in this culture. There isn't a great deal of culture at all. These books are "space opera," which means that they tend to focus on the logistics of sci-fi war, to the exclusion of much else. Which sucks, because I preferred earlier books in this series talking about how our protagonist was such a savant, and how his powers worked.
January 15, 2019
The sixth book marks the beginning of the war against Legatus. During a humanitarian mission into Legatus space, David notices a certain change in attitude. In the chapters to come various familiar faces from prior books will have encounters with parts to the Legatus fleet and scramble to get this information back to Mars, to confirm that Legatus has initiated the war without a declaration. The events of the book will then culminate in a stand that could determine the outcome of the war.
The book was quite the page turner, I read in about two days and was hardly able to put it down. And I really enjoyed seeing old faces again, e.g. this might be the first book in the main series since the Volume 1 that features David Rice. Gathering intelligence and getting that data back to Mars, as well as calling up on old friends and allies for help was really well done.
The reason I didn't rate it higher was mostly due to the high amount of space battles. I'm not a big fan of those. When you watch a space battle on screen they can be quite suspenseful, especially if you have a small ship outmaneuvering a fleet such as in the asteroid scene in Empire Strikes Back. Then there are space battles that are designed after the conflict between naval vessel such as in the Star Trek Universe. These are similar to the ones in Starship Mage, as the Enterprise crew calls out their maneuvers including evasive ones.
However, the Starship Mage battles feel more like playing the game Battleship. The fleets stand on opposite sides, the crew starts endless stats at you from speed to armament, and then they just fire missiles at each other and try to shoot down the opposing missiles before they get hit. Most of the time I completely zonked out, when the started calling out those stats and the actual battles weren't much more engrossing. So and so many missiles got through, so many vessels were lost, etc. And unfortunately, there are a lot of space battles in this book.
Still, there is an interesting cliffhanger at the end, I still like the characters and I will read the seventh book as well. Only hopefully it will greatly reduce the number of space battles.
The book was quite the page turner, I read in about two days and was hardly able to put it down. And I really enjoyed seeing old faces again, e.g. this might be the first book in the main series since the Volume 1 that features David Rice. Gathering intelligence and getting that data back to Mars, as well as calling up on old friends and allies for help was really well done.
The reason I didn't rate it higher was mostly due to the high amount of space battles. I'm not a big fan of those. When you watch a space battle on screen they can be quite suspenseful, especially if you have a small ship outmaneuvering a fleet such as in the asteroid scene in Empire Strikes Back. Then there are space battles that are designed after the conflict between naval vessel such as in the Star Trek Universe. These are similar to the ones in Starship Mage, as the Enterprise crew calls out their maneuvers including evasive ones.
However, the Starship Mage battles feel more like playing the game Battleship. The fleets stand on opposite sides, the crew starts endless stats at you from speed to armament, and then they just fire missiles at each other and try to shoot down the opposing missiles before they get hit. Most of the time I completely zonked out, when the started calling out those stats and the actual battles weren't much more engrossing. So and so many missiles got through, so many vessels were lost, etc. And unfortunately, there are a lot of space battles in this book.
Still, there is an interesting cliffhanger at the end, I still like the characters and I will read the seventh book as well. Only hopefully it will greatly reduce the number of space battles.
July 15, 2023
When was the last time you heard anyone chuckle?
When was the last time you chuckled?
Long ago, when I reviewed scifi and fantasy for a newspaper that no longer exists, I ran across an author who had characters chuckling right and left, and it finally got to me -- so I devised the Chuckle-O-Meter, which attempted to measure the amount of unrealistic chortling that occurred during a given book. Extra Chuckle-O-Meter points were given for multiple characters emitting a sound rarely heard in real life, but after a while, the Chuckle-O-Meter fell into disuse as editors and authors realized nobody really chuckles that much, even woodchucks (whatever they are).
But as I read "UnArcana Stars," it became clear I was going to have to go out to the garage and dig through old clips and dust off the Chuckle-O-Meter, because Glynn Stewart just couldn't keep his characters from chuckling. Over and over again, sometimes twice on the same page.
Luckily, the Chuckle-O-Meter turned out to be a sturdy machine and survived its encounter with "UnArcana Stars," but as a reader, I soon became annoyed by the constant chuckling, despite the dire straits that Damien Montgomery, the magic-wielding main character of this series, found himself in. Of course, dire straits, and the removal therefrom, are pretty much standard in these kinds of space operas, and I actually like this series, simplistic as it is. Stewart is unabashedly a supporter of the military as good guys, and Montgomery is the goodest of good guys, willing to sacrifice himself to save others.
If you've read any of the previous five Starship's Mage novels, you'll like this one, and if not, of course, you'll need to start with volume one, "Hand of Mars." And despite my issue with the incessant chuckling, I'm on board for volume seven as well -- though I will need to keep the Chuckle-O-Meter close by.
When was the last time you chuckled?
Long ago, when I reviewed scifi and fantasy for a newspaper that no longer exists, I ran across an author who had characters chuckling right and left, and it finally got to me -- so I devised the Chuckle-O-Meter, which attempted to measure the amount of unrealistic chortling that occurred during a given book. Extra Chuckle-O-Meter points were given for multiple characters emitting a sound rarely heard in real life, but after a while, the Chuckle-O-Meter fell into disuse as editors and authors realized nobody really chuckles that much, even woodchucks (whatever they are).
But as I read "UnArcana Stars," it became clear I was going to have to go out to the garage and dig through old clips and dust off the Chuckle-O-Meter, because Glynn Stewart just couldn't keep his characters from chuckling. Over and over again, sometimes twice on the same page.
Luckily, the Chuckle-O-Meter turned out to be a sturdy machine and survived its encounter with "UnArcana Stars," but as a reader, I soon became annoyed by the constant chuckling, despite the dire straits that Damien Montgomery, the magic-wielding main character of this series, found himself in. Of course, dire straits, and the removal therefrom, are pretty much standard in these kinds of space operas, and I actually like this series, simplistic as it is. Stewart is unabashedly a supporter of the military as good guys, and Montgomery is the goodest of good guys, willing to sacrifice himself to save others.
If you've read any of the previous five Starship's Mage novels, you'll like this one, and if not, of course, you'll need to start with volume one, "Hand of Mars." And despite my issue with the incessant chuckling, I'm on board for volume seven as well -- though I will need to keep the Chuckle-O-Meter close by.
December 20, 2019
Book 6 in the series starts out rough, with a lot of the bad from book 5 showing up. That doesn't last for long though, and this book picks up with what I'd expect from one through four. This is much better than book 5, and I enjoyed it a lot more. We have negatives, but they are more evenly balanced with positives for the plot and characters.
I do like the scenes with Roslyn Chambers. She is a very likeable character, and the new main character along with her point of view and the conflicts she faces add a new perspective I've enjoyed. The situation she's in is something completely new, and something to add a little bit of mix up in the normal scenes with Damien. In the past Damien was always my favorite character, but now that seems to be shifting to Roslyn. I hope we get more from her in the books to come.
The ending was a little bit weak, almost feeling rushed, but overall good. I don't have much to complain about. I wouldn't say it is a solid five out of five but four stars and change. I'm liking the change to big space battles and open war, it is a nice change from the small battles and conspiracies of the previous books. The only part that gets frustrating is the spy's, and us still not knowing anything about the FTL technology the republic is using and it's limitations. We are just as in the dark as the other characters though so it makes sense.
Overall this is much better than the last book, and seems like the first four books all over again. I still liked one through four a lot more, but this was a good improvement from the last entry in the series. I'm looking forward to book 7.
I do like the scenes with Roslyn Chambers. She is a very likeable character, and the new main character along with her point of view and the conflicts she faces add a new perspective I've enjoyed. The situation she's in is something completely new, and something to add a little bit of mix up in the normal scenes with Damien. In the past Damien was always my favorite character, but now that seems to be shifting to Roslyn. I hope we get more from her in the books to come.
The ending was a little bit weak, almost feeling rushed, but overall good. I don't have much to complain about. I wouldn't say it is a solid five out of five but four stars and change. I'm liking the change to big space battles and open war, it is a nice change from the small battles and conspiracies of the previous books. The only part that gets frustrating is the spy's, and us still not knowing anything about the FTL technology the republic is using and it's limitations. We are just as in the dark as the other characters though so it makes sense.
Overall this is much better than the last book, and seems like the first four books all over again. I still liked one through four a lot more, but this was a good improvement from the last entry in the series. I'm looking forward to book 7.
November 3, 2023
3.5 really. Much better than Book 4 & 5
Ok back to epic space opera and big stakes. Exactly what books 1- 3 were about. Exactly what I was enjoying about this series. Book 5 was basically unnecessary. Book 4 ended in tedium and even this book doesn’t answer completely what the “big” secret book 4 & 5 were all about…..annoying.
My biggest complaint was they used this book to introduce Rosslyn Chambers. She got a good chunk of the chapters. I was warned about this by reading other reviews and literally skipped any chapter from her POV except for a couple sections in the last chapter which nicely recapped what she did in the chapters I skipped. Stewart recaps Sooooooo much(very annoying) that I’ll use this approach in other Starship Mage books that try to get me to read other books in the same universe. I’m not saying I won’t read those books but I think it is kinda “cheap” of the Author to use this approach. He is a fairly good author, he has done a fantastic job of world building so readers will read the other books without his need for him to water down a series.
Ok one more thing I’m finding annoying. Sidekicks of major characters that continually ask dumb and obvious questions.🥱🥱
Ok back to epic space opera and big stakes. Exactly what books 1- 3 were about. Exactly what I was enjoying about this series. Book 5 was basically unnecessary. Book 4 ended in tedium and even this book doesn’t answer completely what the “big” secret book 4 & 5 were all about…..annoying.
My biggest complaint was they used this book to introduce Rosslyn Chambers. She got a good chunk of the chapters. I was warned about this by reading other reviews and literally skipped any chapter from her POV except for a couple sections in the last chapter which nicely recapped what she did in the chapters I skipped. Stewart recaps Sooooooo much(very annoying) that I’ll use this approach in other Starship Mage books that try to get me to read other books in the same universe. I’m not saying I won’t read those books but I think it is kinda “cheap” of the Author to use this approach. He is a fairly good author, he has done a fantastic job of world building so readers will read the other books without his need for him to water down a series.
Ok one more thing I’m finding annoying. Sidekicks of major characters that continually ask dumb and obvious questions.🥱🥱
February 20, 2024
This book is descriptive, keeping active dialogue and vivid action scenes. The emotions come out starkly in the writing and I feel the fear and determination that the characters are filled with through the many battles, planning, and mysteries of the book. The story has mystery to it, even when it's told from multiple perspectives. The problems are complex; there is no simple "do this to get peace" solution, so the characters must fight for what they know is right. I like that Damien knows he could die for this planet, but how he prioritizes standing up for Ardennes over his own life and safety; he's a very people first, then self. There were several women who had their perspectives shown in this book: Roslyn Chambers, a girl who made some very bad decisions before and went to prison; Grace McLaughlin, Damien's ex-girlfriend and the Admiral of her world's militia; and Kelly, Damien's polyamorous and multisexual ex-girlfriend who is the captain of a starship. Besides the queerness and female leaders in this book, Damien can't use his hands because of their being seriously burned; this book is very diverse, which I appreciated.
- Echo (they/them) ⚧️
- Echo (they/them) ⚧️
July 19, 2024
And to book 6 in the Starships Mage series.
Its mediocre, it has very little of the charm and nerdy joy that first really drew me into the series, and the way the author has had to go back and fix some of the problems of his own writing leaves me feeling frustrated and annoyed.
Its Warhammer 40k-lite, but now as it enters a new arc its trying to add some Honor Harrington into the mix and it just really really didnt land that well.
Which is really weird to say, because its not at all bad sci-fi, I just feel a little let down by the promise of what it could have been to where it ended up. The characters are consistent, and mostly feel real and recognizable. The actual story arc itself isnt at all bad. Its just.. there is none of that real spark that really made me enjoy the first books.
This is one of those books thats structurally good, and the execution is fine, above average even. But I just dont like where its ended up and how it got there.
Its mediocre, it has very little of the charm and nerdy joy that first really drew me into the series, and the way the author has had to go back and fix some of the problems of his own writing leaves me feeling frustrated and annoyed.
Its Warhammer 40k-lite, but now as it enters a new arc its trying to add some Honor Harrington into the mix and it just really really didnt land that well.
Which is really weird to say, because its not at all bad sci-fi, I just feel a little let down by the promise of what it could have been to where it ended up. The characters are consistent, and mostly feel real and recognizable. The actual story arc itself isnt at all bad. Its just.. there is none of that real spark that really made me enjoy the first books.
This is one of those books thats structurally good, and the execution is fine, above average even. But I just dont like where its ended up and how it got there.
January 30, 2019
WAR.
It’s been a wile since we last saw Damien, and having been used to his often OP antics it is a bit a shock to see him so... diminished here. It is however completely reasonable and more humanizing though to find him more dependent on others, and nursing himself back to health after his last major act. This gives us a chance to see him more tactical and less direct - though there is still a lot of action going on. We also get to visit with past characters to see how they’re doing, and we get to see it all against a backdrop of war. I can’t help but feel like this is a brief pause before things get really crazy again. Lots of tactical and naval activity here, but it doesn’t hinder. A good story. Recommended. (You might want to re-read the previous book before reading this one.)
It’s been a wile since we last saw Damien, and having been used to his often OP antics it is a bit a shock to see him so... diminished here. It is however completely reasonable and more humanizing though to find him more dependent on others, and nursing himself back to health after his last major act. This gives us a chance to see him more tactical and less direct - though there is still a lot of action going on. We also get to visit with past characters to see how they’re doing, and we get to see it all against a backdrop of war. I can’t help but feel like this is a brief pause before things get really crazy again. Lots of tactical and naval activity here, but it doesn’t hinder. A good story. Recommended. (You might want to re-read the previous book before reading this one.)
January 27, 2022
good story, why incapacitate your main protagonist?
I like the story, it is a good page Turner and very interesting. There are plenty of plot twists and turns but there are some decisions I don’t understand why the author made The main one is why slightly incapacitate your main protagonist by crippling his hands. You’ve diminished his ability and his power, I don’t understand the reasoning behind that. To me it makes the character less interesting. It seems that the book has developed more of a sci-fi military aspect. Most stories you see the main protagonist grow in ability and power in this book and series the author seems to be going the other way. Guess I will have to read the next book may not review another book until I get to book 11. Gave it four stars very enjoyable
I like the story, it is a good page Turner and very interesting. There are plenty of plot twists and turns but there are some decisions I don’t understand why the author made The main one is why slightly incapacitate your main protagonist by crippling his hands. You’ve diminished his ability and his power, I don’t understand the reasoning behind that. To me it makes the character less interesting. It seems that the book has developed more of a sci-fi military aspect. Most stories you see the main protagonist grow in ability and power in this book and series the author seems to be going the other way. Guess I will have to read the next book may not review another book until I get to book 11. Gave it four stars very enjoyable
February 9, 2023
When I read the first book in the series I was indeed a bit hesitant since I was worried that the mix of science fiction and fantasy (magic) would not really work very well. In my experience it rarely does. However, I found the first book, after which the series is named, really good. Since then the series has continued getting four star ratings from me, without exceptions so far.
In this book the series goes off in a direction that I quite like. It moves from Damien traveling from planet to planet investigating, kicking ass and dealing with bad guys to full out war. A war with fleets of space ships duking it out. My favorite kind of science fiction.
The Protectorate are caught with the pants down and has to scramble to defend itself against the fanatical pseudo-religious anti-magic asswipes. I have to say that now I have rather high expectations on next book hoping that Damien and the Protectorate will take the fight to the Republic. Preferably with some of those new Dreadnaughts they keep mentioning.
I really like Damien and his bad guy ass-kicking. Unfortunately the author decided to write in a plot twist in a previous book where Damien got severely injured and lost some of his powers. I really dislike that rubbish. It was so cool when he wiped the floor with any asshat that thought they could take him on. He kind of still does that but not as spectacularly and he keeps moaning about the missing power “tattoos”. This twist feels like the type of unnecessary drama that some lazy-ass Hollywood hack would throw into their TV-show scripts.
I really hope he will heal and get those powers back. This book might have gotten five stars if not for that rubbish.
Anyway, it is still a solid four star book and obviously this series stays on my will-definitely-read shelf.
In this book the series goes off in a direction that I quite like. It moves from Damien traveling from planet to planet investigating, kicking ass and dealing with bad guys to full out war. A war with fleets of space ships duking it out. My favorite kind of science fiction.
The Protectorate are caught with the pants down and has to scramble to defend itself against the fanatical pseudo-religious anti-magic asswipes. I have to say that now I have rather high expectations on next book hoping that Damien and the Protectorate will take the fight to the Republic. Preferably with some of those new Dreadnaughts they keep mentioning.
I really like Damien and his bad guy ass-kicking. Unfortunately the author decided to write in a plot twist in a previous book where Damien got severely injured and lost some of his powers. I really dislike that rubbish. It was so cool when he wiped the floor with any asshat that thought they could take him on. He kind of still does that but not as spectacularly and he keeps moaning about the missing power “tattoos”. This twist feels like the type of unnecessary drama that some lazy-ass Hollywood hack would throw into their TV-show scripts.
I really hope he will heal and get those powers back. This book might have gotten five stars if not for that rubbish.
Anyway, it is still a solid four star book and obviously this series stays on my will-definitely-read shelf.
December 24, 2018
3+ stars.
Generally I enjoy this series quite a lot. The editing issues of the earlier books has been rectified and you don't see much of that anymore. I was very much looking forward to this entry in the series and, in many ways, it was a bit of a game changer. I'll absolutely read the next one. I'm looking forward to it, in fact.
Why 3 instead of 4 then? I don't care for teaser endings and this one has one. Also, there was a significant amount of "gun porn" regarding the ships and armament and that's not really my thing.
Otherwise, I enjoyed this story a lot and I'm happy that the series continues.
Generally I enjoy this series quite a lot. The editing issues of the earlier books has been rectified and you don't see much of that anymore. I was very much looking forward to this entry in the series and, in many ways, it was a bit of a game changer. I'll absolutely read the next one. I'm looking forward to it, in fact.
Why 3 instead of 4 then? I don't care for teaser endings and this one has one. Also, there was a significant amount of "gun porn" regarding the ships and armament and that's not really my thing.
Otherwise, I enjoyed this story a lot and I'm happy that the series continues.
January 4, 2019
Scratches that Starship's Mage itch.
I love this series. I don't think I've written a review for any of these novels yet, so let's get that out of the way. I read roughly 60 Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels a year and this series has been a favorite since I picked up the first book.
As to this book in particular, I read the previous book right when it came out and then haven't touched the series since then, so it had been a while and I was a little hazy on where we were at in the story. However, even with that in mind, this book completely delivered on my expectations. If you're a fan, pick it up. If you're new to the series, dive in. It's well worth the read.
I love this series. I don't think I've written a review for any of these novels yet, so let's get that out of the way. I read roughly 60 Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels a year and this series has been a favorite since I picked up the first book.
As to this book in particular, I read the previous book right when it came out and then haven't touched the series since then, so it had been a while and I was a little hazy on where we were at in the story. However, even with that in mind, this book completely delivered on my expectations. If you're a fan, pick it up. If you're new to the series, dive in. It's well worth the read.
February 27, 2023
War seems to be a time when what is within a person shines most. For Damien Montgomery, it seems to be his time to shine as a leader. For Roslyn Chambers, it seems to be her time to shine as a naval officer. Their resemblance to Honor Harrington really shows in their struggles to preserve the Protectorate. Their characters are what, to me, make this novel, even more than the author's masterfully rendered space battles and action. However over the top their actions and words seem, what Damien and Roslyn do and say just fits with their characters and so makes this novel greater than it might seem on first reading. (Yes, I am suggesting that this is worth re-reading.)
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