Reavers of the Void

Star Knight Saga #1

by Bradford C. Walker

In the Year of Our Lord 3001, the space pirate Red Eyes brings his pirate fleet to bear against Galactic Christendom. He aims to steal one of its greatest treasures, Countess Gabriela Robin, to fulfill his warlord ambitions. Dispatched against him is one of the Star Knights of the Solar Guard, Lord Roland, with the mission to protect the Countess at all costs. With his man Sibley and his page Creton at his side, Lord Roland faces off against the would-be warlord in the Dire March of the galaxy and begin a conflict that all the galaxy cannot ignore.

155 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2019

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the whole, I really like it. Walker manages a deft combination of American pulp and 1970's / early '80s era giant robot anime in a setting that would feel at home in even earlier fantasy, say late 19th century, that in itself is remarkable. The melodrama is thick, but in context of the kind of story presented, it fits. With that said, the story is absolutely dripping with tropes, but they work because they're not presented in an ironic or subversive fashion, but played absolutely straight - IF there was subversion in play, it would have fallen flat and gone from trope to cliche. Walker also writes well choreographed fight scenes, if you're willing to accept "anime physics" and an outright shift to naval combat terminology. If you're willing to suspend that much disbelief, you'll enjoy it. If you absolutely cannot let go of space combat that makes zero real-world physical sense, then pass, there's nothing that will make you enjoy the book. The plot is fairly predictable, in many ways it's a remake of "The Phantom Menace" or maybe, more of a "fix fic," which while not timely, has its own degree of satisfaction. Where the editing does him no service, is the presence of odd tense shifts during action scenes into present tense, from past and I can't tell if it's due to missed corrections, deliberate (in which case it does not work at all), but it's distracting enough to hurt the overall rating. The best completely made-up adjective I can use for the book is "Voltron-y," not a bad thing in my view!

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this more, but in the end I needed to know more about the government the hero served and how humanity came to be governed by what appears to be a single religious feudal state.