The Rifts of Psyche

The Starsea Cycle #3

by Kyle West

Lucian must do what no mage has ever done before: escape the Mad Moon. But between frayed mages, violent monsters, and the hostile environment, that may prove impossible.

Wandering the brutal surface, every breath is a fight for survival. And things only get worse when Lucian receives visions from the so-called Sorceress-Queen of Psyche, whose Psionic Magic is second to none.

Teaming up with a dedicated captain, a frayed mage, and a former Mage-Knight of Dara, Lucian sets off on a quest across Psyche. He needs a way off the moon for good. But the Sorceress-Queen has her own plans for him.

Those plans will change everything...

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magic, Fiction, Audiobook

480 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2021

About the author

I'm Kyle West, author of the Wasteland Chronicles, Xenoworld Saga, Starsea Cycle, and more. I try to write books with lots of action and crazy twists to keep you turning the pages. Every book of mine can be categorized as "science fantasy," blending elements from both genres.

Reviews

[Trey Westbrook · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending of this book made it worth the read. Many times during the beginning and middle I considered DNFing, but the last 100ish pages had the action and plot advancement I was desperately searching for during this book. The ending itself raises more questions for the next book, and I’ll end up reading it, but it has to grab my attention much earlier than this one did to finish it!

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I finished this I'm picking up the next book 10/10 recommend

[Biana]

*i review with words, not stars*

One of the woes of having a lengthy space opera series is that sometimes the book you read isn't the best. That's not to say that it wasn't good, because it was. It was the dialogue between the Sorceress Queen of Psyche and Lucien. There has to be an explaining of motivations but this was less than moving.

The Queen insists that for there to be a viable community anywhere, there has to be slaves. She talks about wanting the to have the orbs so that she can return magic to it's natural state and let everyone relish in the magic. Well, everyone except the humans, who will need to be ruled by someone, uh, well, someone like the Queen. Yeah, got it.

Another point that I feel is weak, is Lucien's character. The entire series (thus far) has been from Lucien's point of view and it's calm, controlled, reasonable, and mild. I'm listening to the audiobook so the personality is about as calm as Rob Brinkmann's narration. I mean, I totally believe that he can succeed in this epic odyssey before him because the voice is cool and collected. There is nothing like an unsure teenager or frustrated man.

In this phase of the journey, Lucien has been dropped on the prison planet/moon of Psyche. There is no way off and it's a horrible place to be. On his first night, he uses his magic to kill two screeching night creatures and he makes a friend. Then he visits a town and gets incorporated. The head of security is not confident in this new child and sets out to make him a laughing stock. While in the middle of that, the enemy comes to attack. When the town elders discuss the events, they discover that he has the orb and he has a destiny. The next morning, the captain of the guard, one of his soldiers and Lucien set out to find Sarah, the first night friend. Then the three of them set upon the lengthy and dangerous journey to find the next orb.

I have binged these books, 3 in a row. I MIGHT take a break and read something else. I might decide to keep my mind in the land of Starsea Mages.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still loving this book

I've read these three books in succession and they've all been great. It's a long journey to an uncertain end. Everyone seems to have different ideas about what Lucian should do with the orbs. The only one who isn't sure is Lucian himself.

The Queen of Psyche had a plan for him but like with others who tried they fell apart. The Chosen is guided by destiny and whatever stands in his way will ultimately fall by the wayside no matter his intentions. He had to go to the Academy, he had to meet Vera and Emma along the way and he had to end up on Psyche.

Lucian found true allies on Psyche, people willing to fight and die alongside him. They were his only hope of surviving and claiming another orb. Sarah, Fergus and Cleon were at his side. Lucian sometimes faltered but there were there to prod him on, at least until it was no longer necessary. Lucian has access to terrifying levels of power. We knew he was powerful on his own early in the last book when he shattered an iceberg with his binding power.

Near the end of this book Lucian came in contact with two others from his past. One might lead him down a dark path. Even the evil Queen of Psyche, for all of her power, feared Vera and saw a darkness in her. It's up to Lucian to decide his own path and determine if she's an ally or just another tool to be used in his journey.

[Oreofe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back at the Starsea Cycle again with the Rifts of psyche. Lemme just say that the Orb of Binding discovery was such a twist of fate. Linus and Plato are just gems and having Lucien pick up the first orb under the noses of the Transcends was a stroke of genius.

Now for this book. I really like the progression from when he lands on the prison moon through the challenges of meeting new people and making new acquaintances to traversing an unknown terrain, improving his skills and working towards another one of the orbs. I especially love this book because in a way it's the end of the beginning of the series and from here we enter the middle stages of progression. (If it not obvious I've read the whole series and came back to make this review* dw no spoilers)

The Rifts of psyche wad a mental exercise in imagination for me. I really liked the change in lighting, the camera panning and the special effects. Makes the action scenes look estra realistic. This book really did feel like a blockbuster while I read it tho. I will say no more now.

[Dionte Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't hate the book but I feel like it was certainly lacking. The first 2 books describe the main setting of this place as a place of great trial and struggle, with many inhabitants being dumped on the planet ranging from criminals to mages that are supposedly fraying. As I can see how the inhabitants struggle, I believed there would have been more action throughout the story. Each fight felt as if they were resolved a little to fast to my liking. As for story progression, I believe it did well in moving the plot forward, with the chance of the villian of the book having a chance to return. My only negative with the actual plot, was that it took the MC far to long to realize the "Queen" was being mind controlled and wasn't the actual queen. they always described someone being controlled with having violet eyes, and yet for the second half of the book he never thought to himself knowing the color of that specific magic is violet, that the person being portrayed as the Queen could actually not be her, when taking her supposed age into account.

[Brandon Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book became my favorite in the series so far, with Sara being my favorite character
towards the end of this book however, I got so tired of Cleon and his constant complaining, also tired of every time something bad happens in this series, Lucian automatically thinks of death, “this is it, he knew he was going to die”, “this was it, they were all going to die because of him”, blah blah blah
didn’t finish book 3 because it was the same sh.tty attitudes over and over and over
now looking for a different book to read

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though Lucian excelled in the Trials, he was betrayed, kicked out, and sent to the Mage prison world of Psyche. He’s accidentally found the Orb of Binding; now he has to escape to find the others.

There's a lot of running around, getting nowhere, until they get help. Feels like a filler story to transition to something more important.

Fave scenes: talking with Elder Erymmo, escaping from the Green Rift, jumping into the dark lake, and the Queen shielding from the storm.

[Stoffolosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story has so much potential but the plot holes and pacing are immersion breaking. More than half of Book 2 has zero impact on this book 3 and I suspect the few character interactions of this book will have no impact on the series going forward. I might return to this series at a later date, but for now I never want to read the words "chosen one" again.

[Pamela Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the Third Book in : The Star Sea Trilogy .

Wow I truly enjoyed this book I'm not gonna lie it started off a bit slow . But by the end the main protagonist had redeemed themselves I'm ready for the next book in this series .

[Alan Boggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed and good

The story goes into a lot of detail sometimes sounding a little too much, but I still like the story there is character development and action. If you like the first you will most likely like this book.

[Amanda Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series is starting to drag some. The more over powered we know he is going to become the less interesting the book will get.

I am still enjoying the series and if I can find the next books cheap, I'll read them.

[Ray Knighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

I like the seven aspects of magic. I would not have thought of those aspects or even mind control. Thanks

[Brad Searing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book three was difficult to get through. There was a lot of fluff in the middle that drug out too long. The ending was worth it, but could have gotten there in a better way. On to book 4.

[Torfinn Ingolfsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it.

[Abigail G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far faster than the previous two books, this one flew by. This one kept me guessing to the end.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy landscape

The world building continues full force in this book. It's filled with great characters and wyverns! I wasn't expecting wyverns.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third book already and I really like it. A nice mix of science fiction and fantasy. Relatable character that you care about. All good!

[Jayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying the expansion of the Starsea universe. This was very exciting with a lot of drama.

[Rene Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit different from the other 2 books, I like how the storylines are. Character development still shallow.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, and great world that the author has created.
Fantasy and Science Fiction meet. Amazing!