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StarLion: Thieves of the Red Night
In a world where Gods and men exist side by side, the descendants of myth and legend serve humanity as professional superheroes, combating ancient evils with their Gifts of light and soul. After gravity-manipulating teen Jordan Harris is arrested for vigilante activity, he is given a simple go to jail or go undercover at the nation's most prestigious superhero training academy-Fort Olympus. As Jordan navigates a school unlike any other he has attended, he uncovers a conspiracy that threatens not just the city of Houston, but the world. Jordan, who is used to working on his own in the dark of night, must learn about teamwork and confront his own shortcomings, which ultimately leads him from vigilante, to criminal, to hero.
- GenresFantasy
388 pages, Paperback
Published April 5, 2021
17 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 7, 2022
***I'M FINALLY GETTING TO MY REVIEW!!!***
I think that, for this review, I'll do the PRO vs. CONS list. I've only done this once before, but it's pretty necessary with this one.
PRO< The first half of his book had a very strong plot to it. There wasn't TOO much action, but they made a way for us to find intrigue in the little things: meeting new people, getting introduced to the superheroes and the school, things like this that made my excitement for this book increase immensely.
CON> The writing was absolutely unforgivable. Even if the plot was as good in the second half as it was in the first half, there's still no way I could acceptably give this book five stars; that's simply because of the writing. I've never read a book where the writing was so bad that I gave it up, but this one was close. It wasn't bad in that he chose some tropes, styles, and clichés that I didn't like; it was bad solely because Leon Langford, our author of this book, did not understand how to write a book formally. It genuinely felt like an eight year old was writing things and spilled everything out in the cheesiest way possible, which is... well, cheesy. He made Rick Riordan's childish writing style feel like J.K Rowling... okay, now that I'm done with that tangent....
PRO< Somewhere around the halfway mark, the writing style improved.
CON> The writing style improved only because the author was writing incredibly boring action sequences. How can somebody cheesily write a write a book, with feelings of great excitement and joy, if they can't even find excitement and joy in the action sequences? Now, I'm not saying that Leon Langford didn't enjoy these action sequences, 'cause I can't be the judge of that, but it really felt like he might have by the way that the storytelling became so much less enjoyable during the second half. Because, when I say that the action sequences were really boring (throughout the book, not just in the second half), I really, really mean that they were boring. All of the fights felt the exact same, besides the one at the end, and nothing interesting happened during the fights, like, at ALL!! It was just people shooting energy blasts at other people and other people using the same 1 stupid super power to avoid it.
PRO< I absolutely adored the world that the author created for this book. If you guys don't know (or if anyone has made it this far... hi :D), this book takes place in a time where Greek mythology is/was rampant. It's not like Percy Jackson, where the mythological creatures and gods have to hide away, but they actually get to be apart of society. ANYWAYS, the gods' descendants turned out to be superheroes, and the mythological creatures descended into a bunch of hybrids. This was so cool! Getting to see half-human, half-mythological creature was exciting and definitely unique. Although, there was a half-human, half-red panda, and... I have questions.
CON> I wasn't a huge fan of how the powers work (for simplicity's sake, I'm just going to refer to this as the magic system) in this book. Yes, everybody got to have their own powers, but they also all (seriously... Every. Singly. Character.) got to share one ability: Plasma. This is essentially just energy that any given character (even the hybrids!) can shoot from their bodies. Whoever had the highest Plasma level was considered the strongest, blah, blah, blah!! It was unique, sure, but not in a very good way. I love for my characters to have a distinct difference between them, so for every single hero (and villain) in this book to have the same ability in common, I was a little upset.
PRO< There was a really fun cast of characters. Some of them were a little much, like Sydney (and the stupid Elf hybrid was so cliché and extra0 but the characters were all fun nevertheless. My favorite character was either the red panda hybrid, or our main character, Jordan.
CON> The villain was very drab. Throughout the book, there really wasn't a specific villain, it was more-so towards the end that the villain became prevalent, and he was... meh.
PRO< Jordan. He loved Lo-Fi hip-hop, which is one of my all-time favorite music genres. He was very fun, and I'm definitely satisfied with him as a main character among the rest of our squad.
CON> Jordan. WHAT THE FRICKING HECK WAS JORDAN!? Like, I loved the kid, YEAH, but some of the decisions that he made were REDICULOUS! Like, okay, you were sent to the school to do all of your super hero work, and you have to uncover the truth, BUT YOU INSIST CONSSISTENTTTLYYY THAT YOU NEED TO DO IT BY YOURSELF!! III HHHAATTTEEE OOOBBBNNNOOOXXXIIIOOOUUUSSS DECISIONS! FRICKING IDIOT!
PRO< The overall plot. Individually speaking, the first half had a good, sturdy plot, and the second half had a week, boring plot. Overall, the idea was that they had to find who the masked bandit was. I loved it! I loved the plot twists, the mystery, and the overall fun that it caused.
In the end, it was really hard to rate this. It was going to be a four star in the beginning, towards the end I debated a two star, so I just cut it and decided for a three star. After about a week of sitting on that decision, I find that I'm quite happy with it. The PROs pull very strongly, and the CONs pull very strongly, and so, in the end, it's a tie. It's in the middle. I'm just a little bit upset, because I was SOOO excited to get to this book originally.
I hope at least a couple people made it through this review. If you did, thank you so much! If you didn't, you're probably not reading this, so I don't have anything to say. Thanks again if you made it through!!
-Me✌🏼
I think that, for this review, I'll do the PRO vs. CONS list. I've only done this once before, but it's pretty necessary with this one.
PRO< The first half of his book had a very strong plot to it. There wasn't TOO much action, but they made a way for us to find intrigue in the little things: meeting new people, getting introduced to the superheroes and the school, things like this that made my excitement for this book increase immensely.
CON> The writing was absolutely unforgivable. Even if the plot was as good in the second half as it was in the first half, there's still no way I could acceptably give this book five stars; that's simply because of the writing. I've never read a book where the writing was so bad that I gave it up, but this one was close. It wasn't bad in that he chose some tropes, styles, and clichés that I didn't like; it was bad solely because Leon Langford, our author of this book, did not understand how to write a book formally. It genuinely felt like an eight year old was writing things and spilled everything out in the cheesiest way possible, which is... well, cheesy. He made Rick Riordan's childish writing style feel like J.K Rowling... okay, now that I'm done with that tangent....
PRO< Somewhere around the halfway mark, the writing style improved.
CON> The writing style improved only because the author was writing incredibly boring action sequences. How can somebody cheesily write a write a book, with feelings of great excitement and joy, if they can't even find excitement and joy in the action sequences? Now, I'm not saying that Leon Langford didn't enjoy these action sequences, 'cause I can't be the judge of that, but it really felt like he might have by the way that the storytelling became so much less enjoyable during the second half. Because, when I say that the action sequences were really boring (throughout the book, not just in the second half), I really, really mean that they were boring. All of the fights felt the exact same, besides the one at the end, and nothing interesting happened during the fights, like, at ALL!! It was just people shooting energy blasts at other people and other people using the same 1 stupid super power to avoid it.
PRO< I absolutely adored the world that the author created for this book. If you guys don't know (or if anyone has made it this far... hi :D), this book takes place in a time where Greek mythology is/was rampant. It's not like Percy Jackson, where the mythological creatures and gods have to hide away, but they actually get to be apart of society. ANYWAYS, the gods' descendants turned out to be superheroes, and the mythological creatures descended into a bunch of hybrids. This was so cool! Getting to see half-human, half-mythological creature was exciting and definitely unique. Although, there was a half-human, half-red panda, and... I have questions.
CON> I wasn't a huge fan of how the powers work (for simplicity's sake, I'm just going to refer to this as the magic system) in this book. Yes, everybody got to have their own powers, but they also all (seriously... Every. Singly. Character.) got to share one ability: Plasma. This is essentially just energy that any given character (even the hybrids!) can shoot from their bodies. Whoever had the highest Plasma level was considered the strongest, blah, blah, blah!! It was unique, sure, but not in a very good way. I love for my characters to have a distinct difference between them, so for every single hero (and villain) in this book to have the same ability in common, I was a little upset.
PRO< There was a really fun cast of characters. Some of them were a little much, like Sydney (and the stupid Elf hybrid was so cliché and extra0 but the characters were all fun nevertheless. My favorite character was either the red panda hybrid, or our main character, Jordan.
CON> The villain was very drab. Throughout the book, there really wasn't a specific villain, it was more-so towards the end that the villain became prevalent, and he was... meh.
PRO< Jordan. He loved Lo-Fi hip-hop, which is one of my all-time favorite music genres. He was very fun, and I'm definitely satisfied with him as a main character among the rest of our squad.
CON> Jordan. WHAT THE FRICKING HECK WAS JORDAN!? Like, I loved the kid, YEAH, but some of the decisions that he made were REDICULOUS! Like, okay, you were sent to the school to do all of your super hero work, and you have to uncover the truth, BUT YOU INSIST CONSSISTENTTTLYYY THAT YOU NEED TO DO IT BY YOURSELF!! III HHHAATTTEEE OOOBBBNNNOOOXXXIIIOOOUUUSSS DECISIONS! FRICKING IDIOT!
PRO< The overall plot. Individually speaking, the first half had a good, sturdy plot, and the second half had a week, boring plot. Overall, the idea was that they had to find who the masked bandit was. I loved it! I loved the plot twists, the mystery, and the overall fun that it caused.
In the end, it was really hard to rate this. It was going to be a four star in the beginning, towards the end I debated a two star, so I just cut it and decided for a three star. After about a week of sitting on that decision, I find that I'm quite happy with it. The PROs pull very strongly, and the CONs pull very strongly, and so, in the end, it's a tie. It's in the middle. I'm just a little bit upset, because I was SOOO excited to get to this book originally.
I hope at least a couple people made it through this review. If you did, thank you so much! If you didn't, you're probably not reading this, so I don't have anything to say. Thanks again if you made it through!!
-Me✌🏼
August 18, 2024
What a ride.
The story is told from a 3rd person pov that primarily focuses on Jordan, our 14-year-old mmc, who goes out at night to protect the city of Houston as a vigilante with superpowers. One night, this goes wrong, and he's offered a deal to stay out of jail: to go undercover at the prestigious Fort Olympus, an academy where Espers (how the supes are called in this world) are trained. The 3rd POV occasionally switches to other characters, like Jordans classmates and teachers. This served the story well. It gives the reader a broader perspective as to what other characters are feeling and what their motivations are.
The kids in this story are 14, and they act their age. Jordan and his friends are incredibly driven in their ambitions to become heroes, but like most teens, they make mistakes along the way. Quite honestly, as an adult reader, there were points where I just wanted to give these traumatised babies a hug and tell the other adults of for placing these high expectations on kids to handle issues that they as adults couldn't even solve.
In this universe, the Olympians and other God's and Deities aren't myths. They are real and have been an active part of world history.
Besides the Olympians, there is mention of powers passed through ancestry of Nordic, African, and Hindu Gods. Honestly, I wish the author had given us more in-depth information concerning this part of their universe because it's quite interesting, and I would have loved to see how that manifests in the powers of the heroes. I still enjoyed the story regardless.
TLDR: The vibes are Percy Jackson meets My Hero Academia. 10/10 recommend this YA superhero novel. It's a fast-paced standalone adventure that leaves the door open for future stories to be told, and I'm hoping that the author will.
The story is told from a 3rd person pov that primarily focuses on Jordan, our 14-year-old mmc, who goes out at night to protect the city of Houston as a vigilante with superpowers. One night, this goes wrong, and he's offered a deal to stay out of jail: to go undercover at the prestigious Fort Olympus, an academy where Espers (how the supes are called in this world) are trained. The 3rd POV occasionally switches to other characters, like Jordans classmates and teachers. This served the story well. It gives the reader a broader perspective as to what other characters are feeling and what their motivations are.
The kids in this story are 14, and they act their age. Jordan and his friends are incredibly driven in their ambitions to become heroes, but like most teens, they make mistakes along the way. Quite honestly, as an adult reader, there were points where I just wanted to give these traumatised babies a hug and tell the other adults of for placing these high expectations on kids to handle issues that they as adults couldn't even solve.
In this universe, the Olympians and other God's and Deities aren't myths. They are real and have been an active part of world history.
Besides the Olympians, there is mention of powers passed through ancestry of Nordic, African, and Hindu Gods. Honestly, I wish the author had given us more in-depth information concerning this part of their universe because it's quite interesting, and I would have loved to see how that manifests in the powers of the heroes. I still enjoyed the story regardless.
TLDR: The vibes are Percy Jackson meets My Hero Academia. 10/10 recommend this YA superhero novel. It's a fast-paced standalone adventure that leaves the door open for future stories to be told, and I'm hoping that the author will.
June 16, 2022
Wonderful start to a series ❤
August 24, 2021
An exceptional story of heroes and villains to rival any “big name” release that’s out there. This novel has a lot of heart, paired with an imaginative story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I look forward to more!
August 6, 2025
StarLion is what the world needed! Fast paced and action packed, this book is a ride for sure! I loved how all the characters evolved throughout the story to find themselves and become their own hero.
November 20, 2024
The story was cool, but the omniscient pov drove me insane...😅
June 12, 2021
Fast paced and absolutely riveting, “StarLion” is the story of Jordan Harris, a young man with powers derived from the gods, who dreams of being a hero, but has been told to hide his powers and so resorts to vigilante activity in his spare time. The origin of superheroes as descended from the gods of various pantheons gives the book a unique twist that is very, very refreshing in the face of what feels like endless stream of superhero movies that seem to rehash the same plot elements and problems. It also creates a fascinating alternate history, where major historical figures, George Washington, Napoleon, etc. had superpowers, and makes for some really cool world building moments.
Though the most lauded superheroes are called Olympians and the school Jordan attends (as an alternative to prison after he’s caught doing vigilante work) is called Fort Olympus, the Greek gods are not the only gods represented. My two favorite minor characters, who I really hope we see again in a sequel, are Tobe and Osin, who are descended from the African god, Ogun.
And the characters, oh boy, there’s so much to love. Everyone, villain and hero alike, is well-rounded and dynamic. Everyone has flaws, people have to work to get along, and sometimes they just don’t get along. Relationships are complex and characters’ inner conflicts are complex, and I really enjoyed the choice to have the main team be so large and so dynamic. Not one person is alike, though they all share some level of similarity, Jordan and Alicia and Sydney all have family who were or are professional superheroes, but well, let’s just say it takes bit for them to get along, and Cooper and Reuben, whose powers manifest as being creature-human hybrids, could not have more polar opposite personalities, though they share some level of struggle (with varying severity).
Large casts like this can be very difficult to pull off, especially when you need to develop them all quickly, but through the use of third person omniscient narration, we get to learn quickly and effectively just where all the points of conflict between our leads comes from. This, in turn, allows for rapid movement forward as they all learn to work together and grow as friends and team mates.
While Jordan is the primary POV character, the dip in and out of other characters’ POVs also adds some really wonderful layers to the story and sets up some really great tension and suspense. This allows for a really great blend of both foreshadowing and learning information that our protagonists just don’t know.
Some other things I enjoyed:
1. The artwork. There is absolutely gorgeous, full-color artwork throughout the book, and the uniforms are completely unisex. There are also little character bios, which are really great.
2. A very diverse cast! There are multiple characters of color—Jordan and Alicia are Black and I believe Rueben is Latino—and multiple disabled characters too! Jordan’s best friend Nathan walks with crutches, and superhero Red Wing, who is Jordan’s squad leader is an accomplished hero who started his hero career already missing one arm.
3. How very obviously their age the main five leads are. They’re teenagers and it shows, though again, in different ways for each character, no one has the same sort of background.
There’s so much more. I could go on and on. “StarLion” is a wonderful and fun read.
The biggest warning I would give is for genre typical violence, and one description on page 362, first full paragraph on the page, of an open, compound fracture.
*Cross posted from my Wordpress blog.
Though the most lauded superheroes are called Olympians and the school Jordan attends (as an alternative to prison after he’s caught doing vigilante work) is called Fort Olympus, the Greek gods are not the only gods represented. My two favorite minor characters, who I really hope we see again in a sequel, are Tobe and Osin, who are descended from the African god, Ogun.
And the characters, oh boy, there’s so much to love. Everyone, villain and hero alike, is well-rounded and dynamic. Everyone has flaws, people have to work to get along, and sometimes they just don’t get along. Relationships are complex and characters’ inner conflicts are complex, and I really enjoyed the choice to have the main team be so large and so dynamic. Not one person is alike, though they all share some level of similarity, Jordan and Alicia and Sydney all have family who were or are professional superheroes, but well, let’s just say it takes bit for them to get along, and Cooper and Reuben, whose powers manifest as being creature-human hybrids, could not have more polar opposite personalities, though they share some level of struggle (with varying severity).
Large casts like this can be very difficult to pull off, especially when you need to develop them all quickly, but through the use of third person omniscient narration, we get to learn quickly and effectively just where all the points of conflict between our leads comes from. This, in turn, allows for rapid movement forward as they all learn to work together and grow as friends and team mates.
While Jordan is the primary POV character, the dip in and out of other characters’ POVs also adds some really wonderful layers to the story and sets up some really great tension and suspense. This allows for a really great blend of both foreshadowing and learning information that our protagonists just don’t know.
Some other things I enjoyed:
1. The artwork. There is absolutely gorgeous, full-color artwork throughout the book, and the uniforms are completely unisex. There are also little character bios, which are really great.
2. A very diverse cast! There are multiple characters of color—Jordan and Alicia are Black and I believe Rueben is Latino—and multiple disabled characters too! Jordan’s best friend Nathan walks with crutches, and superhero Red Wing, who is Jordan’s squad leader is an accomplished hero who started his hero career already missing one arm.
3. How very obviously their age the main five leads are. They’re teenagers and it shows, though again, in different ways for each character, no one has the same sort of background.
There’s so much more. I could go on and on. “StarLion” is a wonderful and fun read.
The biggest warning I would give is for genre typical violence, and one description on page 362, first full paragraph on the page, of an open, compound fracture.
*Cross posted from my Wordpress blog.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2025
Even with the technical errors, the simplistic, borderline hamfisted writing, weak villain motivations, and the shallow magic system, the sheer depth in the setting, the amazingly human emotions behind the characters and themes, and the insane art had me HOOKED all the way to the end!
Going in, from the description, I knew it would be something more YA and familiar and fun, but the sheer stakes and how often and aggressively the narrative would flip to “IT’S SO OVER!” was such a surprise. Through the main character and even the side characters, this book is written with so much anxiety and conflict from beginning to end, whether you look at the main character's personal stakes, his constant strikes as he pursues the main villains, or the subplots of two other main characters constantly doubting their place due to how society treats their kind, in terms of characters and themes, Starlion was electric.
Even if the beats felt familiar to the point of predictability, in a *story sense*, it’s one of those cases where, they’re executed so well, it doesn’t matter that it’s not reinventing the wheel — it’s some damn good wheels.
…except for a few rickety places.
The villain's motivations are weak.
The magic system here was also a bit weak, even for a YA novel. A superhero school-type setting implicitly promises unique powers and all that, but in practice, the system’s built on every character manipulating Plasma in “different ways”. I use quotes, because with the exception of the half-animal secondary main character (we love Cooper over here), almost *every* character either enhances their strength, creates things with plasma, or shoots energy blasts. Different colors, different themes, but it’s the same. Luckily, the main character's the other exception — I don't even know how the author decided on graviton manipulation as a power, which is so conceptually unique!
The real elephant in the room, though, is the actual words themselves.
As a self-published author myself, I know the struggle firsthand of not being able to afford proper professional editing. Even then, I read this as an eBook, and the *first chapter* had several lines indented incorrectly. Throughout the entire book, there are sentences straight up missing punctuation or using improper grammar. Sometimes, we shift scenes from one character/location to another with no scene marker all, leaving us disoriented by the switch up.
Even outside of grammar issues, at times, it felt like the characters were mere steps away from staring the camera right in the face and repeating the themes directly at us. It’s a very *direct* book, and it can be hamfisted with portraying its themes, but since it's YA, I don’t mind the directness since those themes are solid. Errors aren't as excusable.
I don’t want it to sound like I’m ripping into the book, though. It has a lot of technical errors, the writing is simplistic, the villain’s motivations are weak, and the magic system’s shallow, but the sheer depth in the setting and the whirlwind of emotions behind every page and every character still pulled me along to the very end. Hell, the direct writing comes off as so genuine in how it portrays anxiety in one moment, and then pure black culture in another, and it all kept me so hooked, I sped through half of it in a day!
Going in, from the description, I knew it would be something more YA and familiar and fun, but the sheer stakes and how often and aggressively the narrative would flip to “IT’S SO OVER!” was such a surprise. Through the main character and even the side characters, this book is written with so much anxiety and conflict from beginning to end, whether you look at the main character's personal stakes, his constant strikes as he pursues the main villains, or the subplots of two other main characters constantly doubting their place due to how society treats their kind, in terms of characters and themes, Starlion was electric.
Even if the beats felt familiar to the point of predictability, in a *story sense*, it’s one of those cases where, they’re executed so well, it doesn’t matter that it’s not reinventing the wheel — it’s some damn good wheels.
…except for a few rickety places.
The villain's motivations are weak.
The magic system here was also a bit weak, even for a YA novel. A superhero school-type setting implicitly promises unique powers and all that, but in practice, the system’s built on every character manipulating Plasma in “different ways”. I use quotes, because with the exception of the half-animal secondary main character (we love Cooper over here), almost *every* character either enhances their strength, creates things with plasma, or shoots energy blasts. Different colors, different themes, but it’s the same. Luckily, the main character's the other exception — I don't even know how the author decided on graviton manipulation as a power, which is so conceptually unique!
The real elephant in the room, though, is the actual words themselves.
As a self-published author myself, I know the struggle firsthand of not being able to afford proper professional editing. Even then, I read this as an eBook, and the *first chapter* had several lines indented incorrectly. Throughout the entire book, there are sentences straight up missing punctuation or using improper grammar. Sometimes, we shift scenes from one character/location to another with no scene marker all, leaving us disoriented by the switch up.
Even outside of grammar issues, at times, it felt like the characters were mere steps away from staring the camera right in the face and repeating the themes directly at us. It’s a very *direct* book, and it can be hamfisted with portraying its themes, but since it's YA, I don’t mind the directness since those themes are solid. Errors aren't as excusable.
I don’t want it to sound like I’m ripping into the book, though. It has a lot of technical errors, the writing is simplistic, the villain’s motivations are weak, and the magic system’s shallow, but the sheer depth in the setting and the whirlwind of emotions behind every page and every character still pulled me along to the very end. Hell, the direct writing comes off as so genuine in how it portrays anxiety in one moment, and then pure black culture in another, and it all kept me so hooked, I sped through half of it in a day!
June 7, 2021
Very ggoy
November 1, 2021
these are the descendants of gods of Olympus and they have new jobs. they are superheroes
January 29, 2025
I liked the story. Feel like it might work better as a comic or cartoon.
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