The Siege of Earth

The Starsea Cycle #8

by Kyle West

Time is running out for humanity to resist the dreaded Alkasen. The Worlds burn as tens of thousands of Swarmer vessels pour in from Dark Space.

On the moon of Psyche, Lucian Abrantes, the Chosen of the Manifold, must start from humble beginnings, growing his single world into an empire. He must unite disparate factions, all of which don’t recognize his legitimacy.

It’s an impossible task. But Lucian must rise to the occasion, focusing everything on gathering a fleet capable of challenging the Alkasen advance.

The question of humanity's survival will be decided above the skies of Earth itself.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

405 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 15, 2022

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

[Biana]

*i use words, not stars*

Eight books deep, it's safe to say that I enjoyed the book. Another leg of the incredible journey of Lucian Abrantes and his no longer motley crew of misfits and outcasts. Now he's the... let me see if I can remember this correctly... Sorcerer Ascendant, King of Psyche, Head Mage of all Mankind. No, not quite. Sorcerer-King of Psyche, the Chosen of the Manifold, and the Sorcerer-Ascendant of Magekind. Yeah.

Here is what I noticed.
1. Sereh is sliding away. Of course there is endless action and it's all so needed immediately, but her role seems to fade. Actually, they all do. There were times with someone would pipe up their comment and I would wonder when they got there! Oh yeah, the White Transcendent was there! Maybe it's too many characters.
2. Despite the sacrificing that Lucian has done for Sereh, and the comfort that he gets from her, I'm not feeling this bond. I think she's a vital character, but so is Fergus. I don't want a love story, heck no! But I want to know this man has feelings. Could he relax in her embrace after a challenge? Could she gently, affectionately lean against his shoulder? What about them getting caught kissing in the elevator? The tangle of sheets and 2 tired mages?
3. When Lucian was speaking with the previous Sorcerer, the head of the Mako Academy, he had 3 or 4 things that he wanted. The ultimate "if I could having anything in the entire universe" sort of reply. It was to cure the fraying, stop the Alkasen, and some other things. He mentions that he doesn't want magic to end because humanity is reliant on the gates. In book 8, it kind of feels like he forgot a few details (just like I did)
4. Gone is the imnotworthy whine of Lucian, he's now full blown Mega Hero. The confidence doesn't quite work tho. I would have liked to *feel* him know he can do what he claims. He spends too long arguing with people who insist he is just a child playing make believe. Why not make a "try me" statement and walk away. Why not coil some magic in hand? This is the ULTIMATE and he's repeating himself with I AM the only one that can help. It WILL be me. I'm the CHOSEN...
5. The span of this book is so intense. I cannot comprehend even a iota of this number. The amount of ships and number of mages and followers and distances and gates...AHHHHH! A small part of me wonders what happened to the "only one in a kazillion has mage abilities"

I'm addicted to this universe. I'll see it thru to the end.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Xara is defeated, and the people on Psyche are free. At least until the Swarmer fleet arrives. Lucian has to stop the Warders from firing on the planet and join them in fighting the Swarmers.

So far, it’s been a great series, but this is getting more complicated than I’m willing to spend time on. It’s very theoretical for a simple ‘magic battle in the stars’ story. A third of the way through, the ‘magic’ of finding the orbs has disappeared into a heavy, complicated plot that requires too much thought. I found myself skipping through a lot of Lucian’s explanations and revelations to get to the meat of the real story. I read to entertain (fiction), and/or learn (mostly from non-fiction). I’m not willing to spend a lot of time trying to decipher a single page of text in a fiction book. So I’ve decided to stop reading and move on to one of a hundred other books I want to read.

Footnote: I've read all the Tolkien, McCaffrey, Martin, and Rothfuss series and loved them. So long and deep is not a problem. It's a balance

Fave scene: Lucian destroying the Swarmer battleships.

[Oreofe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book started with the best intro so far in this whole series. I could just read the first part over a couple times just for how genius it was (and I did). The space time orb, the seven orbs from defeating Zara Malice its already off to a great start.

This book shows more of the logistics of being powerful than the acts of it. At this point lucien is already almighty by the standards of this series, so he's doesn't have much growing to do strength wise, but as a leader and commander of the Mages Of Starsea, he has work to do and that is what I believe this book focused on. I've seen a similar development in Red Rising. The organization requires to pull people together cannot be done by one man and requires relegating tasks, and trusting other so you can still function and bring others along.

I like the progression of the whole series and seeing some old new characters return was some more carry on top.

[Josh Kearns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed it. The character arcs make sense, the plot is still fun with surprises thrown in, and the blend of sci-fi and fantasy continues to impress! Lucien has started to become one of those god-like characters who can simply do anything, and his particular arc has become pretty predictable and it seems like he’s stagnated slightly from a development standpoint, which is why I didn’t give this a full 5 stars. I still enjoyed listening and will absolutely be preordering the next book when it’s available as well!

[Rob Enderle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've finished all 10 books at his point. This was a fun series, while the hero took a long while to get over his whiny phase, what I found especially troubling is that I might have behaved in the same way were I him. Good action, light romance, and some interesting treatments of death; the power sets were well-defined and interesting. I'm going to miss this series. It did make me think a bit about life in general, which was an added bonus, but it made the book less useful when just wanting to kill time.

[Rene Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting how the books in this series tend to be the same but still are a bit different. This one is more military and feels like the space warfare genre. I enjoyed it, let’s see what the next one brings. Two more to go…

[Stephen Stanback · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

I truly enjoy this series and cannot wait for the final book to be published. This series is engaging, entertaining and engrossing.

[Jayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm just so entertained by this series. This book had a lot of action. Putting magic in sci-fi is so much fun.

[Mrs L Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goes on a bit

[Elad Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book yet!

I couldn’t stop reading as Lucian’s adventures unfolded in a twisting and turning of the manifold! I wish there were 9 more books to read!

[Don Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

I throughly enjoyed this book. It had a good story line and kept me interested throughout the entire story. I recommend reading this book.