The Bookwyrm's Review of Starcaster by J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert

Authors: J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert

Length: 328 Pages/ 7 Hours, 37 Minutes (Audio)

Publisher: Variant Publications/ Podium Publishing (Audio)

Release Date: September 6, 2020/ February 16, 2021 (Audio)

Narrator: Tom Taylorson

Amazon Link  Audible Link

Rating: 9/10 Stars

SYNOPSIS

Magic. Steel. Blood. Victory.

The Earth’s navy is left drifting among the stars as Nyctus ships swarm, their purpose unknown as they continue their advance, burning one system after another.

Humanity's extinction seems inevitable.

But on one of the forgotten worlds, a boy is left behind, and he holds a talent unlike anything the galaxy has ever known.

Thorn Stellers is a mage, trained to lead and fight. With a renegade division of warriors at his side, and with weapons far different from those of old Earth, Thorn has a chance at standing up to humanity's enemies. For these mage-soldiers, armed with power that had once been thought the stuff of legend, the outcome is no longer certain.

Each Starcaster has a talent—except for Thorn, who has many. With his childhood companion Kira Wixcombe, he’ll confront a threat from beyond the stars, meeting them in the darkness with a light born of magic... and a lust for revenge.

Is his power enough? Or is Earth a forgotten memory, lost forever to history?

REVIEW

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this one. The premise of space opera with magic has been done before, so I wasn't sure how this would differentiate itself. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with how it did differentiate itself. This was accomplished through their would building. They created a very credible threat with the Nyctus, who are a mysterious alien race who have been handing humanity loss after loss, trying to wipe them out of existence. The humans discover the Nyctus use magic to power their most powerful weapons, forcing humanity to realize that magic is real, and that some humans can use it to try and fight back. Its a great combination, a cutting edge space fleet that is being wiped out, that has to fall back on what amounts to myth and superstition to try and stave off extinction.

This myth and superstition, which is rediscovered magic, is wielded by Starcasters, those rare individuals who have a magical talent that is useful for the war effort. Individuals like Thorn Stellars, a war orphan who's grown into a smart mouth with no respect for authority. Growing up an orphan in a hard scrabble orphanage has made him tough and wary of others, living on the fringes of society. This affects how he responds throughout the story, since it causes friction with his command as he is inducted into the military to learn to use his abilities. It even affects his powers, since control is so important to use them, and his past has left him with a lot of jagged edges. He goes through such an interesting character arc, as it's revealed he is unique among Starcasters, and may be the best hope for winning the war, or the cause of it all crashing down. He is just such a fully realized character, with strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. 

The secondary characters are an interesting mix as well, from a bunch of different backgrounds, all striving to try and keep humanity from falling. They don't all get super deep backstories, but their character arcs are centered on the events in the book, so it works for them. Their military trainers are more archetypical, being the usual hard core instructors who will crack down on the troops to break them, and then build them back up as a cohesive unit. You get some hints of character growth towards the end, which was a nice touch.

The Nyctus are an intriguing enemy. Not human, or even humanoid, in any way, their motives are still somewhat a mystery, but we do get some peaks into their thinking. Their view of humanity is based on biology and social order, and its hard to see how these differences can be overcome. With their abilities and more advanced tech, it's amazing the humans have held out as long as they have, especially with humans resistance to change. It will be intriguing to see where these authors take the story in later installments.

The narration is very ably performed by Tom Taylorson. I was unfamiliar with him before this book, but I have to say, he is very talented. He does a great job capturing the mood of the story, and his narrative pacing is excellent. He works hard to bring the various characters to life, using all kinds of accents, cadences and tones to differentiate the characters. I look forward to hearing him on book two.

This is definitely a book that should have a broad appeal to a lot of SFF fans. With its blend of space opera and urban fantasy elements, with a nice cast of characters, it has something for everyone to love. With its mix of action and threat of overwhelming doom, it will keep the reader/listener on the edge of their seat, in the best way. Highly recommended.