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willrefuge's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 / 5 stars
NetGalley furnished me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Cruel Stars is a space opera set in a black-and-white world populated by vibrant and interesting characters. It chronicles the return of an old enemy, once defeated—the Sturm, a radical group of human purists set on purging the galaxy of any they don’t see as genetically pure. Where initially the world seems well-thought out and complete, it quickly becomes clear that the story is set entirely within the bounds of a single star-system, while supposedly the invasion is staged on a galactic scale. Plagued by uneven pacing and a fairly uninteresting story, The Cruel Stars is certainly an example of a piece that just would not come together as it was meant to.
Five regular POVs (and one infrequent) tell the tale of the Sturm’s attack: retired Admiral Frazer McLennan, the infamous hero known for defeating the Sturm hundreds of year prior. Princess Alessia, twelve year-old and heir to the Montanblanc Corporation. Booker 3-212162-930-Infantry, once soldier now prisoner and believer in the Code—a kind of digital consciousness that transcends the human body. Lieutenant Lucinda Hardy, initially assigned to the stealth corvette Defiant, a series of malware attacks soon sees her in charge of the ship, the entire mission hanging in the balance. Sephina L’trel, a pirate leader with a score to settle, must use all the tricks at her disposal to see her crew through the invasion. (Archon-Admiral Wenbo Strom of the Sturm is seen but a few times and makes a poor POV, due to a lack of depth and a heavily racist overtone that firmly entrenches him as a bad guy).
There is no perfect enemy. There are two short Sturm POVs, both using their ideology to just kill people. Not even those implanted, genetically modified, post-humans, but also the regular unadorned they came to “save”. Not that I’m defending the racists, but the author isn’t either. They’re the designated as the bad guys. While their ideology or beliefs or prejudices and such are never explained, or even briefed. By the 89% mark, there have been 3 Sturm POV appearances. All short, which totals to around one full chapter in length. So there’s really no dissenting opinion—one side is good, the other bad.
There’s also very little disconnect with the modern world. The weapons are fairly well thought out, but little else. The detail that Birmingham strives for in the first half soon departs, leaving the action and plot to carry the entire weight. I probably wouldn’t have minded as much had the plot been good. Sadly, what follows is a straightforward story with little to no character growth and frankly a lame ending. During the second half of the book, the author goes out of his way to remind the reader again and again of the characters’ motivations, backstories, and even why the Sturm are bad.
While the Cruel Stars was an excellent read over its first half, the following 200 pages struggled with identity, uneven pacing, and a slight, under-developed world. While the action is enough to carry the book to its outset—a subpar, unfulfilling ending leaves the audience awaiting the sequel just to figure out what exactly happened.
NetGalley furnished me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Cruel Stars is a space opera set in a black-and-white world populated by vibrant and interesting characters. It chronicles the return of an old enemy, once defeated—the Sturm, a radical group of human purists set on purging the galaxy of any they don’t see as genetically pure. Where initially the world seems well-thought out and complete, it quickly becomes clear that the story is set entirely within the bounds of a single star-system, while supposedly the invasion is staged on a galactic scale. Plagued by uneven pacing and a fairly uninteresting story, The Cruel Stars is certainly an example of a piece that just would not come together as it was meant to.
Five regular POVs (and one infrequent) tell the tale of the Sturm’s attack: retired Admiral Frazer McLennan, the infamous hero known for defeating the Sturm hundreds of year prior. Princess Alessia, twelve year-old and heir to the Montanblanc Corporation. Booker 3-212162-930-Infantry, once soldier now prisoner and believer in the Code—a kind of digital consciousness that transcends the human body. Lieutenant Lucinda Hardy, initially assigned to the stealth corvette Defiant, a series of malware attacks soon sees her in charge of the ship, the entire mission hanging in the balance. Sephina L’trel, a pirate leader with a score to settle, must use all the tricks at her disposal to see her crew through the invasion. (Archon-Admiral Wenbo Strom of the Sturm is seen but a few times and makes a poor POV, due to a lack of depth and a heavily racist overtone that firmly entrenches him as a bad guy).
There is no perfect enemy. There are two short Sturm POVs, both using their ideology to just kill people. Not even those implanted, genetically modified, post-humans, but also the regular unadorned they came to “save”. Not that I’m defending the racists, but the author isn’t either. They’re the designated as the bad guys. While their ideology or beliefs or prejudices and such are never explained, or even briefed. By the 89% mark, there have been 3 Sturm POV appearances. All short, which totals to around one full chapter in length. So there’s really no dissenting opinion—one side is good, the other bad.
There’s also very little disconnect with the modern world. The weapons are fairly well thought out, but little else. The detail that Birmingham strives for in the first half soon departs, leaving the action and plot to carry the entire weight. I probably wouldn’t have minded as much had the plot been good. Sadly, what follows is a straightforward story with little to no character growth and frankly a lame ending. During the second half of the book, the author goes out of his way to remind the reader again and again of the characters’ motivations, backstories, and even why the Sturm are bad.
While the Cruel Stars was an excellent read over its first half, the following 200 pages struggled with identity, uneven pacing, and a slight, under-developed world. While the action is enough to carry the book to its outset—a subpar, unfulfilling ending leaves the audience awaiting the sequel just to figure out what exactly happened.
melmmh's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars!
Two words - SPACE. OPERA.
And I am so here for it!!
This was absolutely fantastic; completely shook me out of the reading slump I was in.
Normally I absolutely loathe multi-POV in fantasy or sci-fi, it’s just not my jam… (third person omniscient please!)
However, all five points of view held my attention here, and I loved each one of them.
I liked the tech, the inter-human dispute, the characters themselves and the way their stories all merged.
A couple plot points I found predictable, a few things surprised me. The ending was a bit neat - but I’ll take that over unnecessarily convoluted.
Very much looking forward to the next book!!
Two words - SPACE. OPERA.
And I am so here for it!!
This was absolutely fantastic; completely shook me out of the reading slump I was in.
Normally I absolutely loathe multi-POV in fantasy or sci-fi, it’s just not my jam… (third person omniscient please!)
However, all five points of view held my attention here, and I loved each one of them.
I liked the tech, the inter-human dispute, the characters themselves and the way their stories all merged.
A couple plot points I found predictable, a few things surprised me. The ending was a bit neat - but I’ll take that over unnecessarily convoluted.
Very much looking forward to the next book!!
stevensc4's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
teokajlibroj's review against another edition
3.0
Decent book but nothing special, too many POVs meant none got much development, characters could be inconsistent, especially Lucinda who switched from scared girl to warrior leader without warning.
tomstbr's review against another edition
5.0
What a read! I raced through the powerful space opera with great characters, amazing action, and a very cool future vision. John has an amazing knack for pace and plot and it was awesome to watch all the threads come together so cleanly. I mean, maybe could have toned down the Nazi references (*ahem*, on the nose), but aside from that I loved it.
moiram's review against another edition
4.0
Five very disparate characters, ranging from a 12 year old princess to a 750 year old retired admiral, are destined to come together to try and save their civilization which is under attack, for the second time in 750 years, by an exiled group of racial purists. Despite having so many primary characters, their is sufficient backstory to bring these people vividly to life, and make you care about their fate. The secondary characters are equally diverse and interesting. This was my first John Birmingham book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
agnewjacob120's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Decent enough first entry in a series. Some of the worldbuilding ideas were interesting, but could use more clarity, and the characters were sometimes 2 dimensional, but otherwise a solid enough entry
spaceman5000's review against another edition
4.0
A super exciting space adventure that would make an awesome movie! It gets off to a little bit of a slow start as it plows through about five different groups of heroes and it can be a little overwhelming and confusing keeping those perspectives straight, but about a third of the book in things really explode!
By the halfway point you are fully engaged and off on an exciting, wild, bloody ride! I was not expecting the level of violence in this book, but it didn't bother me - it added to the exhilarating action scenes! The cast of characters are diverse and a lot of fun. There's plenty of military bravado, technobabble and badassery. Sometimes that can get tiring but it all fits into the story and works well.
The basic plot is that humans are all over the galaxy and most of the population is augmented in some way with physical and neural enhancements. Also, people's consciousness can be loaded into a new body, so you never die. The villains are a group of non-augmented "true" humans, the Sturm, who feel that augmentations are abominations and need to be wiped out.....Space Nazis! Needless to say, they attack and all hell breaks loose.
I was not aware this is the first book in a series when I picked it up. The ending is satisfying to me but the story is certainly not complete. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series (not due to be released until Aug 24, 2021, though.....boo!
By the halfway point you are fully engaged and off on an exciting, wild, bloody ride! I was not expecting the level of violence in this book, but it didn't bother me - it added to the exhilarating action scenes! The cast of characters are diverse and a lot of fun. There's plenty of military bravado, technobabble and badassery. Sometimes that can get tiring but it all fits into the story and works well.
The basic plot is that humans are all over the galaxy and most of the population is augmented in some way with physical and neural enhancements. Also, people's consciousness can be loaded into a new body, so you never die. The villains are a group of non-augmented "true" humans, the Sturm, who feel that augmentations are abominations and need to be wiped out.....Space Nazis! Needless to say, they attack and all hell breaks loose.
I was not aware this is the first book in a series when I picked it up. The ending is satisfying to me but the story is certainly not complete. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series (not due to be released until Aug 24, 2021, though.....boo!
mladams's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
mugglemom's review against another edition
3.0
Liked it but didn't quite connect to any characters. World building was good and this was funny at times.
Not sure if I'll continue the series.
Not sure if I'll continue the series.