Reviews

The Fractured Void: A Twilight Imperium Novel by Tim Pratt

bedwinnjamin's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A classic heist, rescue mission book.  I'm biased towards Twilight Imperium, I really like the intellectual property, so I'm glad that they're making books in the world.  This was a decent book, but it didn't have the fleshed out world that I was looking exactly for.  The characters were a bit one-note, the story was bit chincy.  But it still came together in a quaint way that made me excited to finish it quickly.  I am looking forward to see what else comes out of the world.

mantissabolt's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Fun. Nicely unpredictable. A good romp. I like the characters. 

xjfitzy's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

adambest's review against another edition

4.0

It's nerdy but fun.

luckypluto's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Not a bad book! I picked this book up on a whim after seeing it in a bookstore, since I’m a huge fan of the Twilight Imperium board game. I wasn’t expecting much from it, and I’m satisfied to say that I got more than I bargained for. The story is exciting, especially the finale, evidenced by the fact that I polished off almost 150 pages in one night. The worldbuilding is…interesting, especially if you’ve played the game, and I enjoyed adventuring in this world, although it is a bit stereotypical and tropey, and I had to look up some of the details on the various Twilight Imperium factions from time to time. The characters are stereotypical and tropey, too, and while I liked them, I didn’t think they were fleshed out that well as characters, with the possible exception of the scientist Thales. The book is replete with psychopaths, too. The plot relied heavily on incidents that essentially amounted to deus ex machina; a lot of it stretched the bounds of my believability and imagination, but I’m willing to give that a pass because the buildup to the ending was exciting enough to entertain and hold my attention. Don’t know if I’ll take the time to read any further entries in the series, but it was a good way to spend a few evenings nonetheless.

moon2pluto's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

czorczy's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

trackofwords's review against another edition

4.0

Tim Pratt kicks off Aconyte Books’ range of Twilight Imperium novels with The Fractured Void, a tale of space pirates, covert operatives, and an infuriating but potentially very important scientist. Captain Felix Duval dreams of one day sitting at the Mentak Coalition’s Table of Captains, but for now he’s relegated to piloting his ship The Temerarious in a dull posting out on the fringes of the Coalition where nothing exciting ever happens. When they foil the attempted kidnapping of a scientist named Thales, however, Felix and his small crew face all the excitement they could ever want, as they attempt to keep the deeply aggravating Thales safe while he perfects a technology that he claims will change the face of the galaxy forever.

Space opera is usually fairly serious, but this takes a pleasantly different tone with its light, entertaining perspective on the genre that gently subverts some of the usual tropes and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a breezy, fun read that progresses with an easy, enjoyable pace throughout and crucially stands on its own whether you’re familiar with Twilight Imperium or not. Pratt doesn’t try to cram in too much exposition for the setting, focusing mostly on the Mentak Coalition and the Barony of Letnev and touching lightly on lots more in order to give a sense of scale, but the world building is an unobtrusive element there in the background. It doesn’t detract from the storytelling, but there’s plenty to enjoy and more than enough to leave you wanting to find out more. All told this is just a lot of fun, the sort of story that isn’t really trying to reinvent the wheel but rather focuses on making sure the reader is having a good time – and what’s not to like about that?

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2021/07/20/the-fractured-void-tim-pratt/

leticiatoraci's review against another edition

4.0

This was a very entertaining space opera based on the board game Twilight Imperium.
I've never played this game so I missed more background information on the various alien races that appear on the story, but even though I could not put this original and fast paced book down.
I also liked all the interesting characters and humorous situations very much.
I'll continue reading this series.
And the Audiobook narration was perfect!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

alexanderpaez's review against another edition

2.0

Yo: anda mira, un Tim Pratt space opera.
Libro: soy parte de una franquicia de juegos que...
Yo: VOY A LEERLO

Also yo: no me he enterado de casi nada.