Reviews

Although this has an interesting edge, it is a bit a long drawn out tale. Too long. Too drawn out. There is an over abundance of adjectives, especially in conversations, that is distracting and slows down any action and excitement that is building. Just when things start to happen, it slows down and gets side tracked instead of just letting it flow and be engaging.

The start of this was slow and confusing as one tried to understand the competing forces, who were the good guys, the bad guys and the down right nasty bastards. Then there were the sneaky bastards who you couldn't trust. It was all confusing. But this is just a battle in space, set way in the future where one side is trying to take over everything.

If not for the everlasting confusion it was entertaining.

elisenic's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

annieb123's review against another edition

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5.0

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Shattered Skies is the second book in the Cruel Stars trilogy by John Birmingham. Released 11th Jan 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Del Rey imprint, it's 480 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out Sept 2022. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is campaign space opera on an epic scale. Following directly on from book one, it's engaging and intricate. It's not particularly suited to a standalone read and readers who haven't read book one will probably want to pick up and read it first. The language and descriptions are rough and graphic. The writing, characterizations, scene descriptions, choreography, and plotting are superlative; often sublime.

This is an experienced and talented author at the top of his game and there are passages which transcend the genre and should be categorized as good literature instead of "just" good SF. There are a significant number of sly in-jokes and light humor which raised a smile.

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 15 hours and 40 minutes and is capably narrated by Morgan Hallett. She has a rather flat, generic Midwestern American (with a hint of homogeneous Central Canadian?) accent, but does a clear and well enunciated job with the read. I didn't find myself distracted by her accent at any point.

Five stars. Highly recommended to fans of the genre. I would go further and recommend it highly to fans of historical/military epics. The third book in the trilogy is due out 2nd quarter of 2023.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

millie_vk's review against another edition

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3.0

This was okay. A lot of my complaints from the first book are the same for this one.

The first half was a bit of a slog, it was heavy on politics which I don't usually mind, and the worldbuilding was slightly more comprehensible this time round, but I still found myself getting lost and bored at times. I didn't care much for Suprarto's chapters.

Lucinda solidified herself as my favourite character and I enjoyed her chapters the most. I also enjoyed McClennan much more this time round.

Alessia annoys me. It feels as though whether she acts like a child or as an adult entirely depends on what the plot demands of her at the time.

Justice for Booker, he wasn't in this book enough.

I'll probably read the third one when it comes out just to see how it all ends.