Skip to main content

Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings

 

Title: Under Fortunate Stars

Author: Ren Hutchings

Genre: Science Fiction/ Space Opera

Published: 5/10/22 by Rebellion/ Solaris


Fleeing the final days of the generations-long war with the alien Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven's freighter the Jonah breaks down in a strange rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue—until they encounter the research vessel Gallion, which claims to be from 152 years in the future.

The Gallion's chief engineer Uma Ozakka has always been fascinated with the past, especially the tale of the Fortunate Five, who ended the war with the Felen. When the Gallion rescues a run-down junk freighter, Ozakka is shocked to recognize the Five's legendary ship—and the Five's famed leader, Eldric Leesongronski, among the crew.

But nothing else about Leesongronski and his crewmates seems to match up with the historical record. With their ships running out of power in the rift, more than the lives of both crews may be at stake. Goodreads

 I received a copy for review through NetGalley.

Under Fortunate Stars is a fantastic debut space opera novel that has it all. It has space travel, time travel, aliens, and political intrigue. This novel also has great characters. We get to read from several characters points of view across the two ships lost in space. The plot is fast paced, and full of intriguing elements. Information is revealed at just the right times to maximize the impact. There are three different timelines to follow, but they never become confusing since they are labeled at the beginning of each chapter. This was an ambitious novel that was executed really well. Fun, fast paced, with a lot of interesting ideas to think about. 

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alt Vegas: Nuclear Dreams by Wren Cavanagh Book Review

   Title: Alt Vegas: Nuclear Dreams Author: Wren Cavanagh Genre: Horror Published: September 28, 2024 I received a copy for review from the author.    Kyle and Mandy have dreams making a profit by developing when they purchase land in Esperville, Oregon. Soon they find out the land is home to a portal to another dimension stuck in 1950s Las Vegas. It is a hard place with unforgiving desert and fiendish creatures. This a fantastic creature feature horror novel with an alternate dimension flair. The characters, Kyle and Mandy, did not seem sympathetic at first as foolhardy newlyweds taking on more than they can chew. However, throughout the story they become more and more endearing. They are great underdog characters to root for. The portal to Alt Vegas allows for such contrasting settings. The lush and overgrown Oregon with the desert landscape outside 1950s Vegas. The last fourth of the book could have used another round of line editing, but overall this was a fantas...
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs by Rebecca Gransden Book Review

  Title: Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs Author: Rebecca Gransden Genre: Weird Fiction/ Horror Published: 10/30/24 by the author I received a copy for review from the author.  This collection of 14 short stories that are full of imaginative scenarios. The ideas are truly unique which helps to draw you in.  Imagine taking a friend's pigeon to the vet leads to an underground cult. Imagine a sentient turducken escaping its packaging to explore the world. These are just of a couple of the outrageously weird concepts explored in this collection. A couple of the stories are written a very fever dream kind of way that makes following the plot difficult. I don't fault the experimental writing, but I personally do not enjoy the confusion they left me feeling. The rest of the stories I enjoyed. The standout stories for me were SparrowEyes, with its creepy setting and creature, and Happy Bunny, with a person in a bunny costume getting teleported to various television and movie s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Swarm: Replugged Book Review by James Flynn

  Title: Swarm: Replugged Author: James Flynn Genre: Science Fiction Published Originally 2/1/2021 by the author, now with an new revised edition. Thank you to the author for providing a copy for review. In the second edition of Swarm, the city of Rachton is riddled with crime. A victim of crime, Eric Trammel, has turned to a life in the GLC to help fight against the criminals ruining his city. The answer the GLC comes up with is a new prison where prisoners can by connected to a hive mind to harvest their consciences to create answers to their hardest questions.  Swarm: Replugged is a great science fiction thought experiment of the possibilities of the human mind as well as the consequences of harvesting it. I read both editions of this book at the same time to compare. There are a lot of revisions that make the prose tighter though I really enjoyed both versions. Eric Trammel is a great sympathetic character to follow the story of best intentions gone wrong. I really enjoyed...
Post a Comment
Read more