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Ross (3284 KP) rated Across the Broken Stars in Books

Feb 14, 2020

Across the Broken Stars

Jed Herne | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Unusual space fantasy ... with wings!

I received an advance copy of this book from BookSirens and provide this honest review.
This book has a very unusual setting with plenty left to the imagination. The story takes place in a world of "discs" (I presume man-made but not wholly clear), large surfaces with a metal base and a force field keeping oxygen in and gravity working, where single multi-purpose crops ("omnicrops") provide perfect sustenance, various fungi/mosses providing building materials, luminescence and underwater/outer space breathing apparatus.
Despite this apparent sci-fi setting, the technology is at a very early stage - weapons are limited to swords/arrows and vehicles are drawn by pegasi or wind power. Space travel is accomplished by launching oneself towards your destination and hoping to reach the other, orbiting, disc. Unless you're an angel/Pegasus where your wings can apparently help propel you through space (you know, air-less space, where wings wouldn't be of any use) - but hey this is fantasy lets not get bogged down with this.
The angels have been wiped out by the ruling race during a long and nasty war. Leon, a cowardly traitorous "former" angel, is in hiding living a simple life drinking and gambling his days away after back-breaking work unloading airships. He is approached by someone he starts to believe is an angel who has tracked him down. Unfortunately she is also being tracked by an Inquisitor, and the two are forced to run.
Elena, the last angel with wings, is determined to outrun the Inquisition and find Waverrym, the mythical hidden home of the remaining angels. The two (Leon reluctantly) embark on a journey to unravel puzzles and riddles to determine the location of their only haven.
Leon is quite an annoying protagonist, being a whiney, cowardly husk of a man. His role in the story is using his angel training and knowledge to solve the riddles they uncover, while training Elena along the way.
The story is well planned out with a decent plot and well-crafted dungeon-type areas (at times it felt a little D&D/LitRPG). While there was a definite lull to my mind around the halfway mark this didn't impact my enjoyment too much.
If you can accept the fact that angel wings / Pegasus wings can allow someone to fly through space, the world is well thought out and very original, and the story very enjoyable. Some of the dialogue was a little clunky but not overly annoying.