Tethered Worlds: Bankrupt Star by Gregory Faccone

Jordahk isn't sure who or what he is anymore, and just trying to be “normal” is becoming increasingly challenging. As adulthood looms he'll face his greatest challenges yet both personally and in space.

For Janus hasn't been idle. His schemes within schemes will launch the First Cruiser into the most audacious stratagem since the Sojourners' Crusade. Perhaps only the mystic technology from that era has a chance to stop the Prime Orator's designs.

But neither Jordahk nor his grandfather can currently operate on that level. When the most eclectic space battle in centuries begins, only desperation will bring one side to victory.

This is book three in the Tethered Worlds series. With over a thousand pages published so far, this isn't a series you can pick up in the middle. You really have to start from the beginning. Here are links to spoiler-free reviews for books one and two.

If you've made it this far into the series, you're familiar with the universe that Faccone has built and the factions contending with one another for power in this space opera. You need to be, of course, as Faccone doesn't offer a refresher in what's already been published besides the occasional character reminiscing about past incidents.

Right off the bat we're back with Jordahk's family in the midst of a training exercise. But before you get disgruntled with a "not another one", Faccone throws a cyborg assassin at them. The encounter gives the reader some idea as to how far Jordahk has come in developing his fledgling sojourner skills.

After this confrontation has played out, we learn that trade negotiations are planned at Aventicia, one of the worlds in the Banking Confederation. Janus has plans in place to affect the outcome favorably for the Perigeum and himself, but the Trade Union sends a fleet of their own to provide security. And then a pirate fleet shows up to toss a match on the powderkeg.

"Sadly, war is but politics stripped of every civilized façade

While this is the longest book in the series, 569 pages, I found that it had less filler than in the two previous books. However, the inevitable confrontation that ensues when plans are set in motion takes up about half the book. While one major story arc comes to an end, it's clear that the author has more stories planned for this series.

Characterization, plotting, and world-building all remain strong. Faccone proved that in the first two books. The personalities of the various characters are well-developed and distinct. The setting is rich with detail. Unfortunately, typos remain an issue: My notes highlight misused or missing apostrophes and spelling errors.

Bankrupt Star is a fine addition to the Tethered Worlds series. While there isn't as much exploration or side quest action as the two previous works, the plot is more focused and the stakes are just as high. It's still big and bold space opera with a protagonist you can root for as he grows to fill some very big, heroic shoes.

Series website

4 stars

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DED

The Best of 2015

Each year, the reviewers here at the New Podler Review of Books pick the book (or books) which we feel are the very best independently published (or small press) works. The only other requirement we have is that the book was reviewed here on the blog during the calendar year.

First off, I'd like to give an honorable mention to Rob Steiner for Citizen Magus and Muses of the Republic and M. Terry Green for her Chronicles of White World series. I thoroughly enjoyed their books, but as I was proofreader for them, I was disqualified from reviewing them here. Definite bias there.

There were five books I reviewed here on the blog that were in the running for best of 2015. I could take the easy way out and nominate all five, but that would be a cop out. Unfortunately none of them stood far enough apart from the pack to make this an easy decision. So I had to decide if what I considered a flaw would be just a petty gripe to other readers. In the end, I decided that the book I chose would be one that I could unequivocally stand behind.

Without further ado, this year's winner is:

In my review of the first book in this series, Unwelcome Star, I complained about the length of the book, not relating to the protagonist, and a battle scene that went on for far too long. I decided that story length was my problem and not one with the books. I think that most readers consider 500+ page books to be a plus rather than a minus. And young adult characters are always in fashion, so ignore the middle aged grumpy guy.

My appreciation for the first novel grew after I read the second book in the series. The myriad new names and terms that Faccone dumped on us in the first book paved the way to enjoying Blue Star Setting. By then, I had a better appreciation of the effort that went into what I'd thought were tangential or out of place story fragments. Faccone had a long range plan for this series, and he needed to lay the groundwork from the outset. It's in this book that you can start to see it coming together.

One thing that I praised from the start was Faccone's world building. Each world and faction is fully rendered with a rich history. Technology has blossomed into a myriad of forms. There are several factions struggling against one another to achieve their objectives. And while there are many characters, both human and AI, each of them is a unique individual with quirks and personality. It can be a bit overwhelming at first getting up to speed with all of this, but it's worth it. For space opera fans, I'd say you owe it to yourself to check out both books and join in the adventure.

For more information on Unwelcome Star and other books in the Tethered Worlds universe, please visit the author's website.

Tethered Worlds: Blue Star Setting by Gregory Faccone

Jordahk Wilkrest no longer has the luxury of believing he isn't special. His family line can work mystic technology, something fewer and fewer can do. Not only that, but his grandfather was a user of tremendous ability called a “Sojourner.” Jordahk has used mystic himself to get out of jams, something happening all too frequently of late. But he's still fearful of the dangerous technology, and for good reason.

Then, without warning, Jordahk's grandfather shows up again. The trail of their previous adventure is being followed. Their old friend and the mysterious girl under his care are in the cross-hairs of the power-hungry Archivers. But two men and a crazy robot aren't exactly a crack rescue force. And as the clues come together, they realize a much greater threat is gathering. One that calls for a legendary ship and the power of a Sojourner.

Too bad the ship's buried behind enemy lines in a system oppressed for two centuries. Can Jordahk revive the spirits of those subjugated in a war lost generations before? And what of the girl who's increasingly showing near-impossible abilities? Somehow Jordahk has to lead her, get the ship, and warn the free worlds of impending doom. For who's more vulnerable than those who wrongly believe their armor is impenetrable?

This is very much a middle book in a trilogy or a series. That's not a slight, just a fact. While there are enough references to the first book Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star, it's obvious to the reader that there's another story out there (definitely worth reading, I must say). And the way this book ends, although the events in this book come to their own conclusion, the overall story arc has (at least) another book in it.

I didn't feel as overwhelmed by this book as I did the first. I'll chalk it up to being somewhat familiar with the characters from the first book—Jordahk and his family being the easiest to recognize. I had a better understanding of the pantheon of villains in this one too. Faccone does a better job of differentiating them. And they didn't all wear black hats. One was definitely gray, probably brought about by the events that transpired in Unwelcome Star. Some of the minor characters from the first book are gone, replaced by new ones. Faccone did a good job of fleshing them out.

Blue Star Setting clocks in at a whopping 548 pages, even longer than the first book. The length of the novel gave Faccone the space he needed to render those minor characters, but he's still providing us with scenes that go on for far too long. "Brevity" is not in this author's toolbox. I think he could've gotten away with a 15% shorter book by trimming or cutting action scenes.

There are also scenes in both books that don't factor into the main story at all. They seem to be included only because they take place in parallel to the events on the main stage. I'd be inclined to suggest cutting them, but it turns out that Faccone does this to set the stage for events that will happen much later down the road. For instance, one of the new characters is Khai. She was in stasis during Unwelcome Star, so I didn't get why Faccone bothered to include the events pertaining to her rescue. Turns out, she emerges in this book and plays a major role in how this story plays out. Another example is Rewe, a villain. I didn't really gather his purpose in the first book, but in this book, Faccone offers two key scenes showing the development of his character into a major antagonist for a future book. Faccone is definitely a man with a plan.

As I mentioned in my review for the first book, this is a meticulously detailed universe. Faccone's world-building is top notch. The setting is rich in history with amazing technology that lives up to its "mystic" moniker. And I get the sense that he has even more in store in the next book(s) in this series.

Ignore my curmudgeon talk. While I bemoan its length, particularly the battle scenes, the pacing of the story doesn't drag. Faccone certainly gives the reader her money's worth. Blue Star Setting is a welcome addition to Faccone's Tethered Worlds series. It's more big and bold space opera with a hero you can root for as he grows to fill some very big, yet well worn, shoes. Highly recommended for space opera fans.

For more information on Blue Star Setting and other books in the Tethered Worlds universe, please visit the author's website.

Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star by Gregory Faccone

Jordahk Wilkrest doesn't think he's special. The backwater world of his birth has only known peace in his lifetime, and the war is bygone history. Far from its centuries-old stalemate line, Jordahk's interest is collecting war era technology called “mystic.”

Suddenly, political corruption and the people's own complacency opens a dreadful door, literally. Their way of life will be no more as the enemy assembles their giant transporting machine in orbit. The Wilkrests valiantly resist, but are unable to thwart the enemy's designs on land or in orbit. Jordahk is forced to leave his wounded parents and go off-world with his stiff grandfather. They venture far into the dustbin of human space looking for war-era help.

Now Jordahk finds out his family line is a lot more special than he ever knew. Their quest leads to dangerous mystic technology—controllable only by a select few. It's a wild ride for Jordahk, who has to come to terms with abilities he never knew he had... and their consequences. Can his new shady crewmates stop fighting amongst themselves long enough to overcome the enemy? They must if Jordahk's parents and his homeworld are to stand any chance.

I felt lost for a good chunk of the beginning of the book. Faccone throws myriad names and terms at the reader that I had trouble keeping the groups straight (Archivers, Sojourners, Perigeum, Cohortium, Imprimaturs, Khromas, Arkhons) and figuring out what the terms (too numerous to mention) meant. It's totally realistic to expect new additions to the lingua franca of the future, but I had a hard time gathering their meaning from the context of the sentence. In those instances where Faccone provided explanations, he went overboard at inopportune times. There would be this intense action scene and Faccone would break away to spend paragraphs to pages explaining the history of and how that piece of technology worked. It was terribly distracting.

There's an AI battle early in the book that went on for far too long—10% of the book, maybe. It felt like I was reading a game hybrid of Pokemon and Risk. I'm not sure I understood the point of the exercise, though it did turn an adversarial relationship between Jordahk and Cranium into a friendly one. I suppose that it also served as a contrast point for when Jordahk later encounters a hostile AI that subdues his own. Still, I believe that it could've been a lot shorter.

Now that I'm done complaining, let me say that this is a really good book. In particular, by the second half of the book, Faccone does a better job of balancing pacing and scheduling interludes of back story.

Faccone has developed a highly detailed world full of sentient AIs, advanced weapons and technology, political chicanery, and a host of new words and slang that demonstrates a tremendous skill at world-building. Although not stated by name, nanotech lurks under the surface: clothes that change color on command, artificial healing systems running through the bloodstream, and ammunition which reconfigures itself upon user command. Everything is networked. Humans and AI are directly linked; a thought is all it takes to switch the safety off a pistol or present data on a holographic projector.

The major characters are personable, except for the villains, who blurred together. Except for the side trips to his parents, the bulk of the story is from Jordahk's point of view. While he's fully versed in technology and battle tactics, his ability to control his emotions and understand his feelings demonstrates that he's very much the coming of age adolescent. That's not a bad thing; it's just that as mid-40's married man with kids I didn't really connect with him. I was more interested in the AI characters and his grandfather's mysterious past.

Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star is a fantastic adventure with a galaxy full of technological marvels. Despite the obvious differences in language and culture, people are people—and so are AIs. You can relate to them even if you don't know an "octal" from "scientum". You can tell that Faccone spent a great deal of time and effort creating every minute detail of the universe that fills this 522-page behemoth. I feel bad for having to write anything negative about it, but I had to explain why I'd rate this a four-star novel as opposed to a five-star.

For more information on Unwelcome Star and other books in the Tethered Worlds universe, please visit the author's website.