Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan - Tor/Forge for a digital galley of this novel.

This book is so good for adults and it would be for middle school students and older except that there is so much profanity in it. And I do mean it is jam packed. That's a shame.

Yep, five stars for a space opera. There aren't a lot of new concepts in this story except for the pulse which is the backlash from something that was supposed to be good but hasn't turned out that way. Rescuing children exhibiting exceptional abilities isn't an easy job but our hard-as-nails heroine has been doing it for a long time for the Justified and she's never failed yet to get them back to Sanctum. The action is completely non-stop so get yourself ready for battles that pit good versus evil with no ambiguity whatsoever. The characters are so fully developed they practically jump off the pages and, quite honestly, I wouldn't have minded having some personal private conversation with any of them. This is one well written book and I enjoyed the whole thing. No cliffhanger ending here, but the ending leads me to believe that there will be more of this series in the future. I can hardly wait!

I received a free copy of The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams in exchange for an honest review. This is a new science fiction universe. Long ago, the spacefaring peoples of the universe were at continuous war, on planet and off. There was a religious sect, the Justified and the Repentant, who saw all of the war and thought it could be resolved through forced disarmament, so they began to work on the project. However, rumors that they would be attacked by a rival sect spurred them to implement their project before it was ready. Instead of simply disabling weaponry, the bomb made all technology break down; instead of a localized effect, the pulse hopscotched through the universe-affecting some severely, some lightly, and some not at all. The universe changed; new powers arose. The Justified are now in a race with the Pax, who seek to subjugate the entire universe, to find the children who developed special powers following the pulse. This novel follows the journey of Justified Jane Kamali as she seeks out and saves a telekinetic girl from the Pax. By the end of the novel, the universe has changed again.

I liked this book; I liked this book a lot. I look forward to seeing what happens in any future tales of the Justified and the Repentant.

#TheStarsNowUnclaimed #NetGalley

The Stars Now Unclaimed is marketed as a blend of Firefly and The Expanse by James S.A. Corey. I understand why they chose this comparison, however I would argue it’s for fans of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, but with more intense space battles.

The Stars Now Unclaimed follows a soldier, Jane, as she travels across the universe in search of gifted children. Jane is a member of an organization that believes these children are the only things standing between the Pulse once again sending the universe back to the dark ages. From the first few pages, Jane is communicated to be a fighter with a strict adherence to her duty. She’s resourceful, intelligent, and a straight up badass. Williams does a fantastic job in establishing Jane as a character with a mysterious past that heavily influences her actions.

As with Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, there are many different species introduced through the novel. One such species is a sentient robot named Preacher. From the minute she was introduced I loved her. She’s sassy, competent, and intriguing.

The universe Williams has created is vast. There are so many different worlds that differ and feature different species, cultures, and technology. The entire novel is predicated on the fact that the Pulse decimated the universe by rendering some planets unable to have functioning technology up until a certain time period. So, there are planets ranging from the dark ages to the extra solar age. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different planets and what the Pulse was exactly.

The Stars Now Unclaimed also contains numerous battle sequences, ranging from in world, on ship, and in space. If you enjoyed The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but wanted more space battles, then The Stars Now Unclaimed will please you endlessly. I enjoyed all the action sequences, however I found them all to be slightly too long, especially the ending battle.

Unfortunately, Williams does a lot of telling the reader rather than showing in terms of explaining the universe, the different species contained within, and the history. There are too many moments where it feels as if Jane stops what she’s doing and turns to the reader and explains everything in detail despite there being no reason for her to do this other than to inform the reader. Williams also repeats the same information over and over and over. The information he keeps repeating is important for the reader to remember, but after the first four times I think we get it.

Overall, The Stars Now Unclaimed is a fun space opera full of action from start to finish. So, if you’re looking for something similar to Becky Chambers’ novels with more action, look no further!

I really enjoyed this book. Brimming with plausible science. The main character and party are incredibly well designed. A must read for fans of Anne Leckie / Ancillary series and Iain M Banks ( Culture novels). A real five star read!