The Tinderbox is a story following the main character Everson with a back drop of two divergent cultures from the same planet which was torn asunder and eventually repopulated the two separate parts of the original planet. The author defines the two cultures well without getting bogged down in tedious detail, the same goes for the character development too. The book is written at a good pace with fairly descriptive "action" passages which I enjoyed. The relationship between Everson and Allegra was well done, as someone who isn't into romance books I was worried that it might become too cloying but I can happily say I didn't find it so. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

I'm mostly familiar with Lou Diamond Phillips from Longmire so this was a surprise. I had no idea he was interested in science fiction or a science fiction writer himself. However, I was very eager to get into his book and I am very pleased by the results of what I've found. THE TINDERBOX is a story about a planet that cracked in half and the two civilizations that have since developed on those who resettled it with their space-age tech,. The two sides have long been at war and have devolved into feudalist societies.

The story has a fairy-tale IN SPACE quality like Star Wars, Dune, or even Krull. There's a prophecy about the fall of one of the monarchs when his daughter marries a common soldier. This prophecy may apply to the prince of the enemy side who has been enlisted as a common soldier and is lost on the wrong side of the conflict. Despite having issues with prophecies in fiction, I really like how this story plays out.

The world-building for this is top notch with attention given to the economies, societies, and various groups that make up the two human colonies. The action scenes are also well-done with a decent level of epicness as well as attention to the human cost. The characters are all likeable and I was able to finish the story within a couple of days. If this was adapted to a movie, I'd definitely watch it.

Solid and entertaining sci-fi.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira in exchange for an honest review.

I love fairytale retellings and this one was no exception. I am at a loss with how well Phillips transformed Hans Christian Andersen's The Tinderbox into a space-opera, but it definitely worked.

You can definitely tell Lou Diamond Phillips is used to working in a visual medium. The Tinderbox plays heavily into rich, vivid, descriptions that made it easy to forget you were even reading a book. The Tinderbox has the pacing, stakes, and imagery of a big-studio film release, paired with the nuance and depth of a novel and it worked wonderfully.

A Note: This is a 'love prophesy' book so it comes with its fair share of instalove. If that's not your thing, keep that in mind.