Tim Pratt http://www.timpratt.org is the author of more than two dozen novels. The Fractured Void was published in 2020. It is the 52nd book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature situations, I categorize this novel as R. The light cruiser Temerarious is on patrol in a quiet sector of the Mental Coalition near a remote colony. When a distress call is received, Captain Felix Duval and the crew respond. A moon base is under attack.

They find Dr. Phillip Thales, the objective of the attack, in his lab. He has discovered a way to create wormholes on demand. A discovery that will disrupt the galaxy and which some are willing to go to extreme measures to acquire. The crew of the Temerarious is able to extract Thales and escape from the moon.

Even though the Temerarious now has two rival black-ops teams in pursuit, Thales is able to convince Duval to find and free his former assistant Meletl Shelma. They must also find the last supplies Thales needs to complete his project. The further the crew of the Temerarious gets entwined with Thales, the less Duval trusts him.

I enjoyed the 7+ hours I spent reading this 353-page science fiction. The plot is woven with adventure and intrigue. The chosen cover art is eye-catching. I give this novel a rating of 4.5 (rounded to 5) out of 5.

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The Fractured Void by Tim Pratt is a solid space adventure that hits all the right notes for genre fans. The world-building is top-notch, with detailed descriptions of alien races and technology that will satisfy even the most discerning space jockey. The plot is engaging, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are well-developed, each with their own quirks and motivations that add depth to the story. Overall, The Fractured Void is a satisfying read that will transport you to a galaxy far, far away.

This was a very entertaining space opera based on the board game Twilight Imperium.
I've never played this game so I missed more background information on the various alien races that appear on the story, but even though I could not put this original and fast paced book down.
I also liked all the interesting characters and humorous situations very much.
I'll continue reading this series.

And the Audiobook narration was perfect!

'Dull' is serving aboard a vessel that patrols a remote sector of space where nothing ever happens. Captain Felix Duval and the crew of the Temerarious do just this, patrolling a remote colony system where nothing ever happens. But of course this is just when something happens.

Felix and crew respond to a distress call from a moon in the system that is under attack. There they rescue a scientist (Thales) who has developed a method for creating new wormholes. Having such an ability would put anyone who possesses it in a position of power. The Temerarious is ordered to protect and provide any assistance to Thales as necessary. This won't be easy given that there are at least two black-ops teams looking to grab Thales and his technology.

I've generally liked the previous Tim Pratt books that I've read, so I didn't hesitate to request an ARC of this book based on Pratt being the author. I should note that when I request an ARC I know as little about the book as possible. I prefer going in to a book with a fresh, unbiased eye. But perhaps I need to rethink this.

The Fractured Void is a novel based on a board game. Had I known this before requesting the book I never would have made the ask. I recognize there is a large sub-genre of board game literature and it has its dedicated readers (I see entire bookshelves in my nearby B&N full of game-related fiction books) but I have never enjoyed this myself. First, I have rarely played that specific game (and I have a game collection of about 300 board or card games) so I don't know the back story or theme that the book is being set in.

Then, I think that setting a book in a board game universe limits the author's ability to be creative with that story. A board game is defined not just by its theme but very much by its rules - specifically in what you can NOT do in the course of playing. A story set in that board game universe is also then bound by those rules of what can't be done. I can think of three books I've read and reviewed in the last year that were based on board games and each of them were severely lacking.

Pratt manages to create some interesting characters but the story itself is almost simple. It's direct and quite honestly feels like so many other sci-fi space operas stories I've read over the years. In three years, if you started telling me the storyline, I wouldn't be able to identify which book/author it was from. But (in keeping with the space opera theme) if you described the storylines of John Scalzi's Interdependency series or James S.A. Corey's Expanse series, I'd know immediately which book/author you were describing.

Looking for a good book? If you know the game, Twilight Imperium, and want to experience it beyond the table, then you may enjoy The Fractured Void by Tim Pratt. If you don't know the game, this may have little interest to you.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Tim Pratt kicks off Aconyte Books’ range of Twilight Imperium novels with The Fractured Void, a tale of space pirates, covert operatives, and an infuriating but potentially very important scientist. Captain Felix Duval dreams of one day sitting at the Mentak Coalition’s Table of Captains, but for now he’s relegated to piloting his ship The Temerarious in a dull posting out on the fringes of the Coalition where nothing exciting ever happens. When they foil the attempted kidnapping of a scientist named Thales, however, Felix and his small crew face all the excitement they could ever want, as they attempt to keep the deeply aggravating Thales safe while he perfects a technology that he claims will change the face of the galaxy forever.

As part of the Mentak Coalition – for anyone [like me] unfamiliar with Twilight Imperium, imagine if the Federation in Star Trek were pirates rather than diplomats – Duval and his crew are naturally entertaining to read about, their loose morals and mercenary tendencies providing an interesting angle to the rescue missions, heists, boarding actions, space battles and mercantile negotiations that they find themselves embroiled in. Ranged against them are the unlikely pairing of Amina Azad, highly skilled but endlessly flippant black ops specialist from the Federation of Sol, and Severyne Dampierre, a disciplined and wary bureaucrat from the Barony of Letnev. Despite their inherent mistrust of each other, Azad and Severyne forge a cautious alliance that threatens to steal the show as the two polar opposites try to work out how much (if at all) they can trust each other, and what to do with the simmering tension between them.

While the central concept – Thales’ promise of artificially-created wormholes, and all their associated strategic benefits – is fairly weighty, it’s buoyed up by this tremendously entertaining cast and a generally light tone throughout. The characters come to life with effortless ease, leaping off the page to wind each other up, crack jokes and generally just have fun whether things are going well or not (ok, so Severyne doesn’t have much fun, but she’s fun to read about). Duval and Azad both have a knack for making the best of a bad situation, which is a bit of a recurring theme here, but while Azad is quietly content with who she is and what she does, both Duval and Severyne are trying to find ways of making more of themselves. The final piece of the puzzle is Thales, who’s genuinely – hilariously (albeit sometimes darkly so) – objectionable; you wouldn’t want to spend time with him in person, but it’s great fun seeing just how quickly and easily he irritates everyone he comes into contact with.

Space opera is usually fairly serious, but this takes a pleasantly different tone with its light, entertaining perspective on the genre that gently subverts some of the usual tropes and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a breezy, fun read that progresses with an easy, enjoyable pace throughout and crucially stands on its own whether you’re familiar with Twilight Imperium or not. Pratt doesn’t try to cram in too much exposition for the setting, focusing mostly on the Mentak Coalition and the Barony of Letnev and touching lightly on lots more in order to give a sense of scale, but the world building is an unobtrusive element there in the background. It doesn’t detract from the storytelling, but there’s plenty to enjoy and more than enough to leave you wanting to find out more. All told this is just a lot of fun, the sort of story that isn’t really trying to reinvent the wheel but rather focuses on making sure the reader is having a good time – and what’s not to like about that?

The Fractured Void

Tim Pratt

Aconyte Books

Twilight Imperium is one of those board games that I’ve always desperately wanted to play – mixing space exploration, combat, in-depth strategy and a really cool world-building canon – but unfortunately never had the time or funds to actually purchase and play. For those who might not be familiar with the Twilight Imperium universe, it’s set in a vast region of space that contains the numerous Great Races who were once the subjects of the mighty Lazax Empire; but when the Empire fell, centuries ago, the Empire’s former subjects liberated themselves and instead began scheming, plotting and waging war against each other in an attempt to seize power. Not only do mighty fleets wage interstellar combat in the depths of space, but secretive operatives and mercenary teams fight an endless and secretive war to procure the many secrets of the Lazax Empire – and other, even more enigmatic and dangerous foes. It’s a setting with near-endless potential, and the perfect place to set a space opera – which leads us to The Fractured Void by Tim Pratt, the first novel set in the Twilight Imperium setting, and released by one of my favourite publishers, Aconyte Books. It certainly bears mentioning that Pratt may well be the most distinguished author that Aconyte have managed to work with so far, which says a great deal considering just how talented their roster of authors has been in general. Pratt has won a Hugo Award, acts as a senior editor on Locus magazine, and has been nominated for a host of awards in the Scifi and Fantasy genres. I’ve come across some of his stories before and been greatly impressed, and as such I was eager to see just what he could do with Twilight Imperium as a setting.

We are presented with an intriguing back-cover blurb that promises an epic space opera, in which a starship crew are embroiled in interplanetary political intrigues and scheming, in which the ultimate prize may well be control of the entire galaxy. My interest was piqued further by the amazing cover art by Scott Schomburg, a hugely evocative piece that shows a spaceship flying through the depths of space, fighters and what appear to be the wrecks of other vessels scattered around it, a planet looming menacingly in the background. I understand that this is actually just one piece of a much larger work of art that will be expanded in future sequels to The Fractured Void, and I look forward to seeing them brought together into one piece. Out protagonists for our intergalactic adventure are the three-person crew of the Temerarious, a light cruiser belonging to the Mentak Coalition, one of the many factions formed from the imploding of the Lazax Empire; former prisoners, the Coalition has become a nation-state of pirates and raiders, often raiding the vessels and orbital facilities of other races in order to acquire resources and technology, or just plunder in general. For Captain Felix Duval, however, the prospects for gaining any riches seem distinctly remote: having crossed one too many superior officers in his career, he’s been ‘promoted’ to command of the Temerarious and assigned to a quiet, remote sector where nothing ever happens. The highlight of the tedious patrol is using the cruiser’s sensor array to search for missing sheep on asteroids. Accompanied by best friend and First Officer Tib Pelta, an infiltration specialist able to turn invisible, and taciturn security officer Calred, Felix is doing his best to serve out his time and get back to better prospects.

However, the tedium of their existence is interrupted by an abrupt distress call; racing to the scene, Duval and his crew find themselves confronted with heavily-armed mercenaries kidnapping someone from a nearby planet. Besting the mercenaries with the assistance of a nearby raiding flotilla (one of the advantages of belonging to a Coalition of pirates) Duval finds himself rescuing Thales, a deeply unpleasant and abrasive scientist that claims to have discovered the ability to artificially generate wormholes that can span the known galaxy at will. Hoping to dump the scientist back on his planet – or preferably out of an airlock – Duval is aghast to suddenly find himself and his crew assigned the dubious honour of assisting Thales with developing his technology, the Coalition considering it worthwhile to see if the scientist can actually deliver on his promises. Unhappy, but buoyed by vague promises of career advancement and riches, Duval finds himself engaged in a variety of ethically and morally-dubious acts to get Thales the resources and technology he needs to complete his project. Along the way, the small band will find themselves pursued by an amoral human mercenary, a survivor of the initial attempt to kidnap Thales, and an alien security operative desperate to secure Thales for herself and rebuild her shattered reputation. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Duval slowly becomes aware that there are powers beyond mortal comprehension that are intensely interested in Thales’ project, and may do anything to stop it coming to fruition.

As the above highlights, The Fractured Void certainly has Space Opera elements in spades, and the feel of a plot that could potentially become as dense and complex as your average Space Opera novel; the sort of thing that could have a dozen subplots, a hundred different characters, and a pagecount to rival A Song of Ice and Fire in one book alone. And perhaps under a different author and publisher, that might well have been the case, resulting in a bloated, confusing and impenetrable work of fiction. But there’s a reason why Pratt has won a Hugo Award, and why Aconyte have been so phenomenally successful in publishing since they started – they both unquestionably know what they’re doing when it comes to books. In Pratt’s hands, The Fractured Void is an absolute delight, the sort of Space Opera story that I wish they all were – flawlessly written, with a thoroughly engaging and fast-paced plot, and populated with some of the most memorable characters I’ve read in a science-fiction novel in quite some time. And to round it all out, Pratt has a wickedly dry sense of humour that found me chuckling, if not outright laughing out loud, every other page; it’s not often that I’ll go back and re-read a page several times over, just to appreciate the joke, or cutting remark, or perfectly-timed quip, but I found myself doing that regularly as I went through the novel.

Much of that humour – and dramatic tension as well – comes from the quality and depth of the characters. Duval is a great protagonist, skilful and level-headed while still sufficiently inexperienced in the dark arts of deniable operations to be surprised by some of the opponents he faces; and his relationship with Tib and Calred is one of the greatest elements of the novel, the three of them developing into an interesting and effective team with their own strengths and weaknesses. Thales starts out as a typical, almost generic Mad Scientist, spitting insults and making arrogant quips and asides; but as the novel progresses, Pratt deftly develops him into a three-dimensional character, with some surprising motivations when compared to what his character archetype usually focuses on. And antagonists Amina Azad and Severyne Dampierre make a fantastic tag-team, initially fighting each other, but forced to come to a combative and temporary alliance to pursue Duval and recapture Thales; there are some real surprises in the way in which their association develops that I wasn’t expecting. Pratt encompasses all of his deft plot-weaving and character development in a fantastically realised world, taking the Twilight Imperium setting and really putting his own stamp on it; I don’t want to give too much away given how exciting and atmospheric the plot is, but I was thoroughly impressed by all of the background detail he added, and the alien races that get fleshed out as the plot races towards the cliff-ender epilogue.

The Fractured Void is the epitome of what a Space Opera should truly be – detailed, complex and full of rich and engaging characters, while simultaneously allied to a galaxy-spanning plot that moves along at a fast pace with no extraneous detail or pointless side-plots, and written with a genuine sense of tension and a healthy dose of wry humour. Tim Pratt has created something truly epic with The Fractured Void, with the last third of the novel clearly leading into something incredibly dark and dangerous, yet also hugely exciting. There’s a huge amount of potential for this series, and I genuinely cannot wait for the publication of The Necropolis Empire later in the year; indeed, it’s difficult to remember a science-fiction book that I’ve been so passionate about in quite some time. If you buy one book from Aconyte Publishing this year, then this absolutely has to be the one.

Imagine my surprise when I learned the space opera. The Fractured Void, was based on a strategic board game, Twilight Imperium. Game tie-in novels are common these days, but not those that are so well crafted as to stand on their own merits. I picked it up because I loved Tim Pratt’s other science fiction novels (and after reading it I still have no idea what Twilight Imperium is, nor do I particularly care as long as Pratt turns out books as good as this one).

Starship crews as family are a familiar, eternally attractive trope. Pratt brings his own slightly offbeat cast to the Temerarious: a human captain, his best friend, a ninja chameleon toad, and his leonine security officer. From the universe’s most boring patrol, they’re off to rescue the universe’s most obnoxious scientist, who just may have discovered a way to create worm holes and to control them. It turns out that the mysterious race known as the Ghosts has very strong opinions about why opening new worm holes is as Extremely Bad Idea, and are prepared to enforce or sabotage or otherwise nix the project. Throw in a ruthless but very sexy bounty hunter, a sentient squid who is the universe’s best engineer, a remarkably hidebound rival culture, and a host of plot twists, double-crosses, and one-step-ahead schemes, and the resulting adventure is nonstop entertainment.

My introduction to Pratt’s star-spanning bibliography was The Wrong Stars, and The Fractured Void features the same flowing prose, superb control over disparate story elements, wacky characters, plot tension, and supremely resourceful and competent characters. I look forward to gobbling up his next.

I went into this without any knowledge of the game that it's based on, but that didn't matter. Tim Pratt is such a great writer and he knows how to create characters that you want to love. I enjoyed this book immensely.

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Twilight Imperium book The Fractured Void by Tim Pratt, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Twilight Imperium

Twilight Imperium is a much beloved strategy board game published by Fantasy Flight Games that’s currently in its 4th Edition.

First thing to know, it’s very long, my pal Drew, one of the owners of the amazing Meeple Perk, tells me it’s an 8 hour game as a minimum!

Secondly it’s an epic space opera, set in the power vacuum left behind by the decline and collapse of the Lazax Empire, as various races and factions vie for dominance and to become the new galactic superpower.

The Story

It’s a bit of an interesting one, clearly designed to introduce us in a gentle way to the lore of the game.

It focuses on the crew of the Temerious who are exiled to a backwater system where they patrol and occasionally help look for lost farm animals.

Lead by Captain Felix Duval they encounter a distres signal and end up rescuing a scientist named Thales, who is on the cusp of an astounding breakthrough that would change the balance of power in the galaxy.

Tasked by his commanders in the Mentak Coalition to assist Thales, they end up getting drawn into a cat and mouse game as they are pursued by black ops teams from two other galactic powers.

The book actually does a good job at introducing the setting, I have never played Twilight Imperium, despite it being right up my street, because Lindsay and Megan are unsure about it.

You get a lot of information and background, but it never feels like you get huge sections of exposition, but you do get the needed background. I can now after reading the book understand a lot about the lore of the game and the various factions in it.

The world building is second to none, it feels really well done and it’s an excellent primer.

But I do actually have some criticisms, firstly the books conclusion is kinda hurried, it’s feels too much like a set up for further books, you just know there is more to come, it heavily hinted at, and a big thing is kicked off, but not actually concluded.

I think I would have preferred a cleaner ending that wasn’t a setup for further adventures of Duval’s Devils.

Secondly, the characters for the most part, simply didn’t gel well with me. The heroes felt a little too cliche, we get it, they are raiders and little better than pirates. But it felt like that got pointed out at every opportunity.

The antagonists, well they again seemed forced, they as characters seemed to fit together quite well as an odd couple, but the escalation of their relationship felt a little forced at times.

But one character he did get right was Thales, an utterly detestable person, you just love to hate him and I tell you that you spend the whole book wanting him to get his comeuppance.

Tim does a great job with this character, he really gets you hating him and it really triggers an emotional response.

Conclusion

It was a fun space opera with a nice degree of humour and a good balance.

But I cannot state enough how rushed the conclusion was and how it really felt that little was actually resolved with the open left too open for me.

I want the story to be finished, which means I need to hope this sells enough to warrant a sequel, because it really needs a sequel to finish the story.

Duvals Devils did start to seem more interesting at the end as well, so I kinda want to see how they are developed.

Initially I was thinking of giving this 3 stars, but I ended up settling on 4. The book really makes you feel something, and that is hatred and anger towards Thales, and the writing is so good that when he gets his just desserts, it feels good.

I admit that this was a fun and lighthearted romp of a novel.

As far as first books in a series go, it fulfilled its function rather well - it introduced the world and the characters that live in it without it ever filling like an infodump.

The world is fascinating. We have different planets, and a lot of different alien species that have learned to co-exist in a way that seems very natural. The way they operate, talk and interact with each other never feels forced. Also, all alien species described fit well into their environment, like the "squid" people who live on two planets that are covered by oceans.

This is what attracted me the most to this book. I love when the author knows their world. He doesn't have to give us an infodump on it for the reader to see that. The little hints thrown here and there along the story show the reader that there is much more history to explore and that the author knows what's going on. There is background there. Things happen for a reason. I would love to explore this galaxy a bit more in the next books.

But the worldbuilding is only part of the magic formula. The other ingredient is the characters. And I admit that this part didn't work quite as well for me.

I liked the Duval Devils alright, even though they seemed a little over the top in their piratey brashness from time to time. They seemed like a group of misfits at first, posturing in front of each other and trying to look cool. But I admit that they gelled as a team somewhere halfway through the book, probably because they finally had a common goal and a common detestable person to hate. I think Tib was my favorite character in this book. She is smart, she is efficient, and her sarcasm is right up my alley.

I really didn't click with the duo that was opposing them. I know Azad and Severine were supposed to represent two strong female characters, but... I don't know... I think Azad's complete lack of scruples or any moral compass at all did her no favor. She has all the markings of a psychopath, and I have never been particularly found of those. The author kept them alive for a reason, so my guess is they will play a part in future books, but honestly, I could care less.

The author takes home the 2020 award for creating the most detestable character of the year, and he isn't even a villain in a true sense of the term. Thales is a despicable, nasty piece of work. He is a megalomaniac with a huge chip on his shoulder who never forgets any offense, real or perceived, towards his fragile ego. I admit that I cheered a little when our good captain punched him in the face. And I definitely felt good when he got what he deserved at the end of the novel.

My problem with this book is that it feels like a big prologue rather than a first book in a series. The set up for the real conflict happens in the last two chapters and in the epilogue. Yes, it was fun to see the Duval Devils wheezing around the known galaxy assembling parts for the wormhole device, but it's only set up. The bad guys are introduced only in the last chapters, so the end of the book feels rather anticlimactic. Yes, Thales got what he deserved, but the damage is already done, and the REAL STORY starts now. Only it doesn't because the book ends.

I like this book well enough to pick up the next one in the series, because the writing was fun and light and there was a good balance between action and exposition. Hopefully, I will like the characters of the next installment better than this one.

PS: I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tim Pratt is a great author and he creates amazing characters. The board game this book is set in is HUGE and Tim has managed to not lose the feel of the game in the writing. Engaged with the characters from the first page. Looking forward to book 2!

Wow!!! What a punch drunk, electrifying, devil may care, action packed, fun filled space opera at its most silliest and best. The mix of a vast complex of characters that made me feel so many emotions, with all of them I love to hate, which is a massive compliment because it felt real. Duval and his mismatched team were just brilliant you liked them enough but at the same time found them annoying, same with Azad and saveryn, now those two were brilliantly done I would really love them all to have to work together because they all felt like a team at the end. Dysfunctional but still a team. If you are looking for a space opera that’s similar to Red Dwarf and Firefly and Farscape look no further this is brilliant.

This is a high-action space opera with some humor by an experience author. Pratt knows how to tell a tale, and many scifi fans will probably enjoy this one. It will probably sell well.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

Genial if sometimes generic space opera, with a small and deniable starship crew on a mission to escort a cantankerous mad scientist until their superiors can take advantage of his potentially galaxy-changing research. It comes up with a few lovely ideas along the way, like the heist which works on the assumption that supply runs to space stations are as prone to baffling substitutions as online grocery orders: "Perhaps it's both! Sunscreen *and* fungal growth matrix. Think about it: sunscreen protects things from sunlight. Mushrooms hate sunlight. Go on, give it a try." Elsewhere, it does that old SF trick of poking at Earthly racism by swapping in aliens, and if some of the equivalencies are a little uneasy (the vaguely Middle Eastern lion-people), I was amused by other species' characterisation of humans as a bunch of unruly primitives, only a threat thanks to their "prolific and unrestrained breeding".

I requested this on Netgalley entirely because I'm fascinated by the board game in whose universe it's set, Twilight Imperium, which I have owned for a couple of years but, even before meeting to play board games was outlawed, have never actually found time and personnel for a game of. Possibly the novel will feel weightier to people who have a more intimate familiarity with that world, although I know that in the past things other than the board game proper have been deemed non-canon, and of course it's debatable to what extent any piece of fiction, with its single set of events, can ever be canon with a game where the narrative should play out differently each time. Still, even just from poring over the box art and the (many, many) components, the game has a sense of epic scale that I never really felt here.

All the same, the novel does become more engaging as it goes along. There's nothing groundbreaking about the crew's banter, nor the utter awfulness of the scientist, or the devious, flirtatious enemy agent on their trail. But Pratt is at the very least a competent craftsman, and sometimes a few spaceship battles and double-crosses, leavened with a bit of humour and some weird-ass aliens, are sufficient to scratch an itch. Even as it became increasingly obvious how the story was going to end (does it still count as a deus ex machina if the deus has been set up beforehand?), I nonetheless found myself keen to see how the details would play out and what form comeuppance would take for those deserving of same. My only mistake in all of which was not to realise that the book might tweak it slightly to set up a sequel.

Also, there's a passing appearance for a Saar, which aside from being a spelling I've had before, is described as "a burly, hairy humanoid [...] muttering to itself", so I have to give the book points for representation.

Synopsis: Felix and his crew of two patrol around a backwater planet for the Mentak Coalition, a military force in the galaxy and known as pirates. Finally, their boredom is interrupted by a forceful abduction of a scientist from their planet. They intervene and find themselves in a hunt for an era bending innovation by this scientist - the arbitrary creation of wormholes. 

Review: The author wrote this novel as a tie-in to a highly complicated board game "Twilight Imperium" which takes a day to play through (after one has understood the large rulebook). Not that I've ever played this game, but I've watched a Let's Play session and found it very intriguing. 

One doesn't have to know this game at all, but I guess players get an additional boost from this very good narration. 

The setting is rich with different political groups, aliens, and technologies. Felix's crew is his best friend Tip, a Yssaril who can get invisible like a chameleon, and his security chief Calred, a Hacan who always longed for blasting ships. Their relationship is always light mooded and contrast the scientist's narcisstic mood. At the same time, they get played by different forces, one of them their human foe, a James Bond like mercenary working for the Federation of Sol. 

The author loosed off a firework of Space Opera tropes, including a jailbreak on a hostile planet, a space junkyard merchant selling off goods from space battles, space battle tactics, or crawling through maintenance tunnels. 

Every couple of pages, Tim Pratt deployed a plot twist where space ships were conquered, given up and exchanged more often than I were in the mood to count. After a while, the hectic turn-over of goods, prisoners, and motives turned me off. Thankfully, the novel is relatively short with less than 350 pages.

While the relationship between Felix and crewmate Tib was wonderfully developed by the author, he nearly forget about the one remaining member Calred. With a crew of three, one might expect to see more interaction between all of them, and the author missed an opportunity here. But he didn't have time with all the action.

Despite of its weaknesses in exploiting the various political groups, and staying flat on the relationship side, I liked this action-rich and high-paced novel. It's good enough for a couple of popcorn-filled evenings where one wants to consume and doesn't need brain-food.

The Fractured Void is a new space opera novel by author Tim Pratt, author of "The Axiom" trilogy which began with "The Wrong Stars" (which I reviewed here). This book is actually a tie-in novel with Twilight Imperium, which is a (board) game that takes place in a space opera setting. I have no experience with Twilight Imperium, but Pratt's original space opera trilogy featured two novels I really enjoyed and one that I thought was merely fine, melding a fascinating space opera world with good characters and some really great humor. So I requested this book on Netgalley when I saw it immediately, because I was excited to see what Pratt would write next.

And The Fractured Void was pretty much exactly what I wanted. Again, it features a very humorous take on space opera, with some really fun characters - both heroes and villains - and a plot that allows them to have a bunch of fun adventures from beginning to end. It wraps things up in a satisfying fashion, while also providing a cliffhanger for a second book, so you can stop here if you want, but I won't because I enjoyed this a good amount. As you might expect from a tie-in novel, there's nothing here that's truly mind-blowing or must-read, but if you want a fun space opera that will keep you entertained, this is absolutely a book for you.

---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------------------
Felix is a Human captain of a legitimate cruiser in the Mentak Coalition - a multi-species group of former prisoners who now are a military force of pirates and privateers. Of course, the action he pulled that earned him his captaincy also involved him disobeying orders, so as a result his superiors both awarded him with the captaincy and the ship but also punished him by assigning him to patrol a backwater area of space, where nothing....ever.....happens. And so Felix months later is absolutely bored, with no one but his best friend Tib (a Yssaril with the ability to turn invisible) and Calred, his Hacan security officer along with him.

But when a last second shift in Felix's patrol leads to them to discover a group of privateers, obviously working for the Federation of Sol, trying to abduct a random scientist from one of his patrol worlds, well Felix gets the adventure he was looking for. Unfortunately, that adventure comes with an insanely annoying scientist with an ego the size of a planet, whose research just might make him too useful to simply get rid of. Add in two foreign forces who are desperate to get that scientist and his research back, and suddenly Felix, Tib, and Calred have their hands full, traveling around various worlds on a mission to reshape the galaxy.....well, maybe.
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The Fractured Void is a fun space opera told in third person from the perspective of Felix, with occasional asides to check out the perspectives of the two antagonists who wind up chasing Felix and his crew. It uses these perspectives to showcase both the characters and the setting to good effect. People familiar with the Twilight Imperium setting may be immediately comfortable with the setting - the types of alien races, the planets and factions in question, etc. - but those unfamiliar with the setting, such as myself, will have no problem understanding and enjoying this novel, as the narratives always make sure to explain (without being too ham fisted) what each of the aliens/factions/worlds look like and are about.

An this is a really fun and humorous world and characters. Felix's faction, the Mentak Coalition, is a band of pirates who've somehow formed a serious governmental power in this galaxy. The result is that while they may control worlds and warships, they also are first-minded about profit, whether that be from spoils of war, or from income sources they can scam from others....to the point where they expect their captains to be skimming some of the income sources they come across into their own pockets (Felix tends to prefer skimming 2% of his profits for himself and his team). And Felix, a guy who embodies that to its core, fits in perfectly there - ready for adventure at the start (although it gets beat out of him) and willing to take some crazy risks for it. Mind you, these aren't "bad" people or antiheroes - they want to steal shit and make money, not kill people just for the fun of it, and when people do die, Felix and his crew feel pretty damn awful, and it shifts their perspective quite a bit. But it doesn't stop them from getting into jail breaks, heists of dangerous objects, and shipjacking when appropriate. And that's all really fun.

The antagonists are fun too, a mercenary soldier for the Federation of Sol and a security head for the Letnev who wind up on our heroes' trails. The soldier has an incredibly fun-loving attitude toward her work, to say nothing of trying to seduce people for fun - although she tries to draw a line between seducing people who she knows she'll have to kill. Meanwhile the security head comes from a stiff unyielding faction and the contrast between her and the soldier is a really fun back and forth that leads to a hilarious climax.

These characters build up to a fun plot, with some really great dialogue, solid but unexceptional action pieces, and a lot of humor that is very enjoyable from beginning to end. The ending is satisfying, with the worst character of everyone getting his comeuppance at the end, making it even more pleasing while also ending on a major sequel hook to keep a reader interested in going forward. Again, there's nothing here really super notable, but sometimes you just want really fun space opera with a lot of humor, and this is definitely that.

Tim Pratt is the author of more than 20 novels, most recently the Axiom space opera trilogy, including Philip K. Dick Award finalist The Wrong Stars, The Dreaming Stars, and The Forbidden Stars. He’s a Hugo Award winner for short fiction and has been a finalist for Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Mythopoeic, Stoker, and other awards.
Of those 20 novels I have not read any. I was also unaware of the Twilight Imperium game. So I have entered this world and this author completely new.
And I have to say that I really enjoyed it. It has been a fun trip through space, with spaceships, assaults, space battles allies that betray each other, characters of different species that interact naturally, ...
None of the characters is perfect, some being entirely imperfect. But precisely for this reason they are so likeable.
As a downside, I think there are some issues, which should have been delved further, but I guess this can be corrected in future books of the serie..

Spanish:
Tim Pratt es autor de más de 20 novelas, la más reciente de la trilogía de ópera espacial Axiom, incluida la finalista del premio Philip K. Dick The Wrong Stars, The Dreaming Stars y The Forbidden Stars. Es un ganador del premio Hugo de ficción corta y ha sido finalista de Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Mythopoeic, Stoker y otros premios.
De esas 20 novelas no he leído ninguna. Tampoco estaba al tanto del juego Twilight Imperium. Así que he entrado en este mundo y este autor completamente novel.
Y tengo que decir que realmente lo disfruté. Ha sido un divertido viaje por el espacio, con naves espaciales, asaltos, batallas espaciales aliados que se traicionan, personajes de distintas especies que interactúan de forma natural, ...
Ninguno de los personajes es perfecto, algunos son completamente imperfectos. Pero precisamente por eso son tan agradables.
Como inconveniente, creo que hay algunos problemas, que deberían haberse profundizado más, pero supongo que esto se puede corregir en futuros libros de la serie.

Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher, Aconyte Books, for providing an ARC of this book for review.

The action was instant and nonstop in this entertaining, humorous, and adventuresome space opera. We join Captain Felix Duval as he strives to improve his and his crew's standing in the Mentak Coalition. We learn that although the Mentak Coalition is based on raiding, piracy, and looking out for number #1, Captain Felix certainly has morals, decency, and tries really hard to do the right thing as he risks everything for glory and finds himself rushing around the galaxy inadvertently murdering, kidnapping, stealing, blowing things things up, negotiating with criminals, aiding mad scientists, infiltrating strongholds, and repeatedly fighting for his life.

The story is enhanced by the rivalry between Felix and his new nemesis, Amina Azad, a black ops superhuman from the Federation of Sol as they engage in intense conflict for control over the mad scientist and the civilization changing technology he promises. Amina is also a fascinating and powerful character worthy of her own book.

Based on this book, I look forward to reading more by the Hugo award winning author, Tim Pratt.