This militaristic sci-fi series just keeps giving.
When Captain Aiden Macallen of the famed flagship Sun Wolf finds a dead man holding a message, encrypted only to him on his doorstep, he realizes that he and those he loves most are in danger. Again. What he does not realize is exactly how much danger.
The ruthless Netvor, a race of beings that are a mixture of clone and cyborg, are gaining power. Their goal is to eradicate the human race, and the message Aiden has may hold the key to Earth’s survival.
Many light years away, on Shénmì Station, Aiden’s close friend Jo has found a network of beings like her. Clones that are identical in structure to the terrifying Netvor, but emotionally and spiritually are much more closely aligned with humanity. With virtually undetectable Netvor ships roaming Bound space, the threat to Earth is greater than ever. And making a deal with the Trans sapiens, Jo’s new friends, may be the only way for both species to survive.
Qarsoon is the fourth book in the Space Unbound series. It’s a hard sci-fi militaristic space opera with a dash of fantasy. Like all the novels in this series, starting with the first book, Through a Forest of Stars, is optimal.
While the plot changes, my opinion has stayed the same. I kind of just want to write “ditto” and be done with it—because all the things Jeffrey excels at in previous books, he nails in this one.
As always, Jeffrey melds hard science with spirituality to create a high-stakes space battle plot that still has all the wonder and whimsy of exploring a new world. It feels as fresh, fascinating, and menacing too. The mistake I make going into these novels is I think the science has been exhausted. Everything exciting has been explored. I can’t imagine that there’s anything left to enthrall me on that side.
And every time, Jeffrey proves me wrong. This guy must eat, drink, and breathe science texts, because he finds a new angle, a bigger threat, a more bizarre planet to explore with each new novel. All of them rely on hard science and all of them feel like things that could genuinely happen or authentically exist.
I may be a little too far removed from the previous novels in this series, but it’s true I had difficulty finding my footing at the beginning of this one. Figuring out where the world stood in terms of threat and politics was tough, and it didn’t feel like there were enough reminders scattered throughout to get my bearings. Having a thorough glossary of terms and a chronology was extremely helpful, but I still feel like I missed the nuances to some character relationships and the political side of things.
I’ve finished each of these novels thinking that they’ve gone as far as they can and there’s no more to the story. Every time I read the next one, I’m thoroughly and happily proven wrong. Wonderfully complex, masterfully executed, and so accessible that even the science illiterate can understand its concepts—The Space Unbound series is a gift that keeps on giving.
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