UnArcana Stars

I was in 2 minds as to what to title my review. It was either Battle of Midway or A mile wide and an inch deep.

I was expecting more from the 6th book of the Starships Mage series. Delving more into the Alien Arcana storyline, the conspiracy storyline or at least trying to tie them all together. However, what I ended up getting was a fluff piece with a space battle reminiscent of the Battle of Midway at the end.

The author seems more focused on trying to fulfill hash-tags then on actually writing a story. The 3rd Red Falcon book was more of a hash-tag composition then an actual story that carried the main Starships Mage storyline. This book seemed to have started in a similar hash-tag focused fashion with hashtag Fempower, hashtag Give, hashtag alternative-families. Luckily, towards the end there was an attempt to actually write an interesting story albeit was based on the Battle of Midway.

Will give the last book a read. But I am very disappointed with this one.

I gave it three stars as this was the first time this author let me down. This was a novella about the opening battle of a war. It was not a beginning, middle, and an end book. Yes, it is part of a series. But all the other books tell a story. The non battle part wasn’t even concluded when the book ended. Either he was rushed for a deadlift e he did not want, or the author was greedy. Either way, the book was very disappointing. Still great writing, just disappointing book.

Its been awhile since we heard from Damien Montgomery, Hand of the Mage King of Mars. I read Book 5 about a year ago, and while I didnt appreciate the wait, it has been worth it. Hats off to Mr. Stewart for doing a topnotch job with Unarcana Stars. I could not put the book down until I finished. Per the book, Damien has been in rehab for eighteen months recovering from saving what seemed like every politician in the universe and sacrificing his health and magic to do so. Fortunately, he is still a mage with full power, but he cant use his hands, and oh boy, he has his hands full with the bad guys in the Republic. On the plus side, Kelly is back, so is David, and Grace McLaughlin and her love relationship with Damien, too. The Republic is kicking the proverbial Protectorates hiney, and Damien must rise to the occasion and fight back. Mr. Stewart, when will Damien and the Protectorate make some progress investigating or discovering their magic predecessors? There is a real story there if Mr. Stewart can find the time to tell it, and I for one am very anxious to read it.
But, for now, immerse yourself in Book 6, Unarcana Stars. It is time well spent as Damien assembles forces from across the universe and makes a dramatic stand against the Republic.

It is difficult to say a lot about the book without spoiling the plot. Thus, I will try to write around it not to reveal too much.

The book is a logical follow-up of the previous ones. Almost everything is revealed and nearly nothing remains a secret. The whole plot regards a first phase of a grand war between two stardom kingdoms (republics?). It ends there, too. Which is probably one of my biggest complaints – the author decided (for the first time) to divide point of view between two characters and is using it quite heavily. It results with the storyline so watered that it hardly moves forward. The storytelling felt sluggish. I admit – it was frustrating. The character development is no longer there. If somebody picked up this series from this book I am afraid they would not be able to point out a single character out there – there are literally countless. I stopped recognising them at some point. What is worse – I no longer cared. The sheer number of non-consequential personas was numbing.

If a reader is picky there are some facts that seem majorly illogical, e.g. disproportion in firepower between a new republic, which not long ago was a part of the empire, and the said empire. One might ask – how come? Nobody has realised? There are more little thingies that are irksome. I can live with them.

I decided to give the book four stars. Mostly, because I am hopeful the following installment will be less watered down and more exciting. I know that the author can write a book I will not be able to put down before finishing reading it. This one was not like it, alas.

Enjoyed it, as I have enjoyed all Glynn Stewart’s books in this series. Looking forward to the next installment!
Only gripe is that, while Mr. Stewart is known for making an effort in his books to treat all races, ethnicities, sexualities, etc. equal in his books, this book was a bit too top-heavy with women. I am a female reviewer, but enjoy a bit of realism in my sci-fi/fantasy. To have almost 80%-90% of all the officers in this book be female was just too unrealistic to be plausible: In a matriarchal society of Amazons, yes, but not in the millitary of a diverse empire like the Protectorate.

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