Starflight
Author: Melissa Landers
Genre: Sci-Fi/Space
Grade: B
Solara Brooks is desperate to get off the planet and onto her new life. So much so that she willingly indentures herself to a former schoolmate, general jerk and rich boy Doran Spaulding for the duration of the journey. Their general dislike for each other is the easy part as they wind up on a space adventure running from her past, pirates, law enforcement and even bounty hunters looking for a missing royal.
There’s a lot of familiar elements in this story even though it’s set in space (or maybe because it is). Solara and Doran are enjoyable characters. Everyone is. Which is a good thing because nothings really a surprise. I read some people comparing it to Firefly and that’s certainly the case. Luckily I loved Firefly.
The best part concerns the space pirates but not much is new in there either. And while I didn’t necessarily see the surprise at the end coming it also wasn’t a, “drop the book and be amazed” moment either!
This was a tough one to rate because the writing is good. It’s fast. It’s witty. It’s basically a television pilot looking to happen. There’s potential and a lot of set up so hopefully any forth coming sequels will mine that and break some new ground. On a better personal note despite the familiarity of it this book managed to snap me out of a mini-reading slump I’d been on. So bonus points!
Recommend: Yes. Mostly because there’s no reason I wouldn’t recommend it. Just don’t expect anything new. Plus the cover art is gorgeous!