#Review - The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams #SyFy

Series: The Universe After (#1)
Format: E-Galley, 448 pages
Release Date: August 21, 2018
Publisher: Tor Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Science Fiction / Space Opera

Perfect for fans of Firefly and James S. A. Corey's Expanse series, The Stars Now Unclaimed is a fun, adventure-filled ride around a far-future galaxy from southern bookseller Drew Williams.

Jane Kamali is an agent for the Justified. Her mission: to recruit children with miraculous gifts in the hope that they might prevent the Pulse from once again sending countless worlds back to the dark ages.

Hot on her trail is the Pax--a collection of fascist zealots who believe they are the rightful rulers of the galaxy and who remain untouched by the Pulse.

Now Jane, a handful of comrades from her past, and a telekinetic girl called Esa must fight their way through a galaxy full of dangerous conflicts, remnants of ancient technology, and other hidden dangers.

Think big guns, smugglers, and epic space battles.

And that's just the beginning . . .

 

The Stars Now Unclaimed is the first installment in author Drew Williams' The Universe After series. The story predicates on the theory that 1,000 years ago, the Pulse knocked worlds, most of them, back a few thousand years before spaceflight and electricity. The Pulse, which was supposed to stop wars and aggressive planets from conquering peaceful planets, wasn't a one time event. Some actually believe that the Pulse is building up strength, and will roll back even stronger and possibility deadlier than before.

Jane Kamali & her combat rated AI spaceship Scheherazade are on a mission to recruit children who have been gifted with amazing abilities thanks to The Pulse. Jane is a former special ops soldier who believes in what she is doing. She kicks ass and takes names and does so with the ultimate super-weapon in Scheherazade. Jane and her ship have been together for a very long time. They are family. They are best friends. They've seen the best and worse of what happened after the Pulse tore through the galaxy. 

Jane and her group are known as The Justified and the Repentant. They're trying to prevent the Pulse from returning and causing even more damage. By recruiting special children with amazing abilities to their cause, they hope they can be the first line of defense in case the Pulse returns and sends the known universe back to before Space Travel was discovered or even the Dark Ages. But, Jane and her group aren't the only ones searching for special children. 

On a mission to find a human child with amazing powers on a back water planet, Jane runs across Esa, a 14-year old orphan who is probably the most powerful human that Jane has encounter. Esa is a by-product of the Pulse and she her specialty is telekinesis. She and others like her were given gifts that the Pax are eagerly searching for to turn them into unbeatable weapons of mass destruction. It's fair to say that Esa is a major prize in the Pax's plans which is why you will find Jane and her allies trying to stay one leap in front of them.

The Pax weren't affected by Pulse. They believe that indicates they are special and if they want to conquer the universe by any means necessary, they will do so and nobody can stop them. But, they've never been up against anyone so dedicated to her job as Jane. Just to make things interesting, Jane picks up a character called Preacher. Preacher is from a machine race called Barious that is dying thanks to the Pulse, and she's not very happy that Jane seems to have answers to what happened to her people. Don't overlook Preacher. There are things about her that will stun and amaze you.

But, before we, as the reader, can undercover what happened, Jane and her crew are chased across the galaxy by the Pax, who tend to capture, brainwash, & drug those they turn into soldiers. Even though Jane is clearly protecting Esa, it's not until much later in the story that Esa's worth really matters to the overall story line and holding off the Pax. There are others as well, like Marus who is part of Justified. He deals in information vital to the Justified and Sanctum. The last character I shall name is Javier, a former Justified, turned pirate, and Jane's former friend.

I am going to say something that will probably not surprise you. I actually liked this story a whole lot and will definitely be reading any sequel. The story is very entertaining and action packed. There are some similarities to Firefly, but there's a whole lot of originality as well. In this world, Reavers are called the Pax, and they're not the flesh-eating mongrels who live on the fringes of the universe. Nope. These Pax enslave people and force them into being soldiers after brainwashing. They aim to conquer the known universe but never met Jane Kamali and her ship and her allies. There are battles on planets, there are battles in space, there are battles on a Dreadnaught operated by the Pax. Maybe there were too many battles and not enough other things to concentrate on.

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