This Shattered World: A Starbound Novel

Like the first book in this series, This Shattered World was a book that kept driving me to read, putting aside my life for a moment so that I could stay immersed in this wonderful world. Probably closer to 4.5 stars, it isn't perfect, but it is an extremely enjoyable dive into the universe introduced in These Broken Stars. Those hoping for a continuation of Tarver and Lilac's story might be disappointed to hear that this story does not focus on them, but instead introduces two new characters who are destined to learn that the universe is not all that they believed it to be. Tarver has a good role in this story, and Lilac makes a great appearance as well, but this story focuses on Jubilee Chase, a top soldier serving in the inhospitable and dangerous planet of Avon, and Flynn Carmac, a rebel leader interested in peace who holds a fragile hold over a group of rebels who are slowly coming to feel that violence is necessary in order to earn the rights and privileges their people deserve. Flynn and Jubilee begin this story as sworn enemies, unable to see past their different societal roles. However, as the story progresses they begin to see that behind the personas thrust on them by a world at war (or on the brink of it) are two actual people with personalities and love and care for those around them. This is a story of war focusing on two people who need peace.This story has a lot more action and overt danger than These Broken Stars did. Where the first book in the series spent the majority of the time with only the two main characters traipsing through a (seemingly) lifeless planet, this story takes place in the middle of a burgeoning society. There are military personnel, civilian personnel, rebel fighters and families ... and A LOT of things going on. Avon is a world just waiting for the spark to light the kindling leading toward an all out war. This creates a very different feel than the first story in the series. Everyone could be an enemy, and that makes the events of this book seem always slightly off balance, keeping me reading.I loved how this story explored the nuances of war. War is never really the story of two sides, good versus evil. There are all sorts of areas of gray in between that make it complicated. Often the powers that influence these wars try to make it seem so very uncomplicated so that it is easier to push others to support the war machine. In this story Jubilee begins the story believing her side is good and the rebels are evil, something that needs to be contained or maybe eradicated. Many of the rebels see the exact opposite view. Flynn is the beginning of the change. He hopes for peace in a world that has only really known conflict. His attempt to reach out, and his decisions to show mercy to Jubilee when mercy seems unwarranted begins to change Jubilee's opinion. What made this story interesting was that sometimes Jubilee or Flynn were fighting the other side, and sometimes in order to do the right thing they had to fight their own people. I found it fascinating.Jubilee and Flynn were wonderful main characters for this story because they were not cookie cutter stereotypes. Each of them went through several transformations throughout the story as their world views were thrown out of whack. They struggled with the nuances of war, and seeing their change in the midst of new understandings was rewarding and interesting. I loved that Jubilee was this wonderfully skilled soldier known for her dedication and steadiness, but she had insecurities and moments of doubt that plagued her. Flynn seemed to be this typical sort of suave smooth talking personality that used his smile and his pretty words to get what he wanted, and yet he found himself consumed by anger and lack of smoothness at times. Yes, this is a romance, and the romance is beautiful. I think in some ways it was even more satisfying than Tarver and Lilac's romance because of the depth of division that initially separated Flynn and Jubilee. But the romance of this story, although beautiful and satisfying, was not the all encompassing point of the story. It was just the cherry on top of a well written adventure story.LaRoux Industries is still the villain in this story, although it takes a while to discover exactly how they fit into the events on Avon. M. LaRoux is an excellent villain because he matches his evil nature with charm that makes him seem totally benign ... all while he is plotting to take over the galaxy. Not enough time has truly been spent with him as a character in either of the first two books of this series. I hope that is remedied in the third book because I think he will be an AMAZING villain to dissect. For now it is satisfying to see that the book now ends with four people in place, ready to find a way to take this man down. I love the way that Tarver and Lilac assist in this book, and I look forward to seeing Flynn and Jubilee join the resistance in the upcoming book.Fans of These Broken Stars should find lots to love in the second book of the series. We learn more about the mysterious entities that affected Tarver and Lilac in book one. We discover that LaRoux Industries has more horrible things planned for these intelligences than Tarver and Lilac discovered. The world building in this book is way better than the first book. Things are starting to click together, and the writers of this story did an amazing job creating the atmosphere for this dismal planet and finding spots of beauty in the midst of such mud and gunk. Their creation of the setting for this story almost mirrored the personalities of those inhabiting this planet ... so much despair, but joy and love piercing the difficulties facing the settlers. I enjoyed it immensely. Five stars!

I felt like this book suffered from the middle book syndrome to me. Hard to explain. I liked it but I didn't like it as much as the first book. I didn't feel like I connected as much to the characters.Jubilee is a military hero on the planet of Avon- yet she gets herself kidnapped from a bar one night by a rebel named Flynn whose discovered a mysterious base and wants some answers about why things on his planet are not progressing as they should. Story goes from there.This book does a good job of setting up a larger story concerning the whispers and LeRoux Industries and it makes me want to read more. It does a good job of being creepy with the whispers and the Fury that affects people on the planet and causes them to turn to violence but I don't know- this one just didn't connect to me. I liked Jubilee and Flynn but after a certain point their moaning about what they've done to each other and at different times about how they're never going to see each other again (even though they always do and pretty quickly) just kind of wore me down. The ending does tie up the chapter break/dreams throughout in a good way but personally I'm never sure I like the idea of the "super-special from the beginning character" who doesn't even know it.Still overall I enjoyed it. The little peak at Tarver and Lilac has me hoping the next book will shift back to them. And as usual the cover art is some of my favorite.

In a little twist of serendipity, friends, my first review of 2015 is for a book in Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner’s Starbound series, THIS SHATTERED WORLD. This is serendipitous, or maybe this is something else that I can’t think of the word for, because my first review of 2014 was also a book from this series, THESE BROKEN STARS. These two books have more in common than appears on the surface though, because they are both engaging, fast-paced, dramatic, and intriguing. I was already a big fan of this series just based on book 1, but THIS SHATTERED WORLD really drew me in and made me even more curious about WTF is exactly going on in these books. THIS IS THE BEST.In THIS SHATTERED WORLD, we are on the planet Avon, basically this universe’s equivalent of a backwater, a perpetual, hopeless slum where the soldiers stationed there never last long and the local population is likely harboring rebels. The soldiers and the rebels on Avon are locked in what sounds kind of like a guerilla siege: The soldiers are at a disadvantage, not knowing the swamps of Avon as well, and the rebels like poking at them. Constantly. It’s a back and forth with no winners, and no end in sight. Jubilee Chase is an officer of great renown on Avon, having lasted there longer than any other. Flynn Cormac is one of the only resistance fighters who sees the benefit of peace. When Lee and Flynn become an unwitting duo in the fight to discover what is really happening on Avon that has prevented successful terraforming for decades, everything gets tossed around.It’s hard for me to read these books and not be completely taken with the world. I don’t read much science fiction, but when I read books like THIS SHATTERED WORLD, I’m not ever sure why. Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner make outerspace seem dangerous and exotic and familiar all at once. And even though the characters are living in a very different world and dealing with very specific, different things, they seem just as real with easily recognizable traits as any young person I know.Jubilee and Flynn are perhaps not as gripping romance as Tarver and Lilac in THESE BROKEN STARS, but they are certainly nothing to sniff at. As individuals, they have a lot going on: Lee must contend with her soldiers coming down with this mysterious almost berserker illness. After an episode, the soldiers are unable to remember anything. It’s a problem. Plus she has a childhood riddled with tragedy that, in the end, binds her even more to Flynn, who’s own life is marred by death and loss. I liked Lee A LOT. She’s smart, strong, well-respected as a leader, and ballsy. But she’s also not afraid of calling in the reserves when she knows she’s in over her head. I’ll get to this again in a second.Flynn is also struggling in his own life. The rebels on Avon, called the Fianna, are divided; some want to find a way to bring about peace like Flynn, while others want to get angry and shoot things like the leader, McBride. Life with the rebels is, for Flynn, all he knows and yet not all he wants. His struggles with loyalty and his desire to discover what’s keeping Avon in the Dark Ages of evolution really endeared him to me.Like I mentioned before, though, the steamy romance that Lilac and Tarver experienced in THESE BROKEN STARS doesn’t necessarily manifest itself with Lee and Flynn. They have too much ingrained baggage keeping them apart. But their growing closeness and feelings gives the story even more emotional heft than it already has from Lee and Flynn’s own stories, which were plenty sad on their own. They are two very wounded young people, and I was glad for them to have found one another.What ties THIS SHATTERED WORLD to THESE BROKEN STARS is the continuation of the mystery and conspiracy and general WTF-ery of LaRoux Industries. Whatever monkey business they were up to in book 1 is still going on here, and so when Lee gets in over her head and needs some back up, she calls the only person whom she can count on: Tarver, who was her superior officer on Avon before he was transferred. Seeing Tarver again was excellent and it reminded me how much I love him. Getting some small glimpses into his and Lilac’s life made me so happy. I just love them. Plus I love that it brings the story together. Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner are tying everything together in neat, uncomplicated ways that don’t seem forced at all.In Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner’s Acknowledgements they mention the setting of book 3 and I’m STOKED. It’s the HOTBED of this world, and I can’t wait to see what’s going to go on there and how these stories are going to wrap up. I would read books about this world forever. It’s so compelling. THIS SHATTERED WORLD kept my interest, got me emotionally invested, confounded me with mysteries, and has me ready for more. A very solid sequel, friends.

The first book, All These Broken Stars, is one of my favorite books of all time. Sadly, I didn't love this one as much. To me, it had the second book syndrome. It existed to build up the story, to prepare us for the end.Although I didn't love this as much as the first, I enjoyed it nonetheless.Jubilee and Flynn are really great characters and they complement each other. Where Jubilee is all action and fight, Flynn holds the charm and does the talking. Together, they make a great team.Still, in my heart, they couldn't hold a candle to Tarver and Lilac. Honestly, one of the best parts was when they appeared briefly in the book. It's refreshing to see them in other people's eyes and I didn't love them any less.The book didn't capture my full interest until I was almost at the end. That part about the creature was so touching and heartbreaking that it almost made me cry. I was finally able to understand those dreams between chapters that initially confused me. It gave me enough motivation to read the next.

I absolutely loved These Broken Stars so was looking forward to reading the second instalment. What I loved about the first book was the characters, so I was slightly apprehensive, knowing that they weren't the central figures in this one. I did find the start of This Shattered World a bit slow, and it wasn't until half way through that I really started getting into it. I did enjoy it, quite a bit, but just not quite 5 stars worth. I am looking forward to seeing how it all comes together in the third book.

It was surprised to discover that the characters I loved from the first book were not the focus of the second book in this series. My apprehensions about not having these wonderful characters went quickly when I discovered the protagonists in this book to be equally satisfying. Can't wait for the next book.

This sequel to the acclaimed These Broken Stars again features two awesome characters - this time it's a girl soldier and a rebel boy. I really enjoyed their story and the way the Starbound trilogy universe is expanding with each installment. I will be recommending this book to my friends over the holidays.

This Shattered World, like the previous book, These Broken Stars, takes place on a world that is being 'terraformed', or, in other worlds, various scientific processes are under way to make the planet habitable for human beings and all the things we need - clean water, plant and insect life, etc. In Avon's case, it's not doing so well and is still an insect-less bog - and no one knows why.The planet is settled by two groups: a military bunch who are off-worlders; and the 'natives' who were born on Avon from distant Irish ancestors. (Jubi)Lee is a soldier, and Flynn is a local.Lee is very hostile to the natives as she thinks they are pointlessly violent - as she as seen on other terraformed planets - and Flynn's tribe is hostile to the military because, well, they're outsiders who don't have their interests at heart.As the story develops, both Lee and Flynn realise that things are far less straightforward than they think and more to the point, Someone, Somewhere is manipulating them. More and more soldiers - and now natives - are succumbing to a temporary mental rage wherein they shoot people before heading east towards - well, towards what? This is the central mystery in the story.This Shattered World, like its predecessor, is interestingly structured as its chapters are interspersed with occasional mini-chapters that are quite surreal, until you approach the end of the story and realise what they're about. The writing style is deft. I'd say, much improved on These Broken Stars, but I wouldn't like to imply that there are any deficiencies at all in the writing style and characterisation this time around, because there aren't.Tarver and Lilac from These Broken Stars both make guest appearances in This Shattered World, but they are not central characters. This Shattered World has romance, but it is more hard-won and for that, more realistic if less romantic (despite the Romeo and Juliet references!).My only criticism is an after-I've-read-the-book thought, and that is that we still don't know *why* the company behind the terraforming acts the way it does. They are a bit one-dimensional Uber Baddie. Whilst both books have been entertaining and vastly original in their own right, it would be good to get to the heart of the underlying problem in this fictional universe. I pondered whether this should make me knock a star off, but decided that the story flows so well even without this, that it's still a 5* recommendation to other readers.