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Title details for The Shattered Skies by John Birmingham - Available

The Shattered Skies

#2 in series

by John Birmingham
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Humanity’s last surviving heroes must protect a shattered civilization from an all-conquering enemy in this thrilling sequel to The Cruel Stars.
“[The Shattered Skies] is a delightful military space adventure that runs at full tilt.”—Booklist
The Sturm, an empire of “species purists,” have returned from the farthest reaches of Dark Space to wage a war against what they call mutants and borgs: any human being with genetic or neural engineering. In a sneak attack, they overwhelmed almost all of humanity’s defenses, blasting vicious malware across galaxy-spanning networks, dark code that transformed anyone connected to the system into a mindless psychotic killer. The Sturm’s victory seemed complete, their final triumph inevitable, until one small band of intrepid, unlikely heroes struck back.
Commander Lucinda Hardy and Admiral Frazer McLennan used the Armadalen Navy’s final surviving warship to fend off the Sturm, destroying the massed power of an entire Attack Fleet. With brilliant tactics—and support from drunken, grief-ravaged pirate Sephina L’trel and treasonous battle-rig operator Booker—this ragtag crew sent the Sturm running, managing to save Princess Alessia, the sole surviving heir to the gigantic Montanblanc ul Haq Corporation and perhaps Earth’s only remaining senator.
Now left with the remains of a fallen civilization, they must work together to rebuild what was lost and root out the numberless enemies of Earth. The Sturm invaders remain vastly more powerful—and they may not be the only threat lurking in the darkness of space.

  • Creators

  • Series

    The Cruel Stars Trilogy

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 11, 2022

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781984820563

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781984820563
      • File size: 12085 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 22, 2021
      Birmingham follows The Cruel Stars with more heart-pounding, breakneck action in the fight for survival between factions with differing views on humanity. The crew of the Defiant, led by Lucinda Hardy, managed to survive an attack from the Sturm Empire intended to destroy all humans with cybernetic enhancements. They were also able to rescue Princess Alessia Szu Suri sur Montanblanc, the sole surviving heir of a multi-planet-ruling corporate monarchy. Now, with the help of war hero Adm. Frazer McLennan; his acerbic AI companion, Herodotus; and Lucinda’s childhood friend turned pirate, Sephina L’trel, they secure a Sturm-occupied station and set off in search of fellow survivors. While Sephina hunts down secret digital backups of Alessia’s family so that the rulers can be reborn, Lucinda and the Defiant make the difficult choice to ally with their former enemies, the Javan Empire. With distrust and secret dealings on both sides, the shaky alliance prepares for a major assault from the Sturm. By shifting perspectives between factions, Birmingham allows his charismatic characters, especially bored tween Alessia and sassy Herodotus, to shine, adding humanity to the relentless and sweeping battle scenes. Fans of epic, military space opera with lots of last minute reversals will gobble this up. Agent: Russel Galen, Scovil Galen Gosh Literary.

    • Booklist

      January 1, 2022
      Commander Hardy, Admiral McClennan, Seph, Princess Alessia, and their crews struck a decisive blow against the Sturm, but the war is just beginning. Humanity in the Greater Volume has been decimated, and the group is left searching for survivors to build an army to stand against an overwhelming enemy. But the Sturm may not be the most dangerous foe they face, as human greed and shortsightedness threaten to scuttle alliances before they can even start. The second entry in Birmingham's Cruel Stars series (after The Cruel Stars, 2019) boasts all the best elements of its predecessor: absorbing conflicts with high stakes and believable antagonists, complex characters with rich relationships and effective emotional depth, and Birmingham's magnificent world building. Whereas the first book was slightly marred by its overreliance on coincidence to set up the climax, that's not the case this time, which makes it the stronger tale--and readers will be left craving the next one. This is a delightful military space adventure that runs at full tilt.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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