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rageofachilles's review against another edition
3.0
A Star Wars-esque novel with just variation to make it interesting. The best thing I can say about the novel is that it’s a fun read.
justjoel's review against another edition
1.0
I read Black Star Renegades to fulfill the prompt of “A book with your favorite color in the title” (a misnomer of sorts, since I don’t really have a “favorite” color) for the 2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge.
I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Press via Goodreads giveaway, which has no influence on the contents of my review.
Billed as being inspired by Star Wars and incorporating the swagger of Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Star Renegades begins with a great deal of promise. Cade Sura and his brother Tristan are on a mission to recover an ancient weapon whose wielder, the Paragon, is foretold to be the savior of the galaxy. Or rather, Tristan is on the mission because his masters at theJedi Academy Well believe he is the Paragon and have trained him accordingly. Cade is the little brother allowed to tag along so as to not upset the Chosen One. However, problems and betrayals arise, and Cade finds himself thrust into a role he neither wants nor is prepared for.
At this point, the story veers away from upsetting the “Chosen One” trope and turns into a retelling of Star Wars. Only without the character development, the humor, and the main character kissing his sister.
I can’t directly quote from the book since I only read an ARC and not the finished copy, but this read much more like a rough draft of an 11-year-old’s fanfiction than a story nearing publication (I received my copy about 8 weeks before release). My 12-year-old nephew was over at the time I was reading it, and distracted by my apparently lengthy and frequent groans, he asked what was wrong. I read him a paragraph and said, “What, if anything, is wrong with this?” And he got it. Right away. Knew why it was bad and how it should be edited.
I know the author writes comics, and I suspect his style would play out better in that format with an illustrator who can show what he only seems to tell.
There is little character development with a lot of angst, a crush that may develop into romance over time, a homicidal droid, a lot of unnecessary words, and stereotypical villains with stereotypical motives.
Not a book I would recommend to anyone but the author’s hardcore fans, and not a series I am interested in continuing reading.
1 out of 5 stars.
I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Press via Goodreads giveaway, which has no influence on the contents of my review.
Billed as being inspired by Star Wars and incorporating the swagger of Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Star Renegades begins with a great deal of promise. Cade Sura and his brother Tristan are on a mission to recover an ancient weapon whose wielder, the Paragon, is foretold to be the savior of the galaxy. Or rather, Tristan is on the mission because his masters at the
At this point, the story veers away from upsetting the “Chosen One” trope and turns into a retelling of Star Wars. Only without the character development, the humor, and the main character kissing his sister.
I can’t directly quote from the book since I only read an ARC and not the finished copy, but this read much more like a rough draft of an 11-year-old’s fanfiction than a story nearing publication (I received my copy about 8 weeks before release). My 12-year-old nephew was over at the time I was reading it, and distracted by my apparently lengthy and frequent groans, he asked what was wrong. I read him a paragraph and said, “What, if anything, is wrong with this?” And he got it. Right away. Knew why it was bad and how it should be edited.
I know the author writes comics, and I suspect his style would play out better in that format with an illustrator who can show what he only seems to tell.
There is little character development with a lot of angst, a crush that may develop into romance over time, a homicidal droid, a lot of unnecessary words, and stereotypical villains with stereotypical motives.
Not a book I would recommend to anyone but the author’s hardcore fans, and not a series I am interested in continuing reading.
1 out of 5 stars.
joradora's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely borrowed a few pages from Star Wars but still really enjoyable on its own.
powder_and_page's review against another edition
1.0
Black Star Renegades was a book that I was very much hoping to like. Having been likened to Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy I was sure that I would be in for a treat, but that didn’t end up being the case. Black Star Renegades has earned the dubious honor of being my first DNF of 2018.
After the attention grabbing intro chapter, things quickly went southwards for me. I did see the tributes to Star Wars and Guardians which was kind of cool… BUT it felt like I was reading something written in my writing voice. That’s literally the only way I can explain it. I hate going back and reading pieces of my writing and that’s kind of what this was like. The dialogue was pretty cheesy, the plot was okayyyyy I guess. Black Star Renegades ended up being disappointing in the 100 pages I gave it.
I try to give books plenty of time and chances to grab my attention or improve, but I decided that this year I’m not going to force it and if something doesn’t appeal to me in 100 pages, I’m going to put it down. I’ve seen plenty of positive reviews for this book, so definitely check out Goodreads for those if you’re curious. Sadly, this just didn’t work for me!
After the attention grabbing intro chapter, things quickly went southwards for me. I did see the tributes to Star Wars and Guardians which was kind of cool… BUT it felt like I was reading something written in my writing voice. That’s literally the only way I can explain it. I hate going back and reading pieces of my writing and that’s kind of what this was like. The dialogue was pretty cheesy, the plot was okayyyyy I guess. Black Star Renegades ended up being disappointing in the 100 pages I gave it.
I try to give books plenty of time and chances to grab my attention or improve, but I decided that this year I’m not going to force it and if something doesn’t appeal to me in 100 pages, I’m going to put it down. I’ve seen plenty of positive reviews for this book, so definitely check out Goodreads for those if you’re curious. Sadly, this just didn’t work for me!
booksandpops4000's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a fun read! It was such a joy to read. I really loved the world building and did not feel overwhelmed which sometimes happens in science fiction novels. I loved the focus on the male lead but also the various other POV we were exposed to. I loved that the story really felt like complete story but I am still curious for more especially with this characters. It was just a fun adventure and I thought it was a rather face pace novel. I def want a book 2!
howattp's review against another edition
4.0
This is a rollicking good time—a fun, action-filled space opera with heavy doses of Star Wars (in the best way). This is a blast!