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tigerlillymelody's review
4.0
I've been pretty overwhelmed consistently for the last two months. So maybe that's why I found this book a little hard to follow at times, I might not just have the attention in me that this book deserves. Or maybe it's lacking the tight quality of Maurice Broaddus' previous books because this book is over twice as long and much larger in scope. Either way I'm giving it a 4 star rating because multiple times throughout the book a quote or idea presented in the text came to me at just the right moment that I needed to hear it. I had the immense pleasure to meet Maurice Broaddus recently and what a charming and wise person he is. An educator, organizer, and storyteller (and fellow DS9 fan) I feel like his books always create spaces that I'm interested in engaging with regardless of how compelling or not I may find the main plot. This book is a little messy, but I feel like it's creativity, empathy, thoughtfulness, and timeliness make it well worth engaging with.
laurareads87's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Sweep of Stars is truly epic: it spans an alliance of multiple worlds, features many POV characters, and includes a wormhole, secret agents and spies, conspiring, and really well thought out political dynamics. There is a glossary included, but I didn't find I needed it - most of the terms in it are not 'made up' but rather actual phrases/words that were familiar to me, and context makes things clear enough. Broaddus is a great writer, and he accomplishes a lot here with a very ambitious book - it includes first, second, and third person POVs all while reading as fairly linear and clear, and the world-building is fantastic, rich and detailed. I will definitely pick up the sequel.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, murder, death, torture, racism, war. Nothing particularly graphic or hard to read.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, murder, death, torture, racism, war. Nothing particularly graphic or hard to read.
the_discworldian's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
zober's review against another edition
Ahhhh this audiobook narrator really didn't work for me. The voices for the (many) elderly people especially made me cringe. I can often tough it out through a bad narration, and I am able to separate the audiobook narration from the writing/book. But the book didn't do it for me either.
Things I liked:
- at least one interesting character
- Afrofuturist world-building with a promising premise
Things I didn't like:
- Way too many POV characters. I thought there were 3, but now I actually think there are at least a few more?? Many of them blend together if there are more than 3
- Random nonsensical differences in narrative POV - some first person, some first person plural (... why? it's entirely unclear), some second person, some third person. I hope there's a big reveal that makes these different styles meaningful. I can think of other books that use the second person POV effectively, and it's not apparent why until later in the book - Fifth Season, Harrow the Ninth, etc - but this book is not engaging enough for me to get to any such reveal
- Not trusting the reader; lots of telling-not-showing. A side character shows up, and the author just lists some of his personality aspects and says "maybe that's why other people react to him in x way". Why don't you demonstrate that?
- I don't care about most characters
- no plot, 1/4 of the way in
Things I liked:
- at least one interesting character
- Afrofuturist world-building with a promising premise
Things I didn't like:
- Way too many POV characters. I thought there were 3, but now I actually think there are at least a few more?? Many of them blend together if there are more than 3
- Random nonsensical differences in narrative POV - some first person, some first person plural (... why? it's entirely unclear), some second person, some third person. I hope there's a big reveal that makes these different styles meaningful. I can think of other books that use the second person POV effectively, and it's not apparent why until later in the book - Fifth Season, Harrow the Ninth, etc - but this book is not engaging enough for me to get to any such reveal
- Not trusting the reader; lots of telling-not-showing. A side character shows up, and the author just lists some of his personality aspects and says "maybe that's why other people react to him in x way". Why don't you demonstrate that?
- I don't care about most characters
- no plot, 1/4 of the way in
sunsoar25's review
4.0
Sweep of Stars (Astra Black #1) by Maurice Broaddus was pretty cool. Don't skip this if you're looking for Afrofuturism or space opera reads! I really appreciated that it includes a list of families and a glossary even. I'll have to keep my eyes open for the sequel, Breathe of Oblivion, which will be released on August 27th of this year. If you like N.K. Jemisin and James S.A. Corey, you'll have to read this sci-fi series opener.
solardavy's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
samukele's review
Too many povs - too character driven for me (too slow). Plus big epic political dramas are not my thing.
blue_jules's review
So, Maurice Broaddus' "Sweep of Stars", the first volume in a trilogy of Space Opera.
It builds a world somewhat similar that the one of #TheExpanse - an impoverished Earth, inhabited Moon, Mars, and Titan, mining in the Asteroid Belt and an alien-made portal object (in this case, a wormhole) on the solar system's edge.
The culture inhabiting Moon, parts of Mars and Titan, however, is /very/ different and its development is at the heart of the novel.
We're in Muungano, a community built by African people and people of African descent, based on traditional African* religions and arts, but also steeped in American and other Black cultures. Fiber arts, poetry and music are highly valued; as is "togetherness", community, and finding the uniquely Muungano way of doing things. Of course, Earth doesn't quite let them.
It doesn't let them by a variety of means, which makes work for the large and diverse cast of characters: they're investigating the wormhole, possible Aliens, the bombing of an embassy, the sickness of a child, and the death of a community leader, all of which seem to be somewhat connected.
"Sweep of Stars" starts slow, easing its way into the culture, its archievements as well as its potential points of failure, but when the action starts, it's formidable.
I loved the many references to Black cultures, the many words taken from various African languages, as well as the African food. The culture, new as it might be, felt real and deep.
At times, I found the slow pace irritating and some exposition too on-the-nose. But, like "Babel", this novel isn't particularly for me, a white person - something I have to remind myself of.
Go read this great afrofuturist novel and the sequels!
*Africa isn't a country, but here, influences from different countries come together.
It builds a world somewhat similar that the one of #TheExpanse - an impoverished Earth, inhabited Moon, Mars, and Titan, mining in the Asteroid Belt and an alien-made portal object (in this case, a wormhole) on the solar system's edge.
The culture inhabiting Moon, parts of Mars and Titan, however, is /very/ different and its development is at the heart of the novel.
We're in Muungano, a community built by African people and people of African descent, based on traditional African* religions and arts, but also steeped in American and other Black cultures. Fiber arts, poetry and music are highly valued; as is "togetherness", community, and finding the uniquely Muungano way of doing things. Of course, Earth doesn't quite let them.
It doesn't let them by a variety of means, which makes work for the large and diverse cast of characters: they're investigating the wormhole, possible Aliens, the bombing of an embassy, the sickness of a child, and the death of a community leader, all of which seem to be somewhat connected.
"Sweep of Stars" starts slow, easing its way into the culture, its archievements as well as its potential points of failure, but when the action starts, it's formidable.
I loved the many references to Black cultures, the many words taken from various African languages, as well as the African food. The culture, new as it might be, felt real and deep.
At times, I found the slow pace irritating and some exposition too on-the-nose. But, like "Babel", this novel isn't particularly for me, a white person - something I have to remind myself of.
Go read this great afrofuturist novel and the sequels!
*Africa isn't a country, but here, influences from different countries come together.
katica's review
1.0
Did not finish. Read through chapter 6, and each chapter was a different POV.
There was absolutely no ability to connect to anyone because of it each chapter being a different person, and consequently I had no investment in the story.
I wanted to like this novel so much. I’d listened to Maurice talk about it on the Writing Excuses podcast- ships fueled by jazz music! But the reality was far, far different, and I am *so* disappointed by this novel.
There was absolutely no ability to connect to anyone because of it each chapter being a different person, and consequently I had no investment in the story.
I wanted to like this novel so much. I’d listened to Maurice talk about it on the Writing Excuses podcast- ships fueled by jazz music! But the reality was far, far different, and I am *so* disappointed by this novel.
karireads's review
It seemed like every time I began to connect with a character, the action jumped away to some other plotline. Consequently, all the characters were at a distance and hard to care about.