By J. N. Chaney and Jason Anspach© June 11, 2024, Variant Publications
B0D2382W95
632 pages
I enjoyed VoidDrifters from the very first page, and was captivated by the main character, Will, an archeologist-turned-spacer. I totally bought the story’s explanation of how he stumbles into the ship and accidentally activates it. The actions he took were completely believable from a character whose purpose and joy is to uncover mysteries of long-dead civilizations. Will is also quirky, especially so to his new friends and colleagues who aren’t human at all. The learning curve he has to navigate on the fly, and his willingness to do so and still teach his crewmates a thing or two about the strengths of human “weaknesses,” made him someone I could root for.
VoidDrifter‘s plot is captivating. Without revealing too much, it was easy to get behind their actions once I saw the true nature of the challenges they faced. I enjoyed the other characters, too, and loved the way they interacted and grew bonded through the course of the story. Each one had their strengths, and together they were capable of more than any one of them would have been alone.
VoidDrifter is book 1 of an ongoing series and while it isn’t exactly military sci-fi, I got that same vibe from it. There is a lot of fighting and strategic planning, with strong Star Wars feels, like the little-guys-against-the-galactic-empire sort of thing. I enjoyed the book, but military sci-fi isn’t exactly my jam, so the fast pacing was a bit much for me. I had to sit the book down frequently in order to catch my breath.
That said, if you enjoy military sci-fi, Star-Wars-type space opera, or fast-paced action books, you will definitely want to check this one out. Highly recommended.