Starshatter: Beginning an Expansive Journey
The Black Knight’s “Starshatter” represents the first few steps in what has become a sprawling space opera epic. But were these steps taken on solid ground?
I don’t recall exactly how many years ago I first read Starshatter. At least five, maybe six. I can say what I read was a much earlier version than what we have now, complete with different cover art, and that I enjoyed it at the time. Yes, it was rough around the edges and had its share of stumbling points, but that took very little away from the quality of the stories presented. No, you didn’t misread me there, and I didn’t mistype. I said stories, plural, because Starshatter wasn’t and isn’t what most would consider a traditional novel.
But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. Now that I’ve had a chance to read the newest version of the book, one might even call it the complete version, I’m finally in a place to fulfill a promise I made to
many years ago and provide a proper review of this launching point into his universe. However, first we must go over some key details for the uninitiated. Starshatter is the first in an ongoing series of novels written by The Black Knight. It serves as the launching point for a sprawling space opera epic, one in which the heroes are duly heroic, the villains genuinely villainous, and the violent action and woeful tragedies we witness are all fed by a continuous undercurrent of hopeful optimism. If that reminds you of the classic space opera serials of yore, there’s good reason for that, and it’s precisely that kind of energy that The Black Knight taps into with his writing.Now that the preamble is out of the way, what about the book itself? Are we presented with a quality story supported by strong writing? Does it read well? Will your attention be gripped by the colorful cast of characters and the imaginative alternate history world The Black Knight presents us?
Yes, and no. As with any story, Starshatter isn’t perfect. It has its strengths, its weaknesses, and its oddities, and like the early works of many authors it wears all of these on its sleeve. But let’s start first with the strengths, because there are many, and they chiefly come in the form of its ensemble cast. This also happens to be where the first and biggest of its oddities makes its appearance, so we’ll cover that as well.
A quick glance at the Table of Contents shows us that each of the book’s chapters is named. However, of the book’s thirteen chapters - which includes both its prologue and epilogue (though the prologue is really a foreword by the author) - eight of them are named after characters in the book. As you might’ve guessed, this is your first hint as to the size of the ensemble cast and makes it clear which characters will take center stage in each chapter, providing us chiefly with their point of view on what’s happening around them. And just in case this wasn’t variety enough, almost all of these characters are of different races, creeds, and cultures. Each of them has their own distinct voice and feel, at least most of the time, and provide their own view into the expansive universe The Black Knight has constructed.
This is where the most unusual aspect of the book comes in. While we do see these characters come together by the story’s end, what we’re presented with is, in actuality, less a novel and more a series of loosely interconnected short story vignettes. With a couple exceptions, each chapter works as its own standalone story following the title characters as they fight to survive against numerous villainous entities ranging from space pirates to slaver crews to the arrogant Taz’aran Empire. Thing is, while this is certainly the kind of decision that has the potential to leave readers feeling like the story is disjointed, it ultimately proves to be a worthwhile decision because each of these individual stories are well written, leaving them feeling complete and satisfying in their own right.
By taking this non-traditional approach, The Black Knight gives a closer look at not just the cast of characters themselves, but the cultures they come from and their views on the universe. For example, the characters Cat, Awesome, Lilly, and Vasilisa are all Terrans, which is to say their ancestry all originates from Earth. However, this doesn’t mean they’re all human. In fact, Vasilisa is the only human Terran of this bunch, with the rest being ascended animals whose species were gifted with higher intelligence (and larger bodies, in some cases) by humankind centuries earlier. Each of these ascended races has their own unique traits and general behavioral quirks, all of which tie back in some ways to known behaviors from the real world animals they’re derived from.
As a gorilla, Cat is stalwart, intelligent, and sometimes ferocious, while Lilly the rabbit and Awesome the hamster are both quick to think and act, with Lilly having more grit and gumption then you might expect of a cute bunny, (a trait I've seen firsthand in the animals as a former rabbit owner) and Awesome showcasing lots of clever ingenuity. Vasilisa, for her own part, fills the role of a model heroine. She's tough and resourceful, as any who live on the dangerous Fringe of known space have to be. However, unlike the modern norm, her strengths don't come at the cost of her femininity. She's young, beautiful, and driven by a love for her family, a powerful motivator when she finds herself pitted against life threatening dangers.
Additionally, we have a host of alien characters to follow. While both are very human-like in appearance, Anit’za counts himself among the elfish dzenta’rii, a race known for its colorful hair, beautifully sharp features, and cultural love of dueling and political machinations, aspects of his culture which he's willing to use to his advantage despite a personal distaste for them. Then there’s Brynjar the Asgardian, a member of a warrior race built with a godlike stature and imbued with the mysterious “Oden Force.” However, he’s also an oddity among his own kind for his love of the advanced machinery his people tend to spurn, particularly battle mechs. Dozan ‘Re rounds out the alien cast as the most genuinely alien among them. One of the Kil’ra, his people effectively look like werecats, combining typical humanoid features with those of large felines like tigers, lions, panthers, and so on. These guys are big, powerful, and have a penchant for heroism and singing battle hymns, as Dozan ‘Re gleefully shows us.
As you can see, there’s a lot to dig into here where the characters are concerned, and for that reason Starshatter is rather light on plot. The individual stories tend to be simple tales of grit, survival, and determination, just the sort that enables readers to quickly warm to the expansive cast. Unfortunately, not all of these stories are created equal. Some stand out as being stronger than the rest. Lilly’s is among those, and as such her chapter makes for a powerful introduction to the book. Awesome also stands tall in this respect, though there are a few stumbling blocks in his story where his primary companion, the Virtual Intelligence “Alice,” is concerned. Suffice it to say, the whimsical nature of Alice that we’re introduced to is rather suddenly dropped late in the chapter, making for a somewhat jarring reading experience.
Structural issues do come up from time to time, too. Anit’za’s chapter is probably the strongest example of this particular issue, a shame since I personally consider him to be the most enjoyable member of the cast. While the first two thirds of his section proceed at a brisk but comfortable pace, allowing time for the character to breathe and for us to see just how odd a man he is among his people and their society, as the chapter enters the final leg the pace quickens to the point of feeling rushed. This is alleviated somewhat by the fact that his story directly leads into Cat's and that his presence is peppered throughout the rest of the book, but it’s an unfortunate flaw that’s been carried over from the earlier version.
That being said, many of the stumbling points in the book are more forgivable, in particular the spots of unusual phrasing. The reason for this is that while the book is written in English, that isn’t The Black Knight’s native language. In fact, it’s his third language. Considering that, it’s thoroughly impressive that he keeps his stories as engaging and easy to understand as they are. Admittedly some of the phrasing is a bit unusual at first, but it does serve to lend a unique voice to this world in a manner similar to the way new languages or heavy use of unusual slang can. There are certain sections in the book will require a couple passes for them to click, but they’re relatively few and far between.
However, there is one area where the book does suffer above all others, and I know I hold the minority opinion on this compared to many other readers: the villains. To my mind, the villains of this first book are easily its weakest area, particularly the Taz’aran Empire, and the reason for this is that we never get the a deeper look at our adversaries like we do with our main characters. Now I’m not saying I want to dig all the way into the backstories of the random grunts and pirates that are being laid waste to by the cast, or that I want to dig deep into the ins and outs of their bastard leadership to find depth and sympathy there. No, the fact that the villains are exactly that in this story is one of their strengths. Where I think things go wrong with them isn’t the role they play, but their competency in that role.
Mind you, this isn’t a universal criticism. There are a few instances across the book where the apparent ineptitude of the antagonists is fully appropriate to display because it feeds into one or more important elements of a chapter. Once again, Lilly’s story stands as the exemplar here, though I won’t be revealing why as it would be a major spoiler for the first chapter. I’ll also say the ineptitude issue doesn’t extend to an inability to land any kind of damage on our characters. Danger is thoroughly present in these stories, and on more than a few occasions members of our main cast sustain some grievous injuries that seem set to stick with them going forward.
Instead, that sense of ineptitude more often comes from the ease with which the cast often ends up turning the tables in their favor, especially against the Taz’aran Empire. For the sake of transparency, I will say that this is a problem which is addressed in the second book, as I well know because I helped The Black Knight edit an early version of that book to finalize its ending. But we’re not here to review the second book, and I’d be remiss if I wasn’t honest about the fact that Starshatter doesn’t quite manage to present the Taz’arans as the threat that they ought to be. Sometimes it’s because luck favors the main characters a little too much, enabling them to find that one thing they need to get them out of a sticky situation. This tends to be the exception rather than the rule, though. Far more often than not, it’s because of the cultural concerns the Taz’arans are shown to hold. Almost every time we see them struggling against the cast, we see their leaders being more concerned about the cost of their equipment over the loss of their forces. On its own, that's not so much a problem. The issue comes from how often this drives the Taz’aran commanders to make incredibly dumb decisions in the moment.
The results is that the depiction of these Imperial forces becomes a double edged sword. On the one hand, we get to see exactly the kind of cold and callous culture that the Taz’arans have developed. They place their focus on status and aristocracy, and as such are shown to hold considerable animus not just towards other races, (which they view as universally inferior to themselves) but toward each other. Often this is based entirely on familial lineage. Lower ranking soldiers, which is to say those thought to be of lesser stock, and even some key staff are regularly threatened with execution for their ineptitude, and their leaders are quite willing to follow through on said threats. Influence, authority, and currency are what they value most, and Starshatter uses this to paint them in an appropriately malicious light.
However, that’s also where that blade cuts, because this depiction is taken too far. Instead of coming across as a powerful interstellar military which conquered vast swathes of the stars, the Taz’arans we see read more like cheesy Saturday morning cartoon villains. The oft nameless leaders almost always fall into two obsessions - an extreme worry over the financial cost of failing to retrieve expensive gear from their dead, or a hunger for glory intense enough to drive them to recklessness. Again, this wouldn’t be a problem if they regularly showed tactical acumen, but that doesn’t happen. Instead we see the leadership actively bemoaning the potential loss of expensive kit while the enemies causing them such losses aren’t just still alive, but actively kicking their asses. Considering we’re meant to fear the massive military might of the Taz’arans, watching them making repeat blunders like sending waves of men at an enemy that’s already proven to be better than they expected, or underestimating their enemies to such a degree that obvious advantages get overlooked or ignored, ends up making the dread of seeing them ring hollow.
This isn’t an issue exclusive to the Taz’arans, though they suffer worst from the detrimental effects of it. Rather, this problem is shared among most of the enemies our heroes face in this first book. However, while I’d prefer if this wasn’t the case, I do understand why the villains are presented in this way. This is the introduction to our cast, the first in what’s planned to be a ten book series come the end of it. It should make the cast shine as heroes we enjoy reading about, and it manages to do exactly that. But as a lover of great villains, I would have preferred to see more competency from the enemies they faced.
That being said, this isn’t a book breaking problem. While it will remain a personal gripe for me, it’s nowhere near a major enough issue to stifle the enjoyment I got from reading about the newly assembled Starshatter crew. Flat though the villains are, that’s more than made up for by the depth of character showcased by the main cast. I can say with confidence that the scrappy bunny Lilly and the clever hamster Awesome are both fan favorites, and with good reason. Dozan ‘Re, Brynjar, and the Star Marine Alric von Engelbert all present the stalwart warrior trope well, though they may tread too close in terms of their voice to feel wholly distinct at this point. Still, in a cast of eight main characters that’s a very small potatoes kind of issue, especially when you’ve got a character as bold and lively as Anit’za acting as the glue that holds these people together.
And that’s where the greatest strength of Starshatter lies, in its central cast. The Black Knight’s non-traditional approach to this book serves as a solid foundation to build the greater story upon. By focusing on the majority of the story’s central characters individually, The Black Knight has allowed himself the time and space to flesh each of them out through individual tales that all come together by the end. It far from perfect, but that's okay. The characters stand just as strong as I remember them when I read that early version years ago, and that's enough to make this book great.
My recommendation for this book is:
Avoid It | Discount Bin | Tough Sell | Flawed Fun | Great Read | Must Own
If you’d like to pick up a copy of Starshatter for yourself, you can do so here.
I've read The Black Knight since he was @Aragmar on Minds, perhaps a little earlier.
I've enjoyed his books and own all of the ebooks. I'm going to start collecting them in paperback as well.
You mentioned all of the characters, and I'd have to read the books again to confirm my thoughts, but did Mack get introduced in the first book? Ani'tza and Mack have always been my favorite characters in the series.
This was an excellent review that was very balanced in pointing out the book's virtues and flaws. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Steel & Stormbright, along with what I could do better.