Author: S.K. Dunstall
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: N/A
Paperback, 416 Pages
Publication: August 14, 2018 by Ace
Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.
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Three people who are not who they claim to be:
Nika Rik Terri, body modder extraordinaire, has devoted her life to redesigning people's bodies right down to the molecular level. Give her a living body and a genemod machine, and she will turn out a work of art.
Josune Arriola is crew on the famous explorer ship the Hassim, whose memory banks contain records of unexplored worlds worth a fortune. But Josune and the rest of the crew are united in their single-minded pursuit of the most famous lost planet of all.
Hammond Roystan, the captain of the rival explorer ship, The Road, has many secrets. Some believe one of them is the key to finding the lost world.
Josune's captain sends her to infiltrate Roystan's ship, promising to follow. But when the Hassim exits nullspace close to Roystan's ship, it's out of control, the crew are dead, and unknown Company operatives are trying to take over. Narrowly escaping and wounded, Roystan and Josune come to Nika for treatment--and with problems of her own, she flees with them after the next Company attack.
Now they're in a race to find the lost world...and stay alive long enough to claim the biggest prize in the galaxy.
I’ve been trying to branch out on what I read, to read more Science Fiction instead of my usual Urban Fantasy/Fantasy. And for the most part, all the SF I’ve read so far this year has been great. And Stars Uncharted was no exception. Misfits in space? Sold! Stars Uncharted is written by two sisters and follows two incredible female leads: Nika, a renown body modder and Josune, an engineer. The book alternatives between the two ladies as they try to escape The Corporation.
The thing that always make me hesitate picking up a Sci-Fi novel is the world-build and jargon. They’re usually so complex that, at times, a reader can get lost and overwhelmed with all the technobabble. But I didn’t have any issue with Stars Uncharted. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of information to digest but it was written in a way that was easy to understand and process. Nika and Josune lived in a world where anyone with enough credit/money can change their appearance or identity after a few hours in a machine. How cool and scary is that? And The Corporation, comprising of 27 companies rule everything with an iron fist. Their word law. One particular company, The Eaglehawk Corporation is after Nika because she holds the code to an invaluable, one-of-a-kind genemod capable of body swapping. While Josune may have a lead/knowledge of a way to find precious minerals that has been lost for over 80 years. Two different women on the run, only to have their path cross aboard, The Road, a cargo ship.
As I’ve mentioned time and time again I’m not a fan of multiple point-of-views, but Dunstall made it work and I found myself enjoying both Nika and Josune’s narrative. They’re smart, savvy and scrappy as heck. They do whatever it takes to stay alive and found rules more of a guideline than actual law. There were many times when the other characters would use the term “certifiably crazy” in describing Nika and Josune and I couldn’t agree more. Nika and Josune are rounded out with an eclectic crew consisting of the mysterious captain Roystan, chef extraordinaire Jacques, Carlos the engineer and Snow, a young modder obsessed with Nika Rik Terri. The characters were all well developed and unique, and often lighten more of the serious and dire scenes with their banter. I especially enjoyed Snow and Nika’s interaction and Snow’s obliviousness to who his traveling companion was.
Stars Uncharted was a fun action-packed adventure that captured me from page one. This space-opera was just complex enough to be enjoyable without going overboard with meticulous details. But what makes this book truly wonderful were the characters, who are all very diverse but worked great together as a team. The ending tied up nicely but I hope Dunstall plans to write more in this world, as there’s still so much to explore! And in the meantime, I plan to check out their back-list! I highly recommend Stars Uncharted, for Sci-Fi fan and those who want to read Sci-Fi but haven’t taken the plunge yet; this book would be a great place to start!
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