Been busy with a bunch of things lately, but not so busy that I couldn’t take a few trips to the Darkstar Dimension in my free time!
This review is based on a review copy, and here is my honest review of it!
Lost with her ship and crew in an unfamiliar land, Min’s first command could be her last.
Nothing here behaves the way it should:
The magic that powers her skyship has been drained, rendering it immobile.
The sky is an endless twilight, lit by the luminous fish that swim in it.
Off starboard, there’s also the country-sized dragon that is looking particularly hungry.
It will take all of Min’s training and experience to get her people safely back home, but as the truth about the Darkstar Dimension begins to be revealed, Min will have to prove to her crew – and to herself – that she is still the best person for the job.
“I’m thinking. And that’s considerably more difficult to do with you chattering away all the time.”
“Sorry, bit of a nervous reaction. I get that a lot, actually.”
“Do people eventually just tell you to shut up?”
“It has been known to happen, yes.”
“Does it work?”
This is the story of Min, who is currently in command of the skyship Melodious Narwhal. One day, she and her crew find themselves very mysteriously in another world. A world where the magic that powers their skyship has been drained, and the Narwhal crashes into the ocean of glowing fish.
This world is known as the Darkstar Dimension, named thus by the one person they meet, an old man named Brightest who lives in a mud hut on the back of his giant turtle-like friend Stickle. He named this world for the giant purple star in the sky, which leaves the world eternally twilit, surrounded by rifts to other worlds.
Oh, and it’s also home to the dragon. The gigantic, country-sized dragon that has wrapped itself around the purple sun and will fly down and eat anything that catches its attention. So, it’s up to Min to figure out a way home. With no magic, and a dragon to avoid.
I quite liked this tale. It was absolutely unique, and was unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Min and her crew were full of interesting people, like their artificer Jedda, who loves Eshak, which is a game somewhat like chess (I think) that creates magical pieces the more you play it.
Brightest was another character who I enjoyed a lot. This man who has been, not stranded, but a willing resident of the Darkstar Dimension since he and his people were stranded there years and years ago. He is… eccentric. A collector of things that he has collected from the many rifts he has visited.
It was quite well written, and well edited. It flowed well, and was never boring. There was always considerable shenanigans happening. The ending wrapped this story up while leaving plenty of room for further adventures, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
All told, I didn’t fall in love with this book as much as I fell in love with the Yarnsworld books, but I still enjoyed it quite a lot. I can’t wait to see what adventures Min and the crew of the Narwhal get up to next time! 4.5/5 stars!~
superstardrifter 