Friday Reads: ARC Review of Under Nameless Stars by Christian Schoon!!

For this next's Friday Reads entry I have another ARC that I got from NetGalley. I have said it before, but I won't tire of it, being auto-approved by Strange Chemistry is really fantastic, I keep on getting gems after gems! Thank you so much!

And as another ARC, this one is also part of my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge! I'm really hoping to get my NetGalley ratio up to the desired 80% soon-ish, currently at 60%!

Under Nameless Stars by Christian Schoon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Once again, being auto-approved by Strange Chemistry on NetGalley is a joy! I got this one, the sequel for Zenn Scarlett and am I glad that I did!

I liked the first book but this one I seriously enjoyed! It was so full of action and humour and plenty of food for thought too! A very good science fiction read with all the good elements there!

Under Nameless Stars starts right were book 1 left us, with Zenn and Liam getting themselves into the Helen of Troy spaceship as stowaways, to try and find Zenn's dad and find out why she was kidnapped. From there everything gets bigger and better, so to speak.

Zenn & Liam get separated and Zenn finds an unexpected friend and ally in Jules, a dolphin in a walking suit. Jules is an absolute delight of a character! He's loyal, he's funny and he's extremely supportive of Zenn. Zenn has to do quite some quick thinking and be quite decisive because despite an inital small lull, the action is quite non-stopping! She finds herself with an assorted gang of unexpected allies, aliens and humans/humanoids while trying to figure out what's going on behind the Indra's spaceships dissapearances and how are they related to her attempted kidnapping!

There's plenty of tension, plenty of funny moments (most due to Jules!) and Zenn doesn't stop being an exovet and her kind self. If she sees something that's not right, she will raise her voice and do her best to fix it. That's quite probably what you might call her secret weapon.

There's a wee bit of romance, but very very understated, quite what it should be when you're trying to save the galaxy. Zenn might be a bit socially awkward but she also has her priorities right when it comes to do what has to be done.

The themes are quite universal, and seeing them presented in a futuristic way might made them a bit more palatable for us, but they're still very much relevant for our current society.

Very well deserved 4 stars! A fun page turner!



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Mark This Book Monday: Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon!

As the final entry for this week's Mark This Book Monday I have a review for the first book of a science fiction series published by Strange Chemistry about a girl from Mars who is an exoveterinarian. I got the next book on NetGalley for review, so I had to read this one first!


Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I requested the sequel for Zenn Scarlett via NetGalley without realizing it was a sequel, so once I did I got myself this one to read first, as one should (and thankfully I did, cause book 2 starts right where book 1 finished!).

Zenn Scarlett is the name of our main character, a young girl that wants to become an exoveterinarian and it's training for it with her uncle. In Mars. In a Ciscan cloister.

The moment I saw Mars and Ciscan cloister I was quite impressed! We're mixing one of the oldest religious orders with care for alien animals in Mars as a human colony! Now that was a mix I wasn't expecting at all!

Zenn is helping her uncle and at the same time studying to pass her level exams and continue her education as an exovet, which has always been her dream and life goal. Despite some traumatic events in her past, she's decided to work taking care of the animals.

The plot seems to be quite simple at first, we follow Zenn around the cloister, caring for the animals and having a few strange happenings here and there. We learn that living has been getting harder and harder for the colonists in Mars as of late and that the cloister isn't making people happy with the alien animals and the area that could be used for growing crops. It progresses with the mystery of who might be trying to conspire against the cloister as well we keep on getting some clues here and there about something much bigger going on out there.

The pacing might have been a bit slow on occasion, but I didn't mind as much cause I loved all the animal care and exoveterinary bits that were there. Despite the book being quite entertaning in itself, it sort of felt more like an introduction and a set up than a full book in itself, if that makes enough sense.

Zenn was an interesting character, very focused on caring for the animals and her future career, with some typical teenage reactions here and here, but nothing that seemed out of character for her. She had quite a bit of growing up to do in this book, and I'm hoping quite a bit more in the next!

Given the hints peppered over the book and the way it ended, I have high hopes for a more epic second book (not sure if this one is a duology or a trilogy yet) since this one felt more like an introduction. 3 to 3.5 stars.



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