I featured Under Fortunate Stars on my blog a while ago as part of Lola's Blog Tour for this book. I promised to review it here when I'd read it - so here is my review:
Stranded in the dark.
In the final throes of the generations-long war with the alien
Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven's junk freighter breaks down in a strange
rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue—until they encounter a
science vessel that claims to be from 152 years in the future. Engineer
Uma Ozakka has always been fascinated with the past, especially the
desperate peace mission that ended the war with the Felen and ushered in
a new age of collaboration—a mission Keeven's first mate,
Leesongronski, is supposed to be leading right now. If Ozakka is right,
more than the fates of two ships hangs in the balance....
Review
There is a great deal to absorb, enjoy and think about in this novel with its various twists and turns..
The story skips back and fore between timelines, which is something I got used to, although the number and variety of characters was, at times, a bit confusing, especially as sometimes forenames and sometimes last names are used. However, that's just something I personally found distracting as a reader, and might not bother other readers at all.
Having said that, the book was very well written and the science seems perfectly logical and feasible despite the anomaly of two sets of characters meeting up with a time difference between them of 152 years, and the disparity between events on board the Gallion and what history records happened all those years ago. This all adds to the mystery and intrigue.
Definitely not your usual time travel tale, there is a diverse cast of characters, who are all richly drawn and mostly likeable, despite their various flaws. There are moments of humour, and also poignancy and the ending is quite moving. I could see this being made into a movie and can recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good SF story with some edge of the seat mystery thrown in.
Keeven's junk freighter breaks down in a strange
rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue—until they encounter a
science vessel that claims to be from 152 years in the future. Engineer
Uma Ozakka has always been fascinated with the past, especially the
desperate peace mission that ended the war with the Felen and ushered in
a new age of collaboration—a mission Keeven's first mate,
Leesongronski, is supposed to be leading right now. If Ozakka is right,
more than the fates of two ships hangs in the balance....