The Starless Crown by James Rollins

An alliance embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the secrets of the distant past and save their world in this captivating, deeply visionary adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling thriller-master James Rollins. A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death. Fleeing into the unknown she is drawn into a team of outcasts: A broken soldier, who once again takes up the weapons he’s forbidden to wield and carves a trail back home. A drunken prince, who steps out from his beloved brother's shadow and claims a purpose of his own. An imprisoned thief, who escapes the crushing dark and discovers a gleaming artifact - one that will ignite a power struggle across the globe. On the run, hunted by enemies old and new, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in strange, beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation. But with each passing moment, doom draws closer. WHO WILL CLAIM THE STARLESS CROWN?

Probably more of a 3.5 but I'm rounding up.

CW: childbirth, bullying, brain manipulation

James Rollins is an author I've been reading for more than a decade now and every year, I find a lot of joy in picking up the next Sigma Force novel. So when I saw that he was getting back to fantasy after many many years, I knew I had to read it. And I was ecstatic when I got the arc of this one. And it definitely was an interesting read.

This was a tough going for the first few chapters. I hadn't even bothered to read the premise of the book because I trust the author so much, so I went into it without knowing a word and I guess I felt a little lost in the beginning. But once the first three POVs were introduced and we got to know them a little bit, the story took up speed and then it was a breeze through. I think I also had a bit of difficulty following the various names of kingdoms, gods, creatures, peoples etc initially but I slowly got accustomed to remembering only the ones necessary for the ongoing immediate plot. The pacing, the multiple POVs converging together, the elaborate action set pieces involving lots of firepower, various fantastical creatures, and a world whose prophecied apocalypse is a bit reminiscent of our climate change issues - any veteran reader of Rollins will recognize all these elements which are always present in his books and I think it was this familiarity that pushed me to continue until I fell in love with the characters and their goals. My main gripe remains the various descriptions of generous bosoms and breasts which just felt so unnecessary in the circumstances the characters were going through.

I'm used to getting right into the thick of the plot in Rollins's novels because I already know all the major characters too well for more than ten years now. So I think it took me time to get myself attached to these new ones. But the wait was totally worth it. Nyx's story is one of family and hope and love, who is inadvertently pushed on a path of danger when she sees a prophecy of an impending apocalypse. What I admired about her though is her bravery and dedication to her goal despite any adversity, and her endearing bond with Bashaalia and Aamon. She is aptly supported by her friend Jace who may be a well of bookish knowledge but will do anything to protect her.

Kanthe is second son of the King, forever doomed to be the forgotten member of the family, with no expectations set on him. And he seems content playing that role until he realizes he is in a fight for survival - both of himself and the world. I was slightly miffed that he kept having feelings for Nyx despite their being a possibility that she was his half sister, but hopefully that confusion resolves soon. I'm just not sure I like this love triangle though, but thankfully Nyx doesn't have time for these boys when she has her brother to take care of and a world to save.

Rhaif and Pratik were characters I didn't really feel much connected to for a long time until I realized how much they were doing to protect Shiya and ensure that she arrives at her destination. Shiya is definitely the most special one here and I don't wanna say more about her lest I spoil the fun. Frell is an alchemyst like Pratik and despite being old, he is a good voice of reason for Kanthe as well as the whole group, determined to bring the truth to light even if it gets him killed. And finally Graylin, the disgraced knight exiled from civilization who has to come back to his homeland to confront someone from his past and maybe makeup for all the grief he has caused and experienced.

There are also many other side characters, some of whose POVs we do get, and many of them antagonists who only care about increasing their power and maybe win wars against neighboring kingdoms but have no care for the fact that their world might be ending soon. I'm hoping they'll all get their comeuppance for being so narcissistic and power hungry, and in a few cases downright even, but I'm sure I'll have to wait for the last book of this series for that to happen.

In the end, this was an interesting new world with lots of perspectives and characters, their various ambitions and destinies driving the journeys they undertake which we get to follow along, and many many gruesome as well as endearing creatures who inspire awe while reading. This is quite an adventurous novel, reminiscent of the author's most famous series and I can only hope the next one will be even better. Thankfully it doesn't end on a cliffhanger and is pretty satisfying, so I think this wait might not be very painful.

The Starless Crown has some amazing world building in it. James Rollins really does go out of his way to make the world feel alive.

Nyx who was abandoned as a baby in the swamps quickly finds out the world she knew is drastically different. With the help of a forshaken prince, Kanthe and her childhood friend Jace she must dodge the King's forces as they seek to understand the visions she been having and what Moon Fall really is.

The story starts out slow estblashing the world and by the middle the pace really begins to pick up, as all of the POV characters converge upon eachother.

While I enjoyed many of the characters, Nyx mostly many others felt a little weak in terms of writing. However as mentioned earlier the world building is excellent and makes up for this flaw.

The other thing I had some issues with was the random times the author seemed a little fixated on the nakedness of a woman's body. It didn't ruin the book or anything just felt really unnecessary for the over all book.

I plan on picking up book 2 and look forward to reading it. I give this a 7/10 over all.

Solid Storytelling. Nearly Deceptive Description. Let me be explicitly clear: THIS IS A FANTASY BOOK. It is NOT a Sigma Force style science-bending military technothriller. Given Rollins' rise to fame on the back of his Sigma Force books, as well as the fact that he has another pseudonym for his pre-Sigma Force fantasy novels, the fact that the description of this book does not make clear that THIS IS A FANTASY BOOK is dang near deceptive marketing. If you enjoy fantasy tales, this one is going to be perfectly in line with what you enjoy and more power to you. But despite having a far wider range in my own reading than most readers, fantasy books are one of few genres that just make for dang good naps every time I try to read them - and this one was no different, despite LOVING Rollins' Sigma Force work and at times reading it in a single sitting. This noted, Rollins' abilities to craft a tale are just as strong here, and for what it is the story is compelling. Truly my only complaint is that it should have been made explicitly clear that THIS IS A FANTASY BOOK, and I would never have touched it at all. Recommended.