Weak

The writing was mostly clean; no proofreading errors. And that’s the best thing about this novel.

The world building was weak to non-existent. Marty-Stu MC somehow knows how to use a plasma rifle, a shower, and fly a ‘star fighter ’ even though he grew up in a barely functional space station with little to no education. The descriptions of his home area do not lend credence to his thought processes and likes/dislikes.

At one point, after his ‘arrest’, his escort says, “This is it. This is the conference room.” And I couldn’t figure out why. It *was* the conference room, but the MC wouldn’t have a frame of reference for the concept of ‘conference room’ and it was irrelevant to the action. “This door”, “turn here”, “inside” are all sufficient to convey what he needs to know.

The narrative did not establish a flow or a direction. Things just happened.

Hard pass. ( )

Weak

The writing was mostly clean; no proofreading errors. And that’s the best thing about this novel.

The world building was weak to non-existent. Marty-Stu MC somehow knows how to use a plasma rifle, a shower, and fly a ‘star fighter ’ even though he grew up in a barely functional space station with little to no education. The descriptions of his home area do not lend credence to his thought processes and likes/dislikes.

At one point, after his ‘arrest’, his escort says, “This is it. This is the conference room.” And I couldn’t figure out why. It *was* the conference room, but the MC wouldn’t have a frame of reference for the concept of ‘conference room’ and it was irrelevant to the action. “This door”, “turn here”, “inside” are all sufficient to convey what he needs to know.

The narrative did not establish a flow or a direction. Things just happened.

Hard pass. ( )

Stovall's Star Marque Rising is to Moby Dick what House, MD is to Sherlock Holmes. It takes the bare bones framework and wraps a new skin around it. At its core, Moby Dick is a story about obsession, and the destruction it can wreak, and so is Star Marque Rising. It trades the vastness of the ocean for the vastness of space, and a mobile white whale for an elusive stationary governorship. Endellion, though, is every bit as ruthless and blindly obsessed as Ahab.

Told from Clevon Demarco's POV, we get to follow Endellion's continuing descent into madness. Clevon is recruited by Endellion after he's captured on Capital Station. Though raised in the horrid environment of Capital Station, Clevon happens to be a genetically modified human in a galaxy ruled by the hand-crafted Homo superior, created by humankind to improve the species. They succeeded all too well. Superhumans, or H. superior, ousted Homo sapiens from power, knocking them down to the bottom of the ladder. Superhumans often craft genetically modified humans for very specific purposes. Besides genetically modified humans, cybernetic enhancements aren't uncommon. For the dregs of the stations, these are shoddy and often lead to early death. For others, these enhancements are barely noticeable physically.

Space travel in this universe takes a long time, and the Star Marque makes several six month trips. I loved how these chapters are handled. The pure stir craziness of being trapped in close confines for months at a time came across well. Through small scenes set at different intervals during the trip, you get to see Demarco begin his change from a station thug to a respectable starship officer.

As a starfighter, Demarco's immediate cohort are the other starfighter pilots- Quinn, Noah, Lee, Yuan, Mara, and Advik. He also spends a lot of time with Endellion, Lysander, the commander of ground forces, and Sawyer, who serves as the chief engineer and chief cybernetics officer as well. I loved how Noah, and Demarco grew over the course of the story. These are the two who changed the most. On the flip side, Endellion came across as flat and one-dimensional. She's a grade-A psychopath with little redeeming characteristics that I could find. Not too much of a biggie, since Demarco is the key character, and he's more complex. His ethics and morals evolve as he's given a fortuitous change in circumstances, and the room to grow beyond what his environment made him. The story ends with the possibility of a sequel, and I really hope we get one. I want to know where this story is going! Recommended for those who enjoy space opera/ sci-fi along the lines of Star Wars and Ender's Game.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Capital Station Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for the San Francisco Book Review ( )