To start with, the concept of this book is really cool. I'm going to try to avoid spoilers here, so in generalizations: I love the idea of living stars. I am fascinated by how a society would work if you can take someone's name—and take over their life—when you defeat (read: kill) them. And I adore snarky AI characters. There's so much in Stargun Messenger that works really well for me.

However, there's also some stuff that doesn't work for me personally. For starters, Astra Idari is a very unreliable narrator, which is a trope that doesn't usually work for me. Between her memory getting deleted to make space for more back-ups, CR-UX not always telling her everything (and Idari forgetting some of what CR-UX does tell her), and bouts of forgetfulness brought on by drinking binges, it's really hard to be sure when someone is lying vs. when Idari just forgot something. And that's another thing that I didn't really go for much: Idari drinks a lot, often with the goal of getting blackout drunk. I'm not against drinking and getting drunk, either in real life or fiction. But Idari takes it to the extreme and I got uncomfortable with it before reaching the halfway point of the book.

Luckily, before I got too uncomfortable with the drinking, the fun-but-sometimes-strange plot took a turn for the even more confusing. I enjoyed the weirdness, and the pacing worked well to give me breathing spaces between action scenes to try to figure out just what was going on, but I have to admit that the story lost me somewhere out in the desert and it took me a while to get my bearings. Dialogue tags were also few and sometimes far between, so I wasn't always clear who was speaking. I did wonder after a while if that was intentional, since it was mostly during the non-verbal sections between Idari and CR-UX or Emera when I was confused about who was speaking. If that was done on purpose, it worked quite well, though it was still frustrating.

I think my favorite aspect of this book was all the discussion about humanity and identity. There were a lot of quotes that I highlighted, especially once Idari started commenting on the Pujar religion. I don't want to go into details because of spoilers, but I greatly enjoyed the way this book blends science fiction with philosophy. There were some not-quite-twist reveals that I enjoyed a lot as well, whether or not I saw them coming. Most of my favorite parts of the book started around the halfway mark, though, and so they ALL involve spoilers. I'm glad I didn't get annoyed enough with Idari's excessive focus on drink to stop reading the book, because I really liked where this story went.

Overall, I think this is a good read and I do recommend that you check it out if it sounds interesting to you, especially if you enjoy unreliable narrators. Just be prepared to spend a chunk of the book confused about what's going on and you should be fine.

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I read this book as a judge for the 3rd Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), and while I was provided a review copy for judging purposes I read the book using the version available on Kindle Unlimited. My opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of my SPSFC3 team or the competition as a whole. ( )

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Stargun Messenger

Thank you to Escapist Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book! I voluntarily leave this review!

Idari is an android Stargun Messenger with an AI named CR-UX inhabiting her spaceship. Together they travel the systems chasing down stolen space fuel called filamentium. Until one such heist puts them face to face with a living star named Emera. It’s then they learn the terrible truth about filamentium. It’s made from the blood of stars, and Emera may be the last one. Idari and CR-UX have a choice, turn Emera in and receive the largest reward they’ve ever seen, or help her reach the one place where Emera can save her dying race.

The dynamics between Idari and CR-UX are sure to entertain any reader. CR-UX is like an extension of Idari’s conscience and is constantly urging her to make what it deems are the correct decisions. And Idari is quick to shoot CR-UX down and sarcastically reply to the AI’s logic. And as the story progresses, so too does their relationship to one another. While they create a wonderful atmosphere of sarcastic humor, they’ll also latch onto the reader’s heart as well.

And then there is Idari’s battle with her self-image and humanity. As an android, she’s able to back up copies of herself, but would a copy truly be Idari? Memory space is finite and CR-UX is constantly picking which memories to keep for her. But what truly makes a person human? Is it the memories they carry? Their actions? The body they wear? Emera’s journey forces Idari to confront her inner feelings and identity. The path to Idari’s self-discovery is messy and filled with poor choices, but each choice helps solidify who Idari is as a person.

The backdrop of space travel and visiting distant planets accompanies the characters. And Darby Harn does a fantastic job showing the wide array of settings and races in the universe. My favorites were Gilf and Kibir, brother Kibuts who traveled for a time with Idari and crew. They spoke in their native tongue, but there was no need for a translation. The writing was cleverly built to allow readers to understand them with both dialogue queues and reactions from the characters.

Stargun Messenger is a book for readers who enjoy space heists and exploring the concept of what makes us human. There’s also a dash of romance and complicated relationships, where not everything is entirely as it seems. Space opera sci-fi readers, give this one a try. ( )