Book Review: Star Nomad (Fallen Empire #1) by Lindsay Buroker
(Four Stars)
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” “I know where I left the ship six years ago.” “That’s a no, right?”
Pseudo-Star Wars post Episode Six: defeated empire, dead emperor, Jedi/Sith, battered old freighter, wise-cracking captain, guys competing for the self-sufficient woman’s attention, but better. Humor.
“You humor is–” “Inappropriate, I know.” His eyebrow twitched. “It’s how I distract myself when I’m scared for my life.”
Well-drawn cast of conflicting and conflicted characters. Everybody’s got secrets and crossed purposes. Oh, and there are pirates and flesh-eating … but that would be telling.
“My armor is my ship.” “With your mouth, that won’t be enough.”
It’s space opera, so one doesn’t look for a lot of science, but Buroker avoids many physics errors which otherwise knock readers out of the spell of the story. One bad one, however, is: “The asteroid was about ten kilometers on its longest axis and less than half that wide. Already she could feel the gravitational pull of the massive rock.” No, she couldn’t. That’s a tiny rock when it comes to generating a discernable gravity well.
“We’re humans. Fewer of the weaknesses, but all of the failings.” “I’m beginning to see that.” “That I have failings?” “That you’re human.”
As a Matter of Fancy 