These Burning Stars

Reviews / Votes

Like every good revenge story, These Burning Stars is baroque, intense, inventive, vivid, violent and visceral: an impressive debut -- Kate Elliott, author of UNCONQUERABLE SUN A multi-layered saga full of courtly intrigue and indelible characters, Bethany Jacobs' These Burning Stars warps readers across the galaxy on a devilishly fun thrill ride -- BOOKPAGE (starred review) If I were to say that this was the best debut novel I've read in a long time, I would be doing it a disservice. It's more than that - it's one of the best SF books I've read period. It has it all: Jump off the page action, wild twists, superb world building. But the characters! . . . Even after the story's climax, I wanted to keep reading because I was so invested in these people and wanted to know where they were going next -- Michael Mammay, author of PLANETSIDE The resulting multiplayer cat-and-mouse game is intricately plotted and tightly paced with a satisfying ending that sets the stage nicely for the next instalment. Space opera fans will eat this up -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Readers who love smart thrillers and explosive SF won't want to miss this book. For fans of Everina Maxwell [and] Arkady Martine -- BOOKLIST (starred review) An intricate plot for revenge drives this far-future SF political thriller . . . An exciting start from a fresh talent, offering emotional and political complexity plus plenty of interplanetary action -- KIRKUS (starred review) With a cast of deliciously dangerous characters and a gloriously executed plot that twists like a knife, this propulsive debut heralds the start of a sweeping space opera saga in the vein of Ann Leckie and Alastair Reynolds. Bethany Jacobs is an ingenious worldbuilder and a stunning new voice to look out for in sci-fi -- Ren Hutchings, author of UNDER FORTUNATE STARS A richly imagined space opera packed with intricate worldbuilding, compelling prose, and twisty politics, artfully woven together and delivered through a cast of fallible, endearing characters. An incredible debut perfect for fans of Ann Leckie, Kate Elliott, and Scalzi's Interdependency series -- J. S. Dewes, author of THE LAST WATCH A sizzling political space opera exploring the borders of passion and monstrosity, hunter and hunted, obsession and devotion. Jacobs is an exciting new author to watch -- Essa Hansen, author of NOPHEK GLOSS Jacobs' characters and prose have a sharpness to them that's both beautiful and devastating. These Burning Stars blew me away -- Marina Lostetter, author of THE HELM OF MIDNIGHT Immersive and epic; a sprawling space opera perfect for fans of A Memory Called Empire and Too Like the Lightning -- Kameron Hurley, Hugo Award-winning author of THE STARS ARE LEGION These Burning Stars blew me away! Jacobs' characters and prose have a sharpness to them that's both beautiful and devastating. It's a debut you won't want to miss. -- Marina J. Lostetter, author of NOUMENON Readers who love smart thrillers and explosive SF won't want to miss this book. For fans of Everina Maxwell, Arkady Martine and Becky Chambers -- BOOKLIST (starred review) Delightfully vicious, I loved it -- Megan E. O'Keefe, author of VELOCITY WEAPON The protagonists are carefully crafted, with their layers slowly built to impressive complexity. This buildup pays off as the chase escalates across planets and comes to a stunning conclusion . . . Full of political intrigue and impressive worldbuilding, Jacobs's superb debut launches this space opera trilogy -- LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review) If you're looking for an edge-of-your-seat science fiction novel rife with multiple strong, morally grey female characters, revenge, queer characters and romance, plus political and religious intrigue, and brewing rebellions, look no further than These Burning Stars. I'll definitely be reading the next book in this series as soon as humanly possible -- BLOGGING WITH DRAGONS This is high adventure but also written with subtle observations of each character. I found it gripping all the way to its powerful ending -- SCIFI MIND A thoroughly entertaining game of interstellar cat-and-mouse . . . A dense and cleverly plotted mix of action and political intrigue -- SFX These Burning Stars is a tense sci-fi thrill ride that had me hooked from beginning to end . . . the plotting is meticulous and intricate and yet its execution seems effortless. This has skyrocketed into my Top Five Reads of 2023, and it will take something truly spectacular to dislodge it -- REALMS OF MY MIND A fast-moving novel of action and intrigue, which Jacobs pulls off with vivid energy, bringing her threads together in an explosive conclusion -- LOCUS