Starquest: Space Pirates Of Andromeda by John C. Wright, Tuscany Bay Books, October 8th, 2024
For an author as prolific as John C. Wright, it has seemed like a very quiet few years. The most recent published books I can find from him on Amazon all came out in 2020. His own list of published works bears this out too. I found myself wondering earlier this year whether or not one of the best living Science-Fiction and Fantasy authors had retired, lost his muse or just faded into obscurity. I first had to remind myself that not publishing isn’t the same as not writing and indeed, doesn’t require any publishing at all. I was then reminded of his successful Starquest, Indiegogo campaign from late 2018 with the promise to “Make Space Opera Great Again”. Connecting these two revealed that Wright had in fact been quietly but busily writing a whole series of novels for the last few years and the first of these was made available just a week ago.
The genesis of this series was the deliberately awful Star Wars: The Last Jedi from 2017 which prompted Wright to pen and publish an acerbic autopsy on that atrocious film. This literary destruction was not enough for a creative talent so he also considered what could have been and began putting together an alternative sequel with any element Disney lawyers could potentially latch onto stripped off. In this sense, it is a consciously derivative work but this is more than a simple pastiche. For a start, he hasn’t written a trilogy but a whole series of books and the few salvageable ideas from Disney’s disastrous trilogy as well as some background from the original films are all that remains of the once beloved Star Wars franchise. Ultimately, what started as a literary response has become more Wright’s own than anything else.
This is evident early on as though certainly written in a pulp style with larger than life characters and technology that is still the stuff of fantasy, it is much more hard science-fiction than any Star Wars media has ever been. Indeed, Star Wars was always more fantasy than science fiction and rarely stopped to consider bothersome stuff like how physics actually works in outer space. John C. Wright endeavours to stick closer to the science while retaining the fun of fiction. That it is set in the actual Andromeda Galaxy is further indication of this and the very least I can say it is much better than the last property set in the Andromeda Galaxy. This is helpfully still a galaxy far, far away which leaves the narrative the necessary freedom.
The plot largely surrounds Athos Lone of Star Patrol who has been tasked with infiltrating the space pirate vessel called the Devil’s Delight. Initially successful in his mission, things naturally do not go to plan and Lone is soon in for a series of intense skirmishes and narrow escapes both onboard and off. The reader is given a few reprieves from the action with a number of chapters devoted to world-building as well as exploring the identity of a ghostly girl wielding a bow that aides Lone throughout the adventure. I think this is quite enough information to go with as this is much more a review than an analysis. The short of it is that it is as great as it’s cover suggests.
The book quite intentionally ends on a cliff-hanger when I had become fully invested in what was to come. I’m not sorry because I enjoyed the read and am looking forward to more. I’ve not read anywhere near everything Wright has written but I have read a number of his works and I’m actually surprised this is the first one I’ve reviewed though I’ve mentioned, referenced or linked to a number of his posts over the years. Wright has demonstrated some versatility in his writing though his signature style is still present here. I would say (and this is not a criticism), that he has shown a lot more restraint with his prose here. Perhaps I say this only because I happen to have been reading his Everness duology just before I picked this up and the difference is quite noticeable. Space Pirates of Andromeda is written as classic pulp and Wright has certainly achieved that.
I am very much looking forward to Secret Agents of the Galaxy and what’s sure to be another wonderful front cover.