John Marco

I'm giving this book 5 stars, and yet I'm also giving up on this book a third of the way through. I loved the writing, and the characters and the culture, but the story is all about the messes people make for themselves, and it just...makes me flinch so hard I can't keep up with it. It is not graphic or gory, just the intensely human faults that lead me to stop watching some movies because I can envision all too well what it would feel like to be in their shoes. My failure to finish this show more book is entirely my own failure and no fault of either the book or the author. Well worth the read if you're made of sterner stuff than I.

***

Okay, so I went back, skipped a few chapters, and kept going. And finished it. A good read, ripe with the follies of man and the pain it brings. Definitely worth the read, but could have been better served by being a bit shorter.. show less

When I first began reading John Marco's Starfinder, I was instantly transported back into my own past. Waves of heat bouncing off the tarmac, I stood looking on in awe as the F-16 jets roared down the runway and into the sky. How many times did I gaze longingly at the poster in my bedroom of the Thunderbirds, wishing I could sit inside the cockpit of one of those jets and race through the sky? It was with those memories that Moth and I became acquainted.

Thirteen year old Moth is an orphan, show more poor and low in status. He knows his chances of becoming a Skyknight and being able to fly a Dragonfly are slim, and yet he dreams and holds on to the possibility that his dream can come true. When his friend and caretaker, Leroux, dies on the night of Moth's birthday, Moth's world is turned upside down. His friend left him with a mysterious gift and a mission that will forever change Moth's life.

Moth's friend Fiona is only a year older. She has shared similar pains--having lost her parents when she was young, just as Moth had. Unlike Moth, however, she comes from a powerful and wealthy family. Her grandfather, Governor Rendor, is the inventor of the Dragonflies and the airbuses as well as the leader of Calio, a city on the edge of their world. Fiona's grandfather is so caught up in his business affairs that he has no time for Fiona. Feeling abandoned and alone, she wants nothing more than to leave behind her grandfather and Calio.

Leroux and Rendor had been Eldrin Knights, heroes in their younger years. Upon Leroux's death, Rendor seeks out the gift Leroux left for Moth, understanding its full power, something a young Moth could never fully comprehend. His search turns into a chase, and Moth and Fiona, along with Leroux's beautiful kestrel, Lady Esme, decide to brave the unknown in an effort to save themselves and grant Leroux's dying wish.

The Reach, covered in mist, and what lies beyond are places of legends. It has long been forbidden to enter the Reach. The threat of being lost forever is very real. Leroux had been famous for his stories of the Reach and the lands on the other side, all of which were often disregarded as tall tales; the stories being full of mythical creatures such as dragons, mermaids, centaurs and the fearsome but beautiful Skylords. Moth and Fiona are about to find out for themselves whether the stories are true. What they find is both magical and dangerous. And not everything--or everyone--is what it may seem.

Moth may be a dreamer but he also has common sense. His trusting nature is not devoid of suspicion where suspicion is due. Fiona is intelligent and very strong willed. For Fiona, trust comes slowly and she does not easily rely on others. Her loyalty to her friend, Moth, is fierce though. The two balance each other out and make the perfect protagonists for this fantastical adventure story. Both characters grow over the course of the novel, not quite as innocent by the end as when their story began.

One of the aspects I enjoyed most about this novel was the ambiguity of some of the characters. It added an extra dimension to the novel that took it in unexpected directions. While on the surface this novel is light reading, there is an implied depth that grazes on more serious and darker themes. While an older audience may expect more, I personally felt this approach worked well for type of book written.

I had never read a fantasy novel that had flying machines before, and so this was a new experience for me. Steampunk, I think my husband called it, or something along those lines. Calio certainly had a slightly modern feel to it, and it was, therefore, quite different from the more traditional fantasy world belonging to the Skylords. Seeing the two side by side made an interesting contrast.

While Young Adult (YA) fiction is not my first or second choice in reading material, it certainly has a way of finding itself on my reading list often enough. And although I may not always care for much in the way of YA fiction, I do enjoy those with fantasy themes more often than not (Harry Potter and the Farworld series come instantly to mind). In the case of Starfinder, it is a young adult novel and it reads for a younger audience; however, that never bothered me. I had a good time while reading the book. I love a good fantasy tale, and, while I enjoy long epics, it was nice to settle in with a fantasy novel that was a bit shorter, especially right now with everything else I have going on in my life. The story moves quickly and there was never a dull moment. As I read, I could easily picture a librarian sitting in the school library, reading Starfinder to a group of students, much like my own school librarian used to do for my class. I do think that adults might enjoy it too.

Starfinder is the first in what promises to be a fun-filled and exciting fantasy trilogy. For those concerned about starting a trilogy with only the first book yet published, do not fret. Starfinder stands well on its own.

As an aside, I never did get to fly an F-16. Back then, my gender, poor eye sight, and height would have kept me from being a fighter pilot anyhow. Even so, as I got older, my dreams shifted and other ones became more prominent. My calling lie elsewhere. show less

The first question that I asked myself when I finished this book was "Why did I wait so long to read this?"

Well, with the recent release of The Forever Knight, the fourth installment in the series, I decided that I would read the other three even though the new one is can be read as a stand-alone. I have read several other John Marco books and own all of this series, but for some reason I just never started this one. I don't know why I waited so long. This is a great novel and a wonderful show more intro into the world of Lukien, The Bronze Knight.

As usual, John's strengths lie in a well-developed and detail-oriented storyline with very strong character development and outstanding military battle scenes. The Eyes of God is no exception and the care that John takes in breathing life into these particular characters is exceptional. The thing that I like most about the majority of his works is that no good character is without flaws and most evil characters are not truly evil, but more misguided or validated in their view of their own motives. I like that there is really not a true black and white except in a few rare cases here and there and that the reader actually can find themselves both feeling sympathy for the antagonists and also occasionally not liking the protagonist too much.

A lot of people have said that they really didn't like Lukien as a man all that much, and I can see that. I however grew to like him quite a bit over the course of this novel (which is a large one, however I felt that it moved along at a fairly swift pace.) I feel for the guy and the mistakes that he has made during his journey that have led to a lot of unfortunate things happening to him and those around him. I look forward to seeing what happens in his subsequent adventures. show less

To be quite blunt, I LOVE this book.

When I started it I wasn't sure what to expect. Whatever I was expecting, it certainly paled in comparison with what I got. John Marco brings us a gritty fantasy with believable characters and a plot with many unseen twists and turns. The characters in the book are presented in such a way that there is no cut and dried good vs. evil as in so many fantasy novels. Marco has done an excellent job in portraying the motivations of his characters in such a way show more that no-one is shown as being purely good and at the same time, even the villains are given redeeming qualities. What this does is flesh out the story in such a way that even though it is still a fantasy novel, the characters and story seem more real.

The plot itself if rife with political intrigue and even when the reader is not immersed in the heat of battle, the story carries you along at a feverish pace that is extremely hard to put down.

If you are a fan of the fantasy genre (and even for most who are not) I HIGHLY recommend The Jackal of Nar. show less