Where Peace Is Lost
by Valerie Valdes
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Description
A brand-new space fantasy novel from master world-builder Valerie Valdes! A refugee with a secret, a dangerous foe, and a road trip that could either save a planet or start a war. Where peace is lost, may we find it. Five years ago, Kelana Gardavros lost everything in the war against the Pale empire. Now Kel Garda is just another refugee living on the edge of an isolated star system. No one knows she was once a member of an Order whose military arm was disbanded and scattered across the show more galaxy. And no one knows that if her enemies found her, they might destroy the entire world to get rid of her. Where peace is broken, may we mend it. Kel's past intrudes in the form of a long-dormant Pale war machine, suddenly reactivated. If the massive automaton isn't stopped, at best it will carve a swath of devastation that displaces thousands of people. At worst, it will kill every sentient creature on the planet. Where we go, may peace follow. When two strangers offer to deactivate the machine for a price, Kel and a young friend agree to serve as their guides. The journey through swamps infested with predators and bandits is bad enough, but can they survive more nefarious dangers along the way? And will Kel's fear of revealing her secrets doom the very people she's trying to protect? Where we fall, may peace rise. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Kel's calm life in hiding on a planet where nature's right to thrive is honored is changed suddenly when remnants of the recent wars intrude. Kel is one of many very well-drawn, three-dimensional, and engaging characters--Valerie Valdes does a wonderful job of depicting characters seeking to understand what is the good and right thing to do in a morally ambiguous world--and the struggle to find peace and calm for oneself, one's communities, and one's worlds. I can't wait to re-read it!
A universe rich in planets, cultures, and languages, the world created in Where Peace Is Lost, is a troubled one. With the Pale trying to take over the known worlds and people fighting back, news that an old Pale war machine has been reactivated and a motley, and unlikely do, land on a hidden planet where the flora and fauna have rights of their own, startle a young mechanic and an old soldier with secrets, out of their complacency.
I immediately connected with our main character, and the nonbinary secondary character was a lovely touch, as was the description of the animals and the world that seems like one in which I'd like to live. The excellent storytelling pulled me into a far away world, where I wanted to stay, and I hope to look show more and see if the author has written other stories in this 'universe' and also look forward to these characters' adventures being furthered, should the author choose to do so.
With all of the world building, characterization and description that this science fiction fan loves, I greatly enjoyed this story. show less
I immediately connected with our main character, and the nonbinary secondary character was a lovely touch, as was the description of the animals and the world that seems like one in which I'd like to live. The excellent storytelling pulled me into a far away world, where I wanted to stay, and I hope to look show more and see if the author has written other stories in this 'universe' and also look forward to these characters' adventures being furthered, should the author choose to do so.
With all of the world building, characterization and description that this science fiction fan loves, I greatly enjoyed this story. show less
Rating: 4.5
The rating is for the story itself, which I found pretty engaging. That said, I listened to the audiobook and I found the narrator's voices cringe. The main character and the third-person narration were good, but the other main characters, Savvy, Dar, and Lunna, and were awful.
*.5
Pretty bad. A sloppy mash-up of futuristic sci-fi and superhero fantasy, resorting to high-tech solutions or magic to get the hero out of any predicament. The premise is shallow, the plot barely coherent, the characters unrealistic caricatures, the love story trite, and the writing passable at best. It remains entirely unclear to me why her writing is so popular.
Audiobook: the narrator mispronounces many common words, it's baffling and discordant.
Pretty bad. A sloppy mash-up of futuristic sci-fi and superhero fantasy, resorting to high-tech solutions or magic to get the hero out of any predicament. The premise is shallow, the plot barely coherent, the characters unrealistic caricatures, the love story trite, and the writing passable at best. It remains entirely unclear to me why her writing is so popular.
Audiobook: the narrator mispronounces many common words, it's baffling and discordant.
Ratings
Members
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Lists
ALA Reading List: Science Fiction 2021-2026
30 works; 3 members
Author Information
6+ Works 1,014 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Where Peace Is Lost
- Original publication date
- 2023-08-29
- People/Characters
- Kelana Gardavros "Kel Garda"; Lunna; Savaelia Vyse "Savvy" (Captain); Darennir Tanseith "Dare"
- Important places
- Loth [planet]
- Dedication
- To those who light a candle instead of cursing the darkness, and to those still looking for a match
- Publisher's editor
- Woodward, Tessa
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 121
- Popularity
- 268,496
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (4.02)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 4
