Last year, I unexpectedly fell in love with the YA space opera THESE BROKEN STARS, so I was excited to see where Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner took the story next in THIS SHATTERED WORLD.
The story introduces two new main characters, Jubilee “Lee” Chase—a stone-cold military captain at age 18—and Flynn Cormac—the peace-desiring leader of the local revolution. After Flynn kidnaps Lee from her base to gain information, the two discover not only an undeniable chemistry but the memory residue of a secret base on Flynn’s world of Avon.
Flynn believes it has something to do with why Avon has failed to fully terraform; Lee worries it could be a trigger for what the military calls “the Fury,” the sudden snapping of a soldier’s brain with disastrous consequences. The truth ends up being even bigger than they suspect, with alien entities, corrupt galactic corporations, and the reappearance of Lilac and Tarver, the MCs of THESE BROKEN STARS.
While this book veered further into the predictable YA realm than the first one did, the tight pacing kept the action coming throughout. The pure sci-fi elements are, perhaps, also a little lighter in this one, though I think the main reason for that is the authors’ decision to go deeper in areas we’re already familiar with from book one rather than introducing entirely new aspects.
Part of what I liked in book one was the conflicted perspective and understanding of humans among the “whispers,” the series’ alien essences. The whispers aren’t fully good or evil, and THIS SHATTERED WORLD showed us that delicate interaction and surprising connection with humanity once again. I’m excited to see how Kaufman and Spooner weave the pieces together for the trilogy’s final installment.
In THESE BROKEN STARS, Kaufman and Spooner used a brilliant between-chapter scene ploy to foreshadow the outcomes for their main characters through the lens of a military interrogation. They apply a similar approach in THIS SHATTERED WORLD with Lee’s dream flashbacks/flashforwards. As with the first book, these between-chapter snippets have a world of meaning—throughout the story, we’re told Lee cannot and does not dream—and it was fun to see that revelation come full-circle by the novel’s end.
But the most delightful surprise in this book was the creativity of the worldbuilding premise. I say premise because I actually wish the authors had carried it a little further and delved a little deeper, but the mash-up they created for Avon was excellent. Environmentally, it’s a pioneer world, suspended in early terraform stages with seemingly endless swamps and a constant cloud cover that blocks stars and messes with radio signals. Culturally, it’s steeped in Irish myth and legend—from its language to its storytelling traditions. The rebels are known as the Fianna, soldiers are trodairi, and a handful of other references hearken back to the era of the Troubles in Ireland.
I loved the juxtaposition of Irish history with a space opera. It’s like my loves of history and reading collided! Throw in Chinese traditions via Jubilee and the base’s bartender, and it’s got a fun cultural flair that’s a bit reminiscent of Firefly.
Overall, THIS SHATTERED WORLD is a solid second book and I’m looking forward to the next.
Jennie Ivins