By James Maxwell
Publisher: 47North
Print Length: 332 pages
Release Year: 2021
Genre: Science-Fiction, Fantasy
Avg. Goodreads Rating: 4.34
Special thanks to 47North for providing me with an ARC.
Beyond the firewall lies a greater threat than Taimin and Selena could have foreseen.
Taimin and Selena have destroyed the firewall that once trapped them in their dangerous wasteland. But with their hard-fought freedom now comes a greater threat.
Outside the wasteland, under the same two scorching suns, live the bonded. This powerful ancient enemy will unleash a destructive war on the wasteland’s inhabitants, and Taimin knows it’s a fight they cannot win.
When Zorn comes under attack, Selena uses all her power as a mystic to protect the white city. Meanwhile Taimin’s path takes him to Agravida, the capital of the advanced bonded civilization—where he must work fast to find a weakness in a seemingly unbeatable enemy.
To save everyone in the wasteland from certain death, Taimin and Selena seek to contact their ancestors in the stars. But will they reach them in time, and will their help be enough to turn the tide? The existence of the world is in their hands… (Goodreads)
A Search for Starlight is one of those books that I just could not wait to get my hands on. I found the first two books in this series to be incredibly enjoyable, but I could not imagine how the series would end. Maxwell does not disappoint, providing us with a satisfying ending to an overall fantastic series.
Like a number of books I’ve read recently, this book manages to do a lot in a relatively short amount of pages. Maxwell managers to do everything we readers expected as well as everything we didn’t. As a reader, this book was often unputdownable because new concerns and potential solutions came with every section. The book is undeniably realistic in its ongoing insistence to make the characters fail. Maxwell brings forth an SFF entry almost entirely devoid of dues ex machina. Which is a true testament to storytelling prowess.
Overall, well-paced, this book seamlessly integrates info-heavy scenes, action, and downtime, giving the reader plenty of time to process what is going on and understand the various complexities of the story. Loose ends are tied neatly, and the book does a good job communicating its sub-plots in relation to the over-arching one. This led to this being a very satisfying ending to a great series.
I recommend this book to all SFF fans, primarily those newer to the genre. While it has many of the same elements as other SFF series, The Firewall Trilogy is much easier to follow, making this a great entry-level series for young adults and adults alike. I fully intend to explore more of Maxwell’s works and anything he may release in the future.
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Geek Declassified 