I've read James Rollins' middle grade fantasy, Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow, and quite enjoyed it, so I envisioned enjoying this fantasy just as much. It is definitely entertaining and there is a lot of creative world-building going on here. That said, I really struggled to get past the first third of it. There was so much world and character building happening, that it really bogged me down in parts. I knew that Nyx, Prince Kanthe, Rhaif and Graylin sy Moor would all end up together, and some of their relationships (especially Nxy and Graylin sy Moor) weren't too hard to figure out, but I still struggled to get past all of the foundation chapters that I needed to in order to get to the gist of the story. Young Adult and Adult readers of epic fantasies will no doubt really enjoy this first book in a series, but I was surprised by the amount of violence and some disturbing content. Personally, I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I had hoped, though it did manage to hold my attention as it neared the end, and I did read the sequel I can definitely see that writing thrillers (something I didn't know about the author) lends itself to his style in this novel. While I don't know if I would have pushed past the initial chapters if I hadn't received an eGalley through NetGalley, it was engaging to me by the end.

This was a fun read for a typical fantasy book. The charcters were engrossing. I liked Nyx our blind tiny character with a mysterious past. I think this is a fast and fun fantasy with a lot of action. Definately will look for the next book.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Macmillan- Tor/ Forge for an advanced copy of this start of a big new fantasy series.

Science fiction and fantasy are never really given the credit for skill and work that it entails to make not only a readable book or series, but a series that people love to come back to and discuss with others. All you do is make stuff up and put in weird names, some people might say, but they would never say it to Cormac McCarthy. Writers have to come up with a world, if there is magic, how does it work, if there is science, how far along. What to people do, what do they speak, if there are elves, why, and what is there place in society. World building, something a lot of fiction writers don't have to think about, or deal with. James Rollins has had a successful career writing thrillers, some with a supernatural bent to them, which helps him very well in his first major work of fantasy, The Starless Crown, book 1 in the Moonfall series. Heroes, villains, losers and dreamer come to together to save their world, while the universe itself seems to be against them.

The book begins with a birth that does not end well, but sets the scene for this series. We soon meet Nyx, a sprightly fourteen-year old girl, bad of vision, and small of stature, of the Cloistery of Brayak. Nyx is attacked by Mýr bats, who inject her with foul poisons, but which have the opposite effect. Instead of dying Nyx instead has her eyes healed so she can see, but given visions of an apocalypse that might be coming to destroy the world. Word of her miraculous recovery reaches the ears of the Highking who wants Nyx for her blood and its healing powers, and for her gift of sight, thinking she might be a danger to the realm. Nyx flees with a group of adventurers, all with their own problems, secrets and enemies, hiding from both the Highking's people, and other threats.

Start of a series with a lot of potential, even if a lot of this sounds familiar. The world is very interesting a mix of real world, magic and science, with an apocalyptic calamity that is different and yet well explained. Being the first book, and even though it is quite large, there are still some fleshing out of the character, but again its the first book. POV changes with a few different narrators, but nothing to hard to keep track of, once readers get used to the story and where it seems to be headed. Rollins has been doing this for a number of years, and knows how to keep a story going, though this might be his first series.

Big fantasy fans will probably enjoy this. Role-players will enjoy the world and probably get some ideas for campaigns from it. As I wrote the world is interesting and has a lot of potential. I've enjoyed many of the James Rollins books I've read, starting all the way back with Subterranean. I really look forward to the rest of this series.

Nyx, discovered as a baby in the swamp by her adoptive father, is mostly blind. When an unexpected encounter with a Myr bat's venom clears her eyesight, she's thrust into seismic events. On the run from enemies and accompanied by a drunken prince, her possible father, a thief, and a woman made of bronze, Nyx must journey to stop the end of the world.

It's fitting that the dedication of this book is to Terry Brooks. The skeleton of the plot— orphan with mysterious powers thrust into a disparate band of characters who map fairly directly to standard D&D classes— reads like classic fantasy of the 80s and 90s (and is peppered with some cute references like the pirate ship named Sparrowhawk). There are some improvements, such as integrating fantasy with science, a central female character, and many animal friends, but I ultimately found the book disappointing and slow despite the myriad action scenes. There's plenty of room for classic, Western Europe-inspired fantasy in modern fiction, but there are some elements of this that belong in the past, including:

● the lack of meaningful engagement with disability in a fantasy setting
● the fridging of Nyx's birth mother

This book is like looking up into a starless night and feeling the dual sense of dread and hope.

Will the darkness stay forever? Will those bastions of light hold out and continue to break the void of nothingness?

I knowing that authors are capricious sort. Something about staying true to the characters and the story -- go figure. I knew while reading this story that things would not end well for everyone. I tried not to become attached to these characters, but found myself, looking through that unique perspective that the author creates for each character, seeing their POV and how fate was bringing their lives all together. It was like seeing a tapestry being woven, strings being pulled together, but not knowing the final pattern. I was dying to know the final pattern.

By really getting into the story though, I knew there was going to be a time when fickle fate (or the author) decides to bring the Hurt down and I knew I would hate it. Despite this, I felt compelled to know what happens. I had to finish the story though I knew there will be ruin and tears and most likely not a happy ending. So if you are looking for an epic fantasy that has action and no heartache ends with a HEA, I earn you now to pass on this story. From the first chapter to the end, this epic is full of tears, strife, heartache, and endurance. It's a book about weathering the battle despite the hardships to win the war.

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion **

This is one of those fantasy books that you jump into, learn a new world, and fall in love with the characters. You have to take your time with it in the beginning, but it is soooo worth it. Fast paced, action packed and great writing. What else could you ask for?

A gifted child on the run because of a vision, a prisoner escapes and is on the run with another prisoner trying to take a bronze woman where she needs to be to be safe from those that would exploit her, a prince running from assassination, and an ex knight banished from his kingdom because of love, somehow all end up running into than with each other. The prophecy they have heard and believe keeps the group together except when necessary.
This is a great book and I can’t wait to get book two of this series. I hope it will bring good news to the ragtag band of misfits. This book charges along at 100 mph all the way through and I believe the next will be the same. I loved the characters good and bad. This is just working to be an awesome story once all told.

This book is quite long but it’s also a very good read. I was a little bit confused by all the pov changes and it took a while for everything to make sense and for all the characters to come together to form a group but once they did the action really picked up. The characters were all likeable in their own way and I found the world building to be good. Very entertaining, going to start on the second book soon.

Things to be aware of:
This book quite a bit of swearing and violence.

This was quite the story. There are plenty of other reviews that summarize the story so I won’t add that here. I received an ARC of this story as well as the next one, Cradle of Ice. My library had this one on audiobook, so I listened to it instead. I will agree with other reviewers, there were several names that sounded similar, so the audio was a little confusing at first. I’ve never read any of James Rollins’ work before but know that he has a popular science thriller series. This book is a deviation from those where this has more of a fantasy element, though I did like the science thrown in. This book ends in a “to be continued,” so be forewarned.
I liked the “planet has stopped spinning and this is my take on what could happen,” story. I look forward to more explanation and expansion in the second book. The characters were interesting and varied and the world that James has created is intriguing if not Australia level of everything here can kill you.

Holy crap! This book. Rollins brings to life a world that is dynamic, enthralling, and utter perfection. The storytelling and the writing made the tale richer. The characters were brilliant and I cannot wait to read book 2.

I had a hard time getting into this book and ended up giving up about 100 pages in. I love fantasy but this book was overly descriptive when it didn't need to be

it's possible i wasn't in the mood for a book like this so maybe I will revisit it later.

Long but impressive world building -- A foundling becomes a hero, a thief discovers his moral compass, a soldier is regains his nobility and a Prince steps out of his brother's shadow, what more could you want in an action packed fantasy read? As James Rollins is known to do, a skillfully crafted thriller with character development that has you instantly pulling for the underdogs. Gripping fight scenes and emotionally wrought found-family scenes. Worth every minute.

DNF at 30%.

I am very disappointed with this book. I'm not sure where all the 5 star reviews are coming from.

This is a poorly constructed fantasy world that brings nothing new to the table. It just relies on the same old tropes.

Same could be said about the characters. Nyx especially is the perfect example of the Chosen One trope. The only character I found remotely likeable is the thief, but we get very little of his POV in the bit I managed to read.

Also, why are all female characters other than NYC depicted as mean, entitled and ugly? Are we still doing that trope? That our female protagonist is this exceptional snow flake that every other woman her age is jealous of enough to wreak abuse on? Yawn, okay, you lost me there.

There is also the issue of telling versus showing. And I mean the infodumps are frequent and unbearable, bogging down the story. I mean, I quit at 30% and the real story hasn't even really started yet.

Sorry, I'm not wasting any more time on this series.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Epic fantasy with lots of danger and expense. This was a long read for me and took a bit to get through. I really liked Nyk and her story. There’s also science fiction elements in this read which is nice. Multiple point of views can occasionally get confusing but just take your time with it and it’s an enjoyable read.

I was actually shocked that I wound up enjoying this as much as I did?

Which definitely sounds bad, but I was skeptical. I was quickly won over by the world and the character dynamics tho. Character dynamics will do it every time. I wasn't even bothered by the trope of different sets of characters unknowingly working toward going to a similar location. The narrative always found ways to surprise me [ that whole section in the middle of the book with the insects is still giving me nightmares all these months later ], characters were constantly doing things I didn't expect and yet worked within the plot and how the narrative had previously established them to be. The world itself was inventive without spending unnecessary time detailing to the reader how exactly this setup actually functioned.

Overall it's definitely one of my favorite fantasies of the year, one that has left me pleasantly surprised, and having read the ending I can't wait to see where the story goes and how these characters are going to work together going forward.

The Starless Crown by James Rollins
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A new fantasy series centered around a doomsday prophecy and a ragtag group of people who want to save the world.
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My thoughts:
-I love the plot of this book! Even though this was a fantasy world there were so maybe hints of similarities to our planet that were enjoyable.

-I enjoyed all of the fantasy animals that were a part of this story and the connections the animals have with the human characters.

-The first two thirds of the book were a little slower with world building and it took me a long time to read this book because I kept getting distracted by other books. But I binged the last third of the book in one night, that last third is were ALL the action is!

-I am very curious where the rest of the series will go, but not sure how quickly I will get around to the rest of the series when it comes out. Especially seeing how long it took for me read through this book.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you are a high fantasy fan you will definitely want to give this story a try!

I liked this, but I didn't love it. It's a good YA esque fantasy, but nothing too special about it. I'd buy a few copies for the book store.

This cover is phenomenal! It speaks of high fantasy, spectacular world-building and excellent story telling.

I've not read Rollins before and was completely engaged with the Foreword by the author where he spoke about how he brought Science into this Fantasy tale to make it stand apart from the rest. He stated his tale was better than the rest and promised a fantastic story.

So imagine my surprise when this story didn't stand out from the rest. What a bummer!

I don't understand what Rollins meant about bringing Science into the story as it didn't feel much different than other fantasy books I've read. If he's referring to examples such as the rotation of the earth explaining seasons, then we all passed that knowledge base after 3rd grade. So I'm very confused about his declaration.

There are a lot of characters, even beyond the several MC's. I kept up on them for awhile but then it got a bit confusing. The characters themselves could have been picked out of any fantasy tale - a girl that is special but has been abused in her past, a boy who is trying to make a name for himself, a man who needs to right past wrongs.

There is a lot of back story for the MC's in the first 40-50% of the book, and this is a big book (532 pages/22 hours for audiobook)!

The story line - a prophet foretells the end of the world beginning with the moon falling. A small group of characters band together to try and prevent this from happening. Cool, but again, pretty standard plot line.

If you enjoy the Fantasy genre, this is a good one to have on your list as it is a decent fantasy read. But for me, it wasn't the 'Outstanding' read it was touted to be and was unnecessarily long, IMO.

Thank you to #Tor and #NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am a James Rollins' fan but this book was not my cup of tea. I do not like fantasy and did not finish the book.

This is one of those books I would shelve under the “wasted potential” folder. This book had so much going on for the first 40% that I truly thought this would end up being a favourite. But nope. The rest of the book was repetitive and so pointless that I soon lost all interest.
More so, this is the kind of fantasy I would expect to be written by a Straight White Male™️ two decades ago. This has some of the tropes I really hate reading in any book - you can clearly make out from the descriptions of women that it was written from a male gaze. Not to mention the unnecessary fatphobic language that really put me off. If you see me rolling my eyes while reading a book, know that I’ll have some scathing things to tell about it. And this one? I was rolling my eyes a LOT.
It’s been over two months since I read this and while I can go on and on about all the things I hated about it, the only thing I can remember being good was the prologue? And probably that I liked the bats a lot? Clearly, this is just your average trope-y fantasy with nothing that makes it stand out.

My verdict - Skip it. There are better fantasy books out there.
I am not wasting my time on the sequel either.

TW for attempted rape, gore, child birth.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.