Thank you to NetGalley and TorBooks for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This falls somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me. It took awhile to get going - like 50+% of the book, but the ending had a ton of action and was hard to put down and there are some really interesting ideas and concepts in here that I like. I am looking forward to the next books for the continuation of the story.

It is marked as adult but I felt like some of the writing and pacing of the book was more reminiscent of a young adult book (which isn't bad, just not was I was prepared for). One thing that irked me through the book was having different spellings of words (or the pronunciations would be really close) - for example Urth is their world - either spell it Earth or give it a different name! And using y instead of i or e in other words like spyll - that just seems lazy to me.

It was ok. Bit of a slow start and it’s long. I did like it better by the end of the book. There’s a lot of set up but once it gets to the end the pace has picked up. It’s a very grim and dark setting. There is a scene near the start where some older male teens think ruining a young teen girl’s life and dreams with gang rape sounds like the thing to do though the girl does escape. That’s going to put some readers off. I had it pegged fairly early in reading that it was either a fallen colony world story or a dying earth story. That all the magic is science is obvious pretty early. There’s really nothing wrong with the book, it’s just there’s so much epic fantasy out there and this doesn’t stand out as brilliant. It’ll be the right book for some readers. If you’re in the mood for grim and bloody it might be the right book for you. For me, I’ll probably read book two but just because I read mountains of fantasy books… this one was just fine and better by the end than the beginning.

The Starless Crown is the first book in a new series by James Rollins.

"A young student has dreams of an apocolypse. Her reward is a death sentence. She flees and finds herself drawn to a team of outcasts - a broken soldier, a drunken prince, an imprisoned thief that escaped with a gleaming artifact that is wanted by many.
They must learn to trust each other to survive...because doom is coming."

This book marks a departure from the Action/Thriller that Rollins has typically written. His books have often had a fantasy element but this book is full on fantasy. Often in a new fantasy story, an author will spend a lot of time with "World Building" but Rollins makes it easy on the reader. The descriptions and names don't slow down the story. Your pulled into the characters and pulling for the good guys and yelling at the bad guys. The bronze woman is fantastic.
The action sequences are fantastic - giant bats - wind ships - lots of explosions.
There are some loose ends but Rollins resolves the story enough to give the reader satisfaction.
Very fast read for a long book. Great beginning to this new series from Rollins,

2 out of 5 stars (2 / 5) I have read Rollins for years. The Rollins I love writes contemporary with a twist of sci fi; a team of people and researchers, embarking on a journey that find new lands and beasts. He also writes spy thrillers. He’s probably one of the authors where I’ve read almost 100% of their books. So when Tor reached out to me to review this one, I couldn’t be more excited or flattered.

The story has many POV’s. So many that they felt like different story lines for quite some time. Because of this, the characters became numerous and easily confused. There was no real flow or predictability so it was hard with several jumps between each character.

I liked very few characters. I never connected with the story or the characters and really struggled to finish this one. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. While I don’t love all of Rollins work, I have loved so many that I had high expectations for this one. Ultimately it was too fantastical, too long and didn’t hold my interest.

It definitely is a unique book and I believe many will love it. Rollins has a unique idea for this story and I’m curious to see where it goes. However, somebody let me know when he gets back into sci fi because until then I will be rereading my favorites.

Thank you to Tor Books for the gifted copies in exchange for an honest review.

The book releases January 4, 2022.

This one was just a little too slow to get going for me. Too much telling, too much detailed description of surroundings, clothing, kingdoms, history and not enough interesting things happening.

Maybe it is the way this author usually writes, but I like either a character driven book or a plot driven book but this one lingered somewhere in between. It was held afloat by large swaths of epic description and multiple action sequences. I’m also very bored and done with the women in these style of books being disrespected, used as sex slaves, assaulted, declared hysterical and condemned to death.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t my taste but I am betting there’s epic fantasy readers out there that will eat this one up.

This is probably one of the strangest books I have read in a long time. I enjoyed it immensely, but have no idea how to pitch it to people to sell it. I kept telling people what was happening each chunk I read and they said it sounded very disjointed and all over the place.

There's a Big Reveal late in the book, but careful readers will figure out what happened to this world. It'll be interesting to see how that plays into the forthcoming books. Is this a YA book or adult? There are good arguments to be made for both, but I sense that adults will be less interested while YA readers may find it a little violent (the whole brain thing, for example). Clearly there are more revelations about what Nyx's role in the world's future to come, I just question how much more can be packed in: the bats, the princes, the balloons, etc. all felt like a little much in Book One and more in Book Two will just be confusing.

A huge thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC!
This does not influence my opinions.

While I overall enjoyed this one, I had some issues with pacing and intrigue. From the get go I enjoyed each of the characters perspectives that we followed. They were the main thing that kept me progressing through the story.
The plot of this books moves incredibly slowly, because Rollins takes a lot of time on worldbuilding and its history and politics. However, to me it was at the cost of intrigue to the actual story. There are few, if any "twists" because they are spoiled before we even know about them. I personally enjoy a story that keeps me intrigued by the plot and also by the characters, and with this book I only got one of those.
This is my first time reading Rollins' books, and I ended up really enjoying the writing of this story. I'm intrigued to see where the second book goes.

Thanks again to Netgalley for the early copy!

If you’re looking for a cool new epic fantasy series to check out then might I recommend The Starless Crown? I expected this to be pretty awesome going in based on my experience with James Rollins’ other books (despite the very different genre) and was not disappointed. This was action-packed, had several of my favorite tropes, and the moon is also going to destroy the world in 3-5 years. More on that in a moment.
The story starts off with a woman fleeing for her life through dangerous swamps, stopping to birth her child, which is then swept away by a mysterious creature. Cut to the current day, where a mostly blind girl named Nyx is being chased by a group of extremely salty students who she inadvertently embarrassed in class. She is fleeing upwards, to the top level of the Cloistery she attends when a giant Myr bat swoops down, killing one of the boys chasing her and biting her in the process. Myr bats are described as these giant, unholy terrors of the swamp with deadly venom in their bites. Nyx however doesn’t die from the venom exposure, but is instead granted sight (and terrifying fever visions) and finds that perhaps she is connected to the bats somehow. Oh, and also she is certain that the moon is going to fall from the sky and destroy them all.
Then we find Rhaif, a thief who was sentenced to work in the mines, taking advantage of a disruption to escape his prison. Until he stumbles across a cavern where he finds a strange bronze statue of a woman. He could swear that the statue blinked at him… and though he is focused on escape, he detours to help the woman who appeared to be a statue escape the clutches of those who would use her as a weapon.
And lastly there is Kanthe, secondborn prince of Toranth. The black sheep of the family, the Prince in the Cupboard, the spare. His father sends him off to the swamps with a team of soldiers to clear out the Myr bats, which have become too much of a threat since they attacked that boy at the Cloistery. He feels unwanted by his family, but perhaps this trip to the swamps will help him prove his usefulness and his ability to face danger.
The three characters have their own supporting casts and let me just say, it was quite a delight to watch them slowly converge and join together as the book moved along. Their individual plot lines are each quite fascinating and when they do meet up things really pick up the pace! Nyx’s chapters were probably my favorite since she has an animal companion and a mysterious past but Rhaif and Kanthe were excellent as well. Between the two of them, they supply enough rogue-ishness for the whole book.
The world building is also really quite something. The world is called Urth, and at some point in its history it stopped rotating on its axis and there’s a thin comfortably habitable area with scorching desert and frigid wastes on either side. The story strongly hints that long ago there was more advanced technology and I speculate that perhaps this is a post-apocalyptic version of our own Earth. I love that sort of thing and love getting those little hints at a fascinating history or seeing how history is distorted as the centuries pass. Strong Mark Lawrence vibes in that respect. The advancement of technology is pretty cool as well, with some of the greater advances coming from a dark religious order that is honestly pretty terrifying.
Overall, I was super impressed with the quality and depth of the story. Though there are several younger protagonists, this is most definitely an adult fantasy, what with some of the darker content and all. There are some seriously dark and brutal moments, many of which focus on human experimentation by the creepy-ass monks. There are some areas where I felt like the pace slowed a little (not always a bad thing) and I wanted to rush on to the next exciting sequence or the next POV. I can also confidently recommend both the print and audio versions since I checked out both formats (about 50/50). Great start to what I hope will be an incredible new fantasy series!

I love when fantasy includes elements of science fiction so I was incredibly excited when this novel started with a discussion of orbital mechanics.

I have never read the author's backlist so I cannot personally comment on how this compares to his previous work. Given his background in thrillers, I was not surprised that the narrative moved along at a good pace. The prose itself was a little rough. I felt like the author was trying too hard to be poetic, and would instead of benefited from sticking to a cleaner style

The weakest aspect of this story, in my opinion, was the characters. While the characters had intriguing backstories, their actual personalities fell flat for me. I struggled to attach to the characters which made it harder to care what happened to them.

As one of my most anticipated releases, I was unfortunately a bit disappointed with this one. I loved the scientific elements, but as a whole the story left me a bit underwhelmed.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

I'm making the decision to put this one down, unfinished. To be clear, the issue is not with the quality of the writing or the quality of the story. James Rollins is one of the best in the business and I believe this book and subsequent series holds enough promise that I may, one day, return to it and give it the time and attention which it probably deserves.

Unfortunately, my relationship with the fantasy genre runs hot and cold and I'm feeling tepid at best with this one at the moment.

Nyx is disadvantaged in her studies since she is almost blind, but after being attacked (and surviving) a Mýr bat’s venom, her vision returns with predictions about Moonfall. Her survival has made her of interest to others and she quickly goes on the run. Nyx teams up an odd assortment of people, but that may be just what is needed to save everyone from Moonfall. Can this student, soldier, prince, and thief prevent the coming apocalypse?

The Starless Crown is the first book in the Moon Fall series. This fantasy novel was long and winding, which in the end wasn’t as enjoyable. There is action and intrigue with many fantastical creatures, yet the overall story continued to drag along. I believe this book would have been much better with some extra scenes removed. That being said, I did finish the story and enjoyed the ending. A good read for die-hard fantasy fans.

With this book James Rollins has proven beyond doubt that he can definitely write something besides thrillers. While his Sigma series is top-notch, this first book in the Moonfall series benefits from his years of writing experience. The story is intriguing with just enough foreshadowing to make you feel both surprised and vindicated at the end. The main characters are a motley crew, but blend together very nicely by the end. I especially like that they are not all human.

This book is a departure from the author’s Sigma books and is more similar to his earlier stand alone novels. It is definitely fantasy. He has done an outstanding job of world building and it is easy to get lost in this world. The action is non-stop and told from alternating perspectives. My only complaint is having to wait for the next book in the series.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

Although I've enjoyed much of James Rollins Sigma series, I've never been a big fan of the fantasy genre. Still, I was curious to see what the author would do here. Unfortunately, this one is a DNF for me after five chapters and 6%. I'm not finding anything to latch on to story-wise, and the silly, similar-but-different names are off-putting (for example, this is set on the third rock from the sun named Urth, where students study arithomatica and biologica, and fear ghostlies and spookens). It's written in the same bloated, over-stuffed style of so many other fantasy books and, thus far, glacially paced. For all the words expended, there's not much actually being said, and the story is clearly in no rush to get anywhere. I can't fathom reading another 500 pages of this stuff. Many thanks for the ARC; while it is greatly appreciated, it's simply not to my tastes.

The Starless Crown by James Rollins is a fast-paced arcanepunk novel that blends together sci-fi and fantasy to create a unique world filled with myth, alchemy, and astrology.

The story is told through alternating perspectives:

Nyx: a blind student living in a cloistery who dreams of an apocalyptic moon crashing into Urth.

Raifth: a prisoner thief sentenced to working a mine. There he discovers a mysterious bronze statue that comes to life.

Kanthe: A disgraced prince who lives in his older twin's shadow, but he finds a new calling when he and his tutor discover that one moon has been drawing progressively closer to their planet.

Together this ragtag group join forces to try and save the world against seemingly insurmountable odds.

To start things off, I think by far the highlights of The Starless Crown for me are Rollins' gripping prose and its intricate worldbuilding.

However, I took some issues with the story’s pacing and character writing. One, there wasn’t much of a mystery. The story’s major plot twists are revealed right away within the first book, squandering any sense of intrigue or impactful character revelations they could have had down the road. Plus, the antagonists felt extremely one-dimensional, but hopefully they will become more rounded as the series progresses.

Gripes aside though, I still found this book an enjoyable genre-bending fantasy of epic proportions.

4.5 stars
Epic Fantasy at it best ! Excellent well developed characters, multilayered world, mystery and intense action. This was my first read from this author and I can’t wait for more.
The story starts with a shock of a beginning. I gasped, had to stop and just stare at the wall thinking about it. The characters all started in different parts of this world, connected with thin threads slowly thickening, twisting and finally snapping for many. Yep, hold on this author like to kill characters, characters that I enjoyed. Ouch it hurt, I was invested in them. There were no miracle unbelievable savings, it was as it would be in that world. I loved that. He stayed true to the rules of that world through the story.
Kings, princes, peasants, animals, magical beings, pirates, myths and a possible apocalypse or….? It has a lot going on, it works.
It ended with a cliffhanger, a light one. I need to read the next book but i’m not sweating bullets to get it.

Do NOT let my DNF keep you from giving this one a read if you are a big fantasy reader. It had all the things that make up a great high fantasy. I am just personally not much of a high fantasy reader, especially adult high fantasy. But James Rollins is a brilliant author and this book shows off his writing and imagination perfectly.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest here - I had a hard time getting into this book at the beginning. Whether it was my own personal mood or just a slow start, I can't say. But I pushed through, and am SO glad that I did.

The story really started picking up steam in the middle, and the more I got invested in the characters and intrigued by the mysterious nature of most of the events, I was hooked.

I did drop half a star for the slow beginning. I felt it wasn't fair to drop a whole star for that, since it could have just been me. It also lost another half a star for the sheer volume of losses that poor Nyx had to suffer in this book. After a certain point, it was just pure cruelty and I don't know how she's still functioning. I know it's fantasy, but yeesh. Spread the suffering around a little!

All in all, an excellent start to a new fantasy series from one of my favorite authors, James Rollins. I'm excited to see where it goes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My actual rating of this book is 3.5 stars. This book really took me a little bit to get into. It was a slow slog at the start and took a while to get used to the lyrical writing and warm up to the many characters, but I ended up really enjoying this story! I mean its hard for me to NOT get invested when there are so many animals included in the story. I am very curious to see where this story goes and will definitely be looking forward to the next installment!

TL;DR

The Starless Crown introduces reader to a harsh world full of mystery, adventure, and terror. James Rollins’ newest fantasy will delight his fans and fans of thriller pacing. Recommended.

Review: The Starless Crown by James Rollins

received James Rollins’ Map of Bones, one of his Sigma Force novels, as a gift. It’s mix of scientific inquiry, archeology, and action made for a great read. I have recommended that book more times than I can remember. Rollins has other series that unfortunately I haven’t had time to start. I enjoy his writing, and when the opportunity to review a new series of his – a new series published by one of my favorite publishers, Tor Books – I had to request it. The Starless Crown begins a new fantasy series set in a harsh world. This book features Rollins trademark thriller style to a fantasy world. The Starless Crown introduces a wild landscape with interesting characters to a world ending crisis.

Nyx is a blind school girl at the Cloistery. She’s smart and perceptive, but she doesn’t come from a privileged background like her other classmates. Her goal in life is to reach the ninth level of studies at the Cloistery, which is not merely a symbol but an actuality. To reach the highest levels of studies, she must be admitted and climb the steps to the ninth level. The prioress takes a liking to her, sees potential in her. Because of this, she’s bullied, and in one bullying moment, Nyx has to choose between a beating and breaking a school rule so sacred that she’ll be kicked out after the transgression. She chooses to ascend to the top of the school. Only ninth levels are allowed up there, and any of the students who ascend prematurely are kicked out. Nyx chooses that to avoid the beating; however, her bully follows her. He believes that his rich father will be able to pay to keep him at the school. At the top of the Cloistery, no one is there to save her. Except she hears a screech that allows her to see. A Myr bat swoops down and decapitates her bully. It also attacks Nyx leaving her poisoned and on death’s door.

Rhaif is a thief, paying for his crimes by laboring in a mine. He’s also terrified of the dark, which makes a mine even more traumatizing. In this mine, people are worked to death; life is cheap; light is dear. Rhaif has decided to escape. He has to try despite the torturous death that awaits him if he fails. While escaping an earthquake rumbles through the mine, disorienting him. Eventually, the flame in his lantern goes out, and he expects to be buried in darkness forever. But he sees light ahead of him. Faint but there. He discovers the light comes from a copper egg that looks to have been cracked open by the earthquake. Inside the egg, a statue of a bronze woman stands, and Rhaif feels a connection to the statue somehow. When he speaks to her, he thinks he sees her eyes open. But quickly Rhaif must hide because the overseers are coming towards the egg. With them comes a Shrive, a member of a secretive sect of alchymists. The Shrive orders the statue removed and to kill the work crew that moves it. A guard is left behind, and Rhaif sees his chance for freedom. He kills the guard and assumes the guard’s garb. He follows the work crew hoping and looking for an exit. Soon, Rhaif finds his way back to the statue. He sees the Shrive sacrifice a person to bring the statue to life. Rhaif knows he must free the automaton. But can he get it and himself out of the caverns?

Prince Kanthe, also known as the Prince in the Cupboard, has an easy life. Nothing is expected of him, and he’s cultivated a reputation of excess and hedonism. Drinking, drinking more, and drinking the rest are his current goals. His twin is the heir to the kingdom; so, his only responsiblity is to himself. His official role in life is as replacement prince in the event of his brother’s death. But, for now, he is a student, and a poor one at that, of a different Cloistery than Nyx. In fact, Kanthe has an alchymist for a tutor. Frell, his tutor, has made a terrifying discovery. He’s found that the moon is falling towards Urth, bringing with it, the end of the world. Frell wants to notify the King, Kanthe’s father. But the prince, knowing his father warns Frell from doing so. The King is swayed by portents and warnings, not scientific studies. Kanthe believes that the King will not listen to Frell or his words will be twisted against him.

The Starless Crown is a third person point of view novel. The three main characters above are the primary but not only view points in which the story is told. The Starless Crown is a fast moving novel, packed with fantastical elements. The world building is excellent. Rollins can write horrific monsters, and he creates excellent terrain for his characters to traverse.

World Building

The Starless Crown takes place on a planet called Urth, which is tidally locked with the sun. This means that Urth rotates so slowly that one side of the planet always faces the sun and the other away. This planetary motion creates deserts on the side toward the side; on the other side, it’s cold and dark all the time. Between the light and ark sides is where the humans live. This is called the Crown. The Crownlands are an interesting mix of world building. There’s quite a bit of different terrain, and I enjoyed seeing the various peoples and cultures.

The world has a mix of technological levels. Swords and bows are the weapons of choice, but the various kingdoms have airships for war, trade, and travel. The Shrive have dark technologies that serve their dark God. Magic, also, exists; however, we don’t see it used much. It took me a bit to recognize it as magic as well. I’m looking forward to future books to see if magic is used more.
Pacing

From the start, The Starless Crown takes off and doesn’t let up. The pacing felt a little too fast for me. While we do get a lot of good character work, we don’t get to sit with character decisions. Kanthe makes huge changes, and there’s no time to process or to reflect on the changes he makes. I’m sure others will find this just fine. I would have liked a little more consideration of the changes that are going on. The latter half of the book felt paced a little better, but it was the same pace as from the beginning of the book. So, there’s no build up to the big finale. It was all finale from the get go.

Conclusion

James Rollins’ The Starless Crown starts the Moon Fall series with excellent world building and fun dilemmas. The monsters and mysteries in this book will stay with me for a while. Fans of James Rollins will find this an interesting addition to the author’s already impressive bibliography. Recommended.

The Starless Crown by James Rollins is available from Tor Books on January 4th, 2022.