Hadn't known that this book was the second in a series but the events in the first novel seemed to happen a good amount of time before so this mostly stood on its own. The central character was a bit under established before the whole major event went down, but being a poor farmer in a pre-technological society there wasn't much to her days.

100/10 stars

Star Father
By Charlie N. Holmberg

So just like the first book Star Mother I could not stop reading this masterpiece.
Star Father went above and beyond anything I was expecting, it's one of those books you wished you could read for the first time again Ahhh it was so good.
This book broke then rebuilt my heart so many times that I had no idea how it was going to end.
Guys do yourself a favor and get this book, I highly recommend it if you love anything like stardust this is the book for you, go enjoy and happy reading.

I had such a great time reading these books! And it was really great to read them back to back because they each focus on a character who was important to the other-the Star Mother, and the Star Father, and how each one finds their happiness-with someone else! Such great reads!

I really enjoyed the mythology of these books, of the Sun and Mother Earth being gods, and the Moon being a demi god, and how the stars are the children of the Sun and a mortal woman. There were some pieces that I was a bit confused about, but it was really interesting to learn.

Ceris was a really great character to read about. I really enjoyed her journey, of becoming the Star Mother, and then surviving that, going back to earth-and having 700 years pass. There's ups and downs, family to meet, and important facts, and it was a really great story!

And then there's Aija, who is stuck on the family farm while the war is going on, when the Sun is gone-and there's a strange man in the river. I really enjoyed watching their story progress, because the cost to be together, it took determination and cleverness, and sacrifices, to get what they both wanted! But oh, I the bargains with the demons were infuriating!

I really enjoyed reading these books, and I can't wait to read more by Charlie N. Holmberg!

It took me a while to write this review. I finished the book on release day but needed to spend some time with my thoughts pondering the whole novel. The story is vastly different from its companion novel, Star Mother, which I found to be one of the lesser of Charlie Holmberg's novels (as noted here).

I never really connected with the love story in Star Mother. There really wasn't the push to finish the novel because I already knew how the story ended. (I will also fully admit to never having been a fan of star-crossed lovers.) The romance in Star Father felt more sincere and epic to me and actually had me wanting to ignore chores for reading.

The Sun has fallen to Earth having been wounded in his war with Moon. A young woman who has had to retreat back to her rural farm life from the big city finds him unconscious, face down in a river. She is an emotional wreck dealing with a lot of her life choices. He is a mystery. Naturally there is an attraction.

While they both begin to heal from the wounds the world has inflicted upon their souls, the rest of the population is struggling to survive in a world only illuminated by moonlight. Love is not strong enough to keep a god from his duties. And Aija is not selfish enough to doom a planet. Yet another love will end in bittersweet longing and hurt.

However, Aija is stubborn enough to sacrifice and hunt for way to not be left behind again. She sets herself on the path to become immortal and join the Sun in the sky. The entire quest was intriguing and alluring. I wanted to see how the story ended. I was invested in the journey. The story was bigger than the love or the characters.

That's what I look for in a book, and why I usually love reading Charlie's works. Star Father did not disappoint. Personally I feel you can read the two novels together for a bigger picture, or just read Star Father for its epic romance that crosses eternity. Either way you will win on reading anything Charlie writes.

As usual, Holmberg hits it out of the park with this one. This series is such a wonderful read. Be sure to pick up Star Mother first, which is also highly recommended!

Aija is a renowned artist in Rozhan, but the war between Rozhan and the neighboring country of Belat has pushed her to return to her family farm outside the small village of Goatheir. The land is now worked by her mother, Enera, and grandmother, Kata. Little of note occurs in this peaceful hamlet; however, when the sun abruptly disappears from the sky casting the world into a permanent night, Aija finds a strange, unconscious man at the creek bed who seems to be burning up with fever. Unsure what to do, Aija and her mother bring him home attempting to help him heal. When Saiyon does wake, the two begin to lean on each other, until Aija finally realizes he is the sun who has fallen to Earth. Even as romance buds, Saiyon is forced to return to the sky to continue fighting the moon, leaving Aija behind. Unable to be deterred, Aija embarks on an adventure to try and become immortal so that she can take her place beside Saiyon in the heavens.

As a reader, I enjoyed Star Mother, the first novel in this duology; however, I could also tell that it was written as a standalone without a planned sequel. The ending was relatively satisfying with most threads tied up. But I can see why Charlie N. Holmberg decided to continue Saiyon’s story in Star Father. As Holmberg mentions in her acknowledgements, she felt that Saiyon also needed a happy ending, and I agree.

And this was a journey! Quite literally Aija’s quest for immortality takes her on the arc of a traditional hero’s journey. By using this framing, Holmberg’s pacing improves in Star Father. In Star Mother, the protagonist and her companion often seemed to be plodding through the woods with a vague end point. Though this also led to the feeling of a hero’s journey, Star Father reads as more tightly plotted. Much of this comes from the fact that Aija’s story feels like a classic myth.

The strength of this novel comes from Aija’s character. She seems headstrong to her companions, but Holmberg offers readers the ability to see what continues to drive Aija, which boils down to love, honor, and loyalty. Despite obstacles that test her, Aija never wavers in the trust she has placed in her companions: Zyzi, her cousin, and Ist and Tyu, godlings. In turn, they offer her their assistance, skills, and wisdom. Even during Aija’s ultimate trial by Kefrani, the moon, she remains true to herself, allowing her to complete the journey.

Overall, I found Star Father to be a fun, quick read. I highly recommend both novels in this duology if you’re looking for two romance stories (without those sexy scenes) that feel truly epic.

I am very confused by this book. I think I liked it but I am not sure. Let me explain. the storytelling process is almost oral in the way it reads. And for reading out loud around a fire it would be great. but just reading it felt off. Like I was out of rhythm. I am not happy with the ending. the solution to the problem was so simplistic that it made me wonder why the major problem existed in the first place. It was a beautiful concept but I think the writer was so focused on it that she missed the mark.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

I didn't realize when I requested this that it was the 2nd book in a series and of course had to go read the first one! It can definitely run as a standalone but so much better if you read them both. I really enjoyed this, with the mythology and world building and wonderful characters. I would love to read more in this world!

Another absolutely phenomenal release from Charlie Holmberg, with imaginative world-building, fantastic plotting and characters you cannot help but love. Kept me engaged from beginning to end

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Star Father is the sequel to Star Mother and follows Aija, a mortal woman living and working a farm with her mother and grandmother. When the world is cast into darkness, they must figure out how to survive without the warmth and light of the sun. When Aija finds a strange man injured near the farm, her and her family take him in and nurse him back to health...and then promptly put him to work. But who is this man? And how long can they survive without the sun?

This is a beautifully written love story between a god and a mortal. This story begs the question, what would one do to be with the person the love? And Aija will do just about anything to make it happen. Aija was a strong character, she was a bit older and had a past and experiences that really drove her character. The side characters were also strong and opinionated women. I was awestruck not only by Aija's unwavering drive to do whatever it took to be with her love, but by the unwavering support her family and friends gave her. I thought this book beautiful balanced the first one and gave us a wonderful story in an inspiring world.

In the follow-up book to Star Mother, Charlie Holmberg tells the story of how far a woman will go to be with her true love forever. Never mind that he's the Sun God and she's a mortal. I really wish that there were more than two books in this series.

The second book in Charlie Holmberg's Star Mother duology, which closes the cycle, telling the story of Sayto, the Sun God, and how the celestial war between the Sun God and the Moon demigoddess ended.
An appropriate ending to a beautiful and original story, very well written and with descriptions that make the reader feel part of the story.

Aija is an adult (she’s 34) who lived an adult’s life as a successful artist in a foreign land until war forced her home to the family farm, where she has lived the past five years with her imperious grandmother, Kata, and her meeker mother, Enera. She is working there when the sun vanishes from the sky, plunging the world into darkness. Soon after, she encounters a strange, golden man who seems deeply unwell and brings him home with her.

Readers who began with Star Mother will recognize him at once, though it’s pretty obvious who he is, even without the companion novel. Personally, I could not avoid being distracted by the matter of time in these books. In Star Mother nearly a thousand years pass, and yet technology does not seem to have advanced, and aside from the existence of a pocket watch, technology in Star Father does not seem to have advanced significantly from the end of Star Mother.

Ultimately, Star Father is a story of passion and obsession and, honestly, some really poor choices, but there are instances where it also speaks of compassion and understanding, too, and those are better. Overall, though, a great deal of text is devoted to pursuing the aforementioned poor choices, driven by a brief - albeit unique-to-her - experience Aija had. It’s the epitome of a two star book.

I have read several books by this author and have enjoyed all of them. This one was my least favorite. Reading it was more of a chore than a pleasure., probably because I didn't care for the main character, Aija. She was selfish, stubborn and foolish. She persisted in her quixotic quest to become immortal so she could be with her true love in spite of the danger and sacrifices that were required.. She put her life and the lives of her loyal companions at risk again and again. It wasn't obvious to me what was so special about her to invoke such devotion from the other characters, whether they be human, godling or god.

Even though I did read the first book of this duology, Star Mother, I don't think it's necessary to read it to understand the plot of this book since Star Father is more of a companion book than a sequel.

There is obviously a strong element of romance in this story. Romance is not my preferred genre and that may be why I did not appreciate it as much as other readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

WOW!! I just couldn't stop reading this one. It got me hooked for the first page.
I will be buying a physical copy because I know I will be reading this book again in the future.

I was blown away by Star Mother, the predecessor to this novel, and was beyond excited to learn that there would be an additional book in this universe. Both novels work fine as standalones, so you don’t need to read Star Mother before diving into this one.

This story was an adventure from start to finish, and followed the story of an artist named Aija. When the sun mysteriously disappears from the sky during the war of the gods, humanity is at a standstill. Suddenly Aija finds a strange man on her family’s property, and they quickly become intrigued with one another. I appreciated the female representation and relationship development with Aija, her mother, her grandmother, and her cousin. I loved Saiyon’s character, and the complexities of his responsibilities and his love.

If you like books about gods, godlings, or other celestial time characters, I would definitely recommend this one. Holmberg’s writing style is easy to digest for fantasy lovers, and beautifully written. I will definitely be looking for additional books in this universe to come out in the future!

"Love is the one eternal thing all beings are capable of creating. It has more potential than anything else— literature, stonework, folklore. Mortals, more than any, know it intimately. It lingers in the universe long after their bodies have moved on.”

[You can check out my review from Star Mother where I discuss some of the God vs god comparisons. For this review we will just accept Holmberg’s created world of gods, godlings, goddesses, and how celestial beings interact with mortals.]

Love is the driving force of this book.

With Star Mother we felt the love of a mother for her daughter as well as a romantic love.

With Star Father the love is largely romantic with a bit of the depth of friendship thrown in.

Personally I would have been fine with Star Mother being a standalone novel as Holmberg originally intended it. But she wanted Saiyon, the sun god, to have his own happy ending. After the first book, I didn’t really care for that outcome, but here we are.

This book takes place years after Star Mother— Ceris has lived out her days and resides in the sky with her lover and her daughter.

But with the loss of Twilight, the war between the moon and the sun rages on.

Aija (which took me several pages before I figured out the narrator was female) comes across a man near the river on her farm.

She brings him home to take care of him.

They fall in love immediately, obviously.

(Side note here: Aija is in her thirties and has already been married and widowed so this wasn’t a ‘fairytale’ story even though their passion was basically immediate.)

But he is the sun god himself, void of his full power/nature. She nurses him back to health and learns that because he is bound to his duty as the sun god, they cannot be together. His power and heat burns her and would kill her.

“Every time I have loved, I have lost,” he says.

But celestial law is no match for Aija’s love for him!

She will go the distance!

And with the help of three loyal and true friends, she does. Across the land, sea, and stars to find a way to become immortal.

She is willing to give up anything, even her ability to create art, to be with the one she loves.

“My skin and mind craved Sunlight. Even before the consuming dark, I’d always craved Sunlight. It was, perhaps, the most pious thing about me.”

It’s odd to me to think about someone giving up their mortality to become immortal. Usually it’s an immortal becoming mortal for love. Which, personally, seems better… depending what you believe about the after life. Who wants to live forever in the broken universe? It sounds exhausting.

What I liked most about this book was that it was a quest. Every time you think she has figured out a way to become immortal, something goes wrong. Though the romance aspect of it didn’t do much for me, I did like how she recognized the love of her friends to risk what they did to help her be with her love.

As with the first book, I also liked the art aspect. Ceris made tapestries. Aija is more versatile- drawing, painting, sculpting. I really loved her rendering of the Moon. That even though Aija was captive and tormented in darkness she was able to see the hurt the Moon experienced and shine light on her scars in a new way.

What I didn’t like was Saiyon. I didn’t get a great impression of him in the first book and all of a sudden I’m supposed to be enamored with him? Also Aija is willing to take some stupid risks for her obsessive love that puts her loved ones in danger. It’s hard to root for love that seems selfish rather than selfless. I suppose there are aspects of her love that appear sacrificial but in the context of a magical and mythological world, the fantasy of it isn’t engaging to me. It’s not a real situation.

The Star Mother begins with Ceris believing she is sacrificing her life so that two other people can be together. In the end she finds love, but in contrast Aija is sacrificing other people’s safety so that she can get the love she wants. To me one is more honorable than the other.

If you liked the first book, then you will like this one.

If you’re not a fan of celestial romance, I don’t think you’ll be able to get into this one.

Her writing is good, but I definitely don’t think I could read book after book in this genre. I read Star Mother and Star Father back to back and now I’m ready to read something different.

Lastly, I discovered that Charlie Holmberg has a podcast with another author, Caitlyn McFarland, called ‘Your Mom Writes Books’ (awesome title) where they discuss all things books/writing. I listened to one episode and it was pretty entertaining and informative if you are interested in becoming an author.
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

The second half of this book is more compelling than the first half, but overall, this one is better than Star Mother for me.

Star Father has a cast of characters I grew to love. I'm not a huge romance reader, but much of this reads as a quest or adventure which redeems the starry eyed romance. (LOL, see what I did there.)

Charlie N. Holmberg is fast becoming one of my new favorite authors - definitly an auto buy for me.
I was so happy to receive this as an ARC because Star Mother was one of my favorite books of last year.
I adore Holmbergs writing style, the way her novels seem to be a retelling of an ancient myth but at the same time give us so many new ideas of gods and their powers and the way humans interact with them.

I must say that I didn´t love this one as much as the first one but that is mostly because of my personal preferences. I enjoy slow-burn romances more than lovers kept apart by fate and the whole heros voyage/quest aspect which is a big part of Star Father. However, I really loved the two main characters as well as the side characters. I was drawn into this world right away and was sad to see it come to an end.

I highly recommend you read this novel - as well as Holmberg´s other novels. You are in for a treat!

One day, the Sun disappears from the sky. The same day, Aija finds a strange man lying injured near her farm. His name is Saiyon, and he seems familiar to her. But of course, when you’ve spent your artistic career painting religious iconography of the Sun God, you’re likely to recognize him when you finally see him face to face.

Star Father is a romance in three parts about that eternally beautiful and painful sort of romance: the sort between a mortal and an immortal. Saiyon loves his artist just as much as she loves her muse. But between their disparate lifespans, his eternal war with the Moon, and the fact that his embrace could kill her, it seems they are not meant to be. But Aija won’t take no for an answer — and sets off to gain immortality. The journey takes her above and below the Earth, to places wonderful and terrible, and eventually to to literally world-shaking choices.

Star Father is a follow-up to Holberg’s Star Mother, but its story is woven gently into the sequel in such a way that new readers won’t feel adrift. Funny at times, contemplative at others, but always searingly romantic, the story of Saiyon and Aija’s love is an essential read for anyone who loves the concept of paranormal romance but wearies of its standard execution.

(Reviewed in Sci-Fi Magazine, Spring 2022 issue)