<i>Under Fortunate Stars</i> follows the crews of two spaceships who converge in ‘the Rift,’ which seems to be a strange sort of energetic disturbance; the two crews come from two different time periods 152 years apart, with the ‘earlier’ crew famous in the ‘latter’ crew’s time period, but their meeting seems misaligned with historical record in many respects. The crews must work together to figure out how to escape the Rift and set things right.
I appreciated Hutchings’ effective use of non-linear storytelling here, with flashbacks illuminating crew members’ pasts. I also like multiple-POV novels and feel like this was also mostly effective, though some of the characters’ narrations felt a bit similar to each other. The slow pace of the plot worked for me, as tension and mystery slowly built as the crews learned more about each other and the situation they were in, with the action really picking up in the last third of the novel or so. The novel is queer inclusive in ways I appreciate – with queer characters represented without their identities being plot points – and the novel overall has a real sense of humour, not taking itself too seriously. The world-building is also very well done – this feels like a fully fleshed out universe complete with political, class, and environmental dynamics that make sense; I hope that Hutchings will revisit this universe in a future book as I’d happily return to it as a reader. I recommend <i>Under Fortunate Stars</i> to space opera fans, particularly for those who aren’t looking for anything too heavy.
<i>Content warnings:</i> physical assault, injury, war, gun violence, death, child death

Under Fortunate Stars

[Blurb goes here]

This is a fast paced and well written adventure. What would happen if, suddenly, the saviors of the human race appeared in a time bubble, with a ship of the future, when they're still a band of brigands? Are they really the saviors or just a group of criminals? This is, sort of, the kind of adventure thats waiting for you inside the pages of this sci-fi thriller.

A great read. That's all I can say.

Thank you for the free copy!

It's truly said that no man is a hero to his family and perhaps this should also include his friend and most of all himself. This is the story of a spaceship's crew of five who, while stranded outside normal spacetime meet a nother stranded vessel, but one from their future where, to their surprise and disbelief they are venerated as heroes who saved the galaxy from an inter species war. How their stories intertwine with those of the future crew and how they come to unwillingly accept their roles as saviours makes up this satisfying and complex story. Add in their individual back stories and their efforts to escape the space time trap and you have a thoroughly wonderful book.

My thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am grateful to NetGalley for giving me early access to this novel in exchange for my opinion.

Without giving away any spoilers, the book’s name cheerfully telegraph’s the ending. It reminds me of Star Trek, esp TNG, where humanity goes forward with high hopes and encounter amazing coincidences that all fit together as seamlessly as an M Night Shyamalan movie.

The writer did a great job of assembling this time traveling plot; the action is a slow, gentle burn until the 75% mark when the action heats up.

There is the main story line that is involves two spaceships that fall into a space/time wrinkle. This is augmented by flashbacks that fill in the relevant characters’ background. The main story and flashbacks proceed at the same pace; both begin leisurely for gain momentum as the novel proceeds.

The characters are all nice, average characters. The evil guy seemed exceedingly stupid and gullible.

I highly recommend this book to fans of a fortunate, happy, ending.

A solid space opera that will satisfy many fans of the genre. It also includes some good mystery elements. I stayed engaged and enjoyed this one.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Under Fortunate Stars is a character-focused sci-fi novel about an encounter between the crew of the ZeyCorp Research Vessel Gallion and the crew of the Starship Jonah—a black market weapons smuggling ship. The crew of the Gallion believe the crew of the Jonah to be the “fortunate five,” the legendary diplomats who negotiated peace with the Felen —an alien race that had been at war with humanity for centuries. The crew of the Jonah believes humanity to still be at war with the Felen, and is far from the legendary figures whose likenesses are depicted across the Gallion in paintings and statues; for one, they hate the Felen and claim to have no desire to be involved in seeking peace with them at all. Despite their differences and mistrust of one another, the two crews must work together to solve the mystery of the space-time rift that has brought them together, or else they may all perish in an endless void.
The story is told through many small fragmented vignettes which jump between the past, present, and future, across the different perspectives of four different characters: Jereth, the captain of the Jonah and a convicted con-artist; Eldric, the Jonah’s navigator and even-tempered foil to Jereth; Uma, the Gallion’s director of engineering and number-one fan-girl of Eldric (or the version of him she read about in history books); and Shaan, the Gallion’s facilities coordinator with a mysterious past. Each perspective and place in time is often held for as few as two or three pages before changing again, and seldom is a single point of view held for more than ten pages. The world-building is rich and complex for a story that seems more interested in how characters interact with each other in different configurations. The telepathic Felen are described with enticing prose and the history of their war with humanity is believable and compelling. The Voiced — genetically modified humans used as interpreters for the Felen — are fascinating and eerie in their mannerisms. I found myself wanting to know more about the Felen, more about the initial peace talks and more about the building of the partnership between the Felen and humanity. If there is a sequel starring a young Voiced who comes to live among the Felen, I would definitely read it.

The frequent flashbacks often add little to the story other than to depict a moment readers are already familiar with having happened due to earlier exposition. Moments are explored in-depth which are inconsequential for either character development or story progression; while important story moments like Jereth being convinced to team up with the Gallion crew are simply glossed over as having happened “off-screen.” The story feels overly fragmented and more like a collection of short works of fan-fiction filling in the gaps in a larger canonical story. Despite the large character focus, the characters themselves feel flat, and their relationships and backstories more encyclopedic than reflected in their behavior. Jereth especially has wild swings in personality which feel inconsistent with his backstory and earlier behaviors. Jereth is canonically bisexual, but it is often played for laughs as halfway through the book he begins flirting with every character he sees, despite having not done this earlier in the book. The cast is described as having a diversity of skin tones, though the novel seems to be set in a post-racial society.

A strong start pulled me in to the world and the characters, but the pacing drags on as excess flashbacks and exposition leaves the reader able to predict everything that happens for the remainder of the book. The plot itself encompasses what would be a single episode of Star trek, but takes three hundred and eighty pages to get there. If more were cut from the story to quicken the pacing, it could have been stellar. As it is, it was difficult to finish.

A brilliantly executed sci-fi that glues you to the edge of your seat. Perfect for fans of City of Shattered Light. Highly recommended!

A wonderful story unlike any other. This book had everything a space opera should! Funny and witty, this book will have you unable to put it down!

Interesting read, intriguing characters and a slowly unwinding mysteries. Two spaceships trapped in a space rift, one from 150 years in the past. Must work together to escape the rift and negotiate peace between Felen and humans. Would like to know what happened to the missing members of the Fortunate Five in the end. Worth reading.

This book is really good and is wonderfully written and the characters are great also. It's fast-moving and compelling.

This is just another of those books I didn't finish because, as I got to about 40% of the way through (which I think is equivalent to giving most books a fair shake), I once again realised I didn't give a crap about what happened to any of the characters and therefore how the author was planning to get them out of the situation they were in. Since I have a bunch more things in my TBR pile, including more ARCs, this is a bad sign for any book.

The basic premise of Under Fortunate Stars is that it's set mostly on a spaceship which is transporting a low-level diplomat from a race called the Felen, with whom humanity were once at war. That war was ended by the intervention of a group of individuals who've been lionised and mythologised. The ship then gets trapped in some kind of anomaly, only to discover they're not alone - trapped with them is another ship, containing some of those individuals (who seem a bit different from what everyone seems to know about them) and also an abandoned space station.

I'm sure there'll be people out there who will love this book (as apparently many of the people who've already left reviews do) but it just didn't work for me. I found all of the characters slightly aggravating and the narrative voices for each of them quite similar, to the point where I struggled to separate them out ('is this the person who... nope, that's someone else... who is this again?').

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley, This is my honest opinion of the book in question.

Where to start? This book is like a beautiful, complex puzzle box. Discovering each piece and how it fits is a delight. When the last twist falls into place and the puzzle reveals itself as a smooth, intricate whole, it’s very satisfying, but at the same time you feel a tinge of regret because it’s finished and it was such a pleasure to put together.

A ship is stranded outside normal spacetime, and soon its crew realizes they are not alone: another ship is out there too. When they find out where—and when—the other vessel came from, they are plunged into a confrontation with the legends and traumas of their past. As they race to free their ship, they must also safeguard history itself, and if they fail, a vicious inter species war will destroy everything they love before it even begins.

This is a multi-POV masterpiece, and it’s hard for me to pick my favorite character: Uma, the history fangirl and extremely competent engineer who gets to meet her heroes, and finds out they are nothing like what she expected? Shaan, the quiet nobody haunted by a past that won’t stay in the past? Jereth, the inveterate gambler and charismatic survivor who did not sign up to save the galaxy? Leeg, the chainsmoking, gloomy mathematician who is a navigational genius but can’t navigate his intimate relationships? I love them all.

I adored this book from beginning to end. It has so many things that I look for in sci fi/space opera: nerds saving the universe, weird time hijinks, lots of positive queer rep, bi protagonists, fascinating aliens. There’s a theme that isn’t exactly “don’t meet your heroes” but more like “your heroes are human.” It delves into the way the reality of the past is wilder and more interesting than written history.

If you enjoy space opera with heart, Star Trek, time travel stories, and living history, this book is a love letter to all of them. Like Star Trek, it’s ultimately a positive vision of the future. Its core is fueled by the hope that humans will rise to the challenges that face us and work together against all odds to make a better, more peaceful universe, even when faced with things we can’t fully understand.

I had the privilege of reading this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book it is rather like reading a thoroughly brilliant series of Star Trek the kind you can’t help but binge watch in a weekend .
I gobbled the book up over a weekend in a similar way thoroughly enjoying the brilliant multi universe storyline with its clever twists and turns .
It took me a while to understand what was happening in the story which is told in flash backs and forwards through the various characters time lines .It didn’t matter because once I had twigged the direction of the story it was like working out in advance a great Who-dun-it ! I was very pleased with myself and in awe of any author who can think up such a great story
I love science fiction which manages as this book does to make interplanetary travel multiple universes and alien life to feel completely credible .As lovers of science fiction tractor beams and space shop shielding are concepts we’ve read and watched enough times to feel we understand the technology .The worlds which this novel covers are beautifully described and eminently real
I can easily see this novel spawning films or a long running tv series following the original 5 characters through other adventures
I would thoroughly recommend this book to sci fi lovers ,even if you are new to the genre I’d suggest you give it a go you will be pleasantly surprised by the subtlety and beauty you will find with both human and alien species

There's a lot to like here. The editing, even in the pre-release version from Netgalley, was well above average. The main characters are distinct and well developed, both in backstory flashbacks and in the course of the main storyline, and they face varied challenges that test them, showing courage, determination and skill, and risking their lives for the greater good. All of that is exactly what I look for in a book, and would usually get it on my Best of the Year list.

Unfortunately, for me, all of this good stuff was countered by a huge problem: the fortunate coincidences. The title really isn't kidding.

Now, having one large fortunate coincidence that allows the plot to happen is a fault, but if everything else is good - and here, it is - I can forgive it. A large fortunate coincidence every few pages, on the other hand, goes from a fault to a fatal flaw. And lampshading it by having characters talk about how lucky and miraculous it is that they have exactly the equipment, skills, knowledge, and people they need to make a highly unlikely and contingent escape from what amounts to a large sealed room in subspace - that doesn't help at all.

If the author hides a get-out-of-jail-free card up their sleeve and surreptitiously plays it at a key moment, that's cheating. But if the author openly writes out 40 or 50 new get-out-of-jail-free cards right there on the table in front of you and plays them every time the plot hits a problem... I don't even know what to call that.

I'll give an example in spoiler tags from a subsidiary part of the plot. <spoiler>The characters, in two ships, have been pulled into a subspace rift from different times and places - already a big swallow as a premise, but it allows an interesting story. By fortunate coincidence, a space station has also been pulled into the rift. By fortunate coincidence, there are no crew on it to worry about; it's been abandoned because (by fortunate coincidence) it had a rare kind of detector that could sense the rift coming, even though the people on the station didn't know what it was. By fortunate coincidence, one of the people who was staffing the station at the time it was abandoned is part of the crew of one of the ships, having (by coincidence that isn't fortunate for her, but is for the plot) been discharged from the quasi-military station's crew and given a new background because she delayed obeying the evacuation order and then crashed, killing a colleague, and having by complete random selection chosen the job she now has. By fortunate coincidence, the other ship contains a pair of hackers who already know how to do an exploit that will turn her station login - which, by fortunate coincidence, has never been cancelled, since her disciplinary hearing took place after the station vanished - into exactly what they need in order to get some resources from the station which, by fortunate coincidence, will enable them to escape from the rift. (By fortunate coincidence, their crew includes a subspace physicist who was working on exactly the kind of thing that will enable them to figure out a way to escape and execute it using the station's batteries and some other resources they also, by fortunate coincidence, have.) I'm not even going to describe the several more fortunate coincidences (at least six) that confront the former station crew member with her past trauma and enable her to overcome it, and also to escape the station when things go pear-shaped, and also to ultimately get what she really wants. That's about 17 fortunate coincidences, by my count, in this subplot alone, and there are plenty more in the rest of the book. By the time a character opens his junk drawer and pulls out exactly the piece of rare alien technology without which their plan has no chance of success, having obtained it by a highly unlikely series of events involving, at minimum, three fortunate coincidences, I wasn't even surprised anymore, just disappointed. </spoiler>

It reads, to me, as if the plot wasn't outlined in advance but written by the seat of the pants. That's absolutely fine, and it can produce excellent stories - if the author unfolds the story organically from the initial seed of the situation, setting, and characters, rather than continually pulling things out of a location quite close to the seat of the pants in order to goose the plot back on track every time it becomes difficult. It seems like she's not even embarrassed about it, and she absolutely should be.

Incidentally, the blurb (as at the date I read it) claims that it's a "modern, progressive homage to classic space opera stories". As far as I can tell, this claim is made because two minor characters are a gay couple and two viewpoint characters are bisexual, which doesn't make much difference to anything. It's set far enough into the future that human names have all changed and you can't tell ethnicity from them; I think someone might have been described as brown-skinned once, but race is basically not a thing, and you could read any given character as whatever race you like. I can think of plenty of books that have more diverse characters and don't make a specific "progressive" claim.

Anyway: If continual massive luck in place of competent plotting is not a dealbreaker for you, this is otherwise a good book. But it was a dealbreaker for me, so much so that an otherwise four-star book drops all the way down to two stars.

Space opera fans, rejoice: this book is SO GOOD.

Under Fortunate Stars is a fast-moving, compelling time-travel saga about what it actually means to live on in history, and what happens when the stories we've always told about ourselves come back in ways we don't expect. It follows a research ship as it slips out of time and into contact with members of the Fortunate Five: a band of legendary heroes who ended a war that threatened the universe—but who don't appear quite the way they did in the legends. For one thing, they haven't stopped the war yet. For another, they're not all sure they want to.

The characters in this book are stellar: I will go to my grave as the biggest Leesongronski cheerleader known to man, and Jereth is exactly the kind of smart-mouthed space rogue I love to yell at while I read. The dynamic between these two is literally Tulio and Miguel from The Road to El Dorado, except in space, and I cannot imagine a vibe I would enjoy more. I would follow them anywhere, and I'm so glad I get to follow them on this adventure, which is simultaneously exciting, heartrending, and an absolute mind-bend.

This is a fantastic debut by a new writer, and there are scenes in this book that I can't stop thinking about. (Ask me about that one scene with Jereth and the Felen. You'll know which one when you get there.) I can't wait to see what comes next from Ren!

Under Fortunate Stars is a well-paced, pretty well-written, space opera featuring time travel. Author Ren Hutchings is a first time novelist and I think she has talent to carry her forward to a bright career. Her dialogue is good and she has tried to develop some of her characters beyond what I often see in space operas.

I found some of the characters to be more two-dimensional, perhaps due to a large cast, perhaps due to the unfolding mysteries in the story. I thought the outcome was telegraphed early on, frankly inevitably because of the time travel component (I am generally not a time travel fan). There are many standard tropes at work in this book but handled well. The fact I carried on to the book is a credit to the author for writing well, irrespective of my nits and distaste for a central plot device - time travel. The tone is generally positive and about redemption. I like that. Too much grim stuff out there. Call it 3.5-4 stars, rounding up to 4.

Thanks to Solaris for letting me try (and for publishing) a promising new author.