I was given the chance to review the ARC Audio of this book and was enjoying it so much that I purchased the book myself in all 3 formats. The narration perfectly fits the book and makes it all flow so seamlessly. The world building was a little slow, but I immediately fell in love with a few of the characters. I can't wait to continue the story. Another wonderful tale from one of my favorite authors.

I am a huge fan of James Rollins, and have read every book that he has written under that name. I haven't however read any of the novels he has written as James Clemens.

There were a number of things about this book that reminded me of the Sigma Force novels that I love - an action packed plot (once it got past a slow start), great and detailed characters, lots of science etc. but ultimately this just isn't my favorite genre, and certainly not a favorite book within that genre.

I struggled with the 'epic' nature of the book - how long it took to detail the world and the quest that was taking place. I struggled with some of sexist descriptions of the female characters, I had a hard time with the names of some of the unusual creatures just being a twist on the names of creatures on earth, And there were so many extra characters that I hard time keeping it them all straight. I finished the book, as I was determined to make sure I gave it a fair chance, but it was only 'meh' to me.

I don't think I will continue with this series.

This book has the beginnings of an incredible series which, if you love an undertaking, is forming to become a stellar epic tale of high fantasy. Readers, please note: this book is a marathon, not a sprint. This book is lengthy, but also action packed and worth every minute. Make no mistake as the reader, when you decide to take on this epic fantasy, it is entailed and detailed. Thanks to the audio ARC provided by the publisher Tor Books through NetGalley, I will be able to savor it all again before the next book in the series is released.
The story unfolds using a multiple character POV, and unlike most reviewers, my favorite POV is Prince Kanthe's (the prince in the cupboard). I was intrigued by his character and the layers he sheds throughout the story. I am highly interested to find out more about the connection between him and Nyx (the main character), and if in fact they share blood. I was a bit more bored with Nyx's chapters. This is the opposite of everyone else's opinions, but...I've never been one to follow the crowd.
Not every chapter is a gem. Some were more informationally packed than others, but this I have come to anticipate in epic fantasy where the author is creating a whole new world for us to enjoy. That being said, Rollins is a world creating BEAST, and I LOVE him for it. The stories all came together flawlessly and the result is a band of misfits that made me instantly fall in love.
Some of my favorite aspects about this world Rollins has built is the fact that he takes mythology (my favorite) and gives it new life in a story I've never heard. There are special creatures and people with a beautiful ability to sing a form of magic into the world. There is danger around every corner: both from the natural world and from the evils of humanity. Then on top of all that there is a danger that seems beyond the scope of humanity to stop. No details. My reviews aren't about a synopsis of the story.
Believe me, dear readers when I say you should come away from this book feeling thoroughly entertained.
Some of my favorite aspects about this world Rollins has built is the fact that he takes a bit of mythology (my favorite) and gives it new life in a story none have heard. There are special creatures and people with a beautiful ability to sing a form of magic into the world. There is danger around every corner–both from the natural world as well as a threat from humanity–and then on top of all that there is a danger that seems beyond the scope of humanity to stop. No details. my reviews aren't about a synopsis of the story.
Believe me dear readers when I say you should come away from this book feeling thoroughly entertained.

I've been a huge fan of James Rollins for a long time now - and have read many of his thrillers and his even older fantasy novels. And this is a sort of return to that genre - though now under the Rollins name. It's an engrossing listen from the very start! Nyx is one of the central characters - and one of my favorites! When the book opens she is mostly blind, but very clever and shows a lot of promise in her school. Meanwhile, there's twin prices, a special thief who uncovers a grand and golden statue all set in a landscape rife with prophecies, magical creatures, and lethal animals. Though I think I would have preferred to physically read this to better keep track of the character's names (and the spellings!), I absolutely loved listening to this great performance! The story is one that I found myself listening to at every opportunity - even when some of the shocks and losses brought me to tears. Nyx makes for a great heroine, although the supporting cast is equally great which makes this fit the bill as a great start to a new epic fantasy series. I 1st loved listening to it! And while in many ways, the conclusion here is satisfying, I am still very eager for the sequel! It may not have ended on a literal cliffhanger, the seeds for the sequel are certainly making me excited for it!

I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I really loved that this was a fantasy/sci-fi mix. I enjoy when authors can include elements from both genres well, especially because they are my two favorite. I do think that it can be difficult to do so, but Rollins did a great job at that. I enjoyed the overall plot a lot and the characters. Now a 3-star for a book I really liked may sound strange, but I listened to the audiobook and I just think for me, that was a mistake.

This book had a very complex plot that did not work well for me on audio. I had to rewind multiple times because I began to get confused. The chapters are narrated by multiple characters which the audiobook version did not make completely clear until it mentioned names. I definitely want to reread this in physical form and I am pretty certain that I will enjoy it a lot more. There are some books that work better on audio for me, and some that just don't work and this was one of them. Don't let this deter you from reading this because the plot itself was great. I am looking forward to actually reading this physically before the end of the year.

First off, I adore this cover. I knew I was going to tear through this book to see if it lived up to its presentation and, for the most part, it did.

From the description and even early chapters I thought we would be getting a magical school story (one of my soft spots) with some soft sci-fi. While it did start off strongly in that direction I was kind of disappointed when at about the 1/3 mark it changed course. It had set up an interesting science fantasy concept but then for the most part leaned pretty hard into the fantasy with only little glimpses into the science aspect. I did enjoy the story as told, tropes and all, but I can't help but wonder what might have been if it had stayed in that lane. I might have enjoyed the story more if I didn't have these set expectations.

I did connect with the characters and well developed world and will be looking forward to the follow up. I expect that the next book will hit 5 stars now that I know what to expect.

I was provided an ARC of the audiobook for review. The reading speed was good and the narrator was clear and voiced the characters and plot excellently. At times the narrator would slow down or speed up for dramatic affect, even dropping to a whisper at times. I get what they were going for but as I had the playback speed and volume right where I wanted them it did take me out of the story somewhat. A minor complaint to an otherwise well directed audiobook.

Title: The Starless Crown
Author: James Rollins
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Dystopian
Published: January 4th 2022 by Tor
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 554
Format: Audiobook Arc from NetGalley, and bought eBook on kindle
Audiobook Hours: 22 Hours 5 Minutes
Synopsis:
The Starless Crown is about a girl who predicts the apocalypse and sets out on a journey to stop it. She is aided by a drunken prince with no future, a disgraced knight with no purpose, a long-lost people who’ve emerged from the shadows, a thief with a lost past and a girl made of bronze who holds the key to all their queries. Filled with terrifying beast and nonstop adventure, this book answers the question, if you can’t save the world then what is the next best thing?

Overview:
This book was one for the ages. I did not have expectations because the synopsis blurb really didn’t catch me but thanks to NetGalley and Tor for getting an audiobook arc of this book because I was sucked in with the first chapter. I loved it so much I bought the eBook so I could follow along and make my own notes. The author weaved together a fascinating original story with a vibrant and even more complex set of characters that I care about and rooting for. I can’t wait for the next installment in this story.
Pros:
This book as an overwhelming about of pros. I gave it five stars for a reason. The characters are amazing. They are fully developed with such distinguishing personality traits you can easily guest who is talking in the book. I also like that everyone has just enough of a backstory you don’t know where the story will lead you. Speaking of mysteries this world is large and complex. I like that this book went out of its way to really travel around the world allow the readers to join in on a journey they will never forget. If you are fortunate to have the eBook or a physical copy you will see illustrations of the beast that really add a special detail to experiencing this book. What I also like is the authors prose. This book has the right about of detail. Not to the point of confusion but enough to get lost in the words and truly immerse yourself in the story. With that said this being a pro or con I leave this to you. DON’T EAT AND READ this book at the same time. I made this mistake several times and regretted it every time. The descriptions of this book are very vivid. Below is an example and it’s far from the most disturbing thing I’ve read in this book LMAO.
“Taking this opportunity, Kanthe employed his only weapon. He unclenched the tenuous hold on his gut and heaved forth a thick stream of bile. The acidy spew struck the brigand square in the face.”
What to do when you don’t have pepper spray lol
Cons:
There are not a lot of cons if any honestly, but I wanted to note the obstacles into which you might run into. The beginning of the book hits hard and hits fast. One positive is that it’s a fast-paced book but on the other side of the same coin you can get kind of lost as to what is going on. Luckily the author will tie it up for you by the end but what I am trying to say to the reader is… please stick with it, the author will not lead you astray. Another obstacle is the choice of words. When I first started the book, I got a little lost with the words then when I got the eBook and could follow along, I notice not only do you have a different language that gets entangled in the writing but it’s clear it is by design related to the lore of the world. I will not say as I believe it is spoiler.

Final Thoughts:
I love this book! It’s been a long time since I have read a book that is extremely unique and does not bore me, I had so much fun reading this I know I will not just continue on with this series, but I will also be on the lookout for any other stories coming from this author.

What an exciting epic fantasy with an interesting premise and characters you want to root for. The first half of the book everything is compartmented so when it all comes together it’s so satisfying. I loved the story, the mystery, and the cute/venomous bat creatures!!

Narrator did an amazing job. Despite juggling a bunch of x characters you could make out who was who!

This is an epic tale and the first in a new series by James Rollins. It's over 500 pages long and extremely detailed both from the constructs of the place and time but also in the multitude of characters introduced. To say I was overwhelmed is not an exaggeration.

The good: the basis of this book involves a prophecy that a young girl born to an exiled couple will bring about an apocalypse. The main storyline is intriguing and I enjoyed most of the characters.

The parts that gave me pause: it's difficult to connect with multiple main/minor characters and alternating viewpoints. Even with the large amount of world building in the beginning of the book, I felt like more and more background kept being added. At times it was overwhelming. To be fair, I listened on audio and this isn't a story you can miss any part of. You have to be tuned in at all times because otherwise it's easy to get lost.

In the end, Rollins introduces us to a large new world with lots of perspectives. It's an adventurous novel, which I can only hope will get better with each next installment. I believe those who love epic fantasy (aka Tolkien and Lord of the Rings) will enjoy it.

Many thanks to Net Galley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC. Thanks for introducing me to a new world and the mind of James Rollins.

4.5 stars

A really exciting adventure story that combines elements of sci-fi, fantasy, medieval romance, & steampunk. I really enjoyed the world building and character development, & I look forward to book two!

[What I liked:]

•The world building is rich & so well thought out! I love the premise of an earth that doesn’t turn (rotate on its axis), resulting in half the planet being frozen & half the planet being scorched with only a narrow band of habitable land between the two. In the foreword, the writer mentions that he consulted many scientists on the details & has been working on the world building for decades, & it shows!

•This writer knows how to write action scenes! They just build & build, & really the whole book itself has wonderful tension and ever-heightening stakes.

•The character building is pretty good, especially considering how big the cast is. I especially liked the forsworn knight & his wolf-dog brothers. Ooh, & the hot air balloon pirates!


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•There is a lot of violence, particularly sexual violence, in this world. Also a lot of torture. I won’t say that the violence is glorified, but it did get to be too much for me. It just kept happening, all throughout this long book. It was relentless.

•There are so many unexplained, unresolved threads left at the end of this book. Mainly because it sets up the sequel, which I get, but I do wish some more things related to the copper statues had been explained. Towards the end it just felt like astonishing things were happening left & right without much explanation or tying them into the fabric of the larger narrative.

CW: sexual assault, slavery, sexual slavery, racism, child death, beating & torture, ableism, traumatic pregnancy/birth, child abuse, human medical experimentation, human sacrifice, child sexual abuse

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I wanted to love this and in all reality it was good…but it wasn’t. Everything I was hoping for. A solid 3.5 but I definitely will check out the next book in the series!!

A beautifully written fantasy, magical world building, full of mystery and intrigue.
I loved every minute of this, the audiobook was incredibly long, and yet not long enough.
I loved it, essential, and instant classic for all fantasy readers.

I was provided an Audio ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for inviting me to review this book. This is my first James Rollins book, but it certainly will not be my last. This was published on January 4, 2022. This is on the longer side, but it is worth it!

Nicola Barber did a great job with the narration. This audiobook is roughly 22 hours long, and it takes a good narrator to keep you engaged for that long. There are quite a few characters to keep track of as well, which is not unusual for a scifi fantasy book such as this, but I was able to follow along pretty easily as the chapters were broken down to focus on one character arc at a time.

The Starless Crown is a place not a thing. There are all manner of strange beasts and plants that can kill you. Students study alchemy if they show aptitude. There are different pantheons of gods and goddesses that are worshipped. There is alot going on in this book, but I didn't find it hard to follow. While the book is long, the author does a good job describing the characters and what is happening so you don't get lost. There is a ton of action going on so you never get bored. No one is safe and there is never a moments rest for our characters once things get moving. This is pretty fast paced, so while it is on the longer side for an audiobook, it doesn't feel long. Honestly, it isn't unusual for an epic SFF of this nature to push the 20+ hour mark. The good ones make you want to keep listening, and I really loved this!

This follows several main characters, Nyx who is a 14 year old girl who is studying to be an alchemist. When she's attacked at school, she finds that she has a long lost connection to a power that she doesn't quite understand. This makes her dangerous and a potential threat to the King. She finds herself on the run with a ragtag group of exiles on a journey she could have never imagined. They are all on the run from something, but they all find themselves connected in some way. She has to come to terms with the chaos around her and what that might mean for her future. She's also developing some powers of her own as the journey progresses. Each of the characters has a role to play and we get to see them develop throughout the story as they face their fears and weaknesses and put their strengths to good use.

I found the world building to be excellent in this! We get great descriptions of the landscape and the creatures. We are never left with huge gaps about what is going on in the plot. We do bounce from plotline to plotline but you know you are going to come back to what is going on and they are all somehow going to tie together. Initially, I was a bit confused, but after the first few chapters I got the feel for the writing and knew everything was going to come together at some point.

I'm very much invested in this story and the characters. I'm not sure when the next book is due out, but I am anxiously awaiting it!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Starless Crown is the beginning to a new grand epic. It follows a girl without sight, a prince on the run, and a cult of people with hidden agendas. It is action packed and a thrilling (but long) tale expertly read by Nicola Barber.

Things I love about this book- WEREBATS!!!, prophecy, the villianous villians, cast of characters (it's big, but NOT confusing....except for two characters with relatively the same name...) The narrator who I happily listened to for almost 25 hours

Things I disliked- how long this book was(I felt like it could have been split in two), the lack of info on the full deviousness of our villians, and sometimes the pacing(always being in peril can feel like 25 hours on a roller coaster and after a while you're like "if I have to go through one more massive drop I'm gonna die"

Overall, my reaction is "give me more, please" because the 25 hours did give me plenty of time to connect with said cast of characters. 5 stars and a recommendation for those who enjoy massive epics such as Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, etc.

The Starless Crown is a multi-pov sci-fantasy on an epic scale. It introduces us to a magical world filled with dangerous and unique creatures, interesting climates, political conspiracies, and a prophesied apocalypse on the horizon. It's an intriguing start to a new series with high stakes and a world that has clearly had a lot of thought put into it. There is a lot to like here, though it's not without flaws.

The early part of this book quickly drew me in. It wove a fascinating world and introduced a blind young woman with a compelling story, and then a prisoner who discovers a living woman made of bronze and escapes with her, and then an extraneous prince who isn't the heir and seems forgotten about.... All very cool with interesting twists and turns.

But then the middle to end of the book felt a bit bloated to me. Clocking in at 550 pages, I really don't think this needed to be as long as it is. A very significant part of the book is characters traveling and fighting, which gets to feel repetitive at times, especially because we keep switching to the perspectives of yet more characters who are also traveling and fighting. Some of the creatures and places are genuinely interesting, but I could have done with less of them. This feels like an instance where the author spent massive amounts of time designing the world and map and wanted to put all of that into the book. Instead a novella or series of short stories might have been a better option to keep the momentum of the plot and help with parts that drag a bit, while having a way to share the cool extra world-building bits. Some of the battles are also cool, airships feature heavily and that makes for some interesting scenes. But again, personally I felt there was rather more than I wanted. Your mileage may vary.

One other thing worth mentioning is this book has that trope of "magical healing" for a disabled character (in this case a blind girl) which to me feels really unfortunate. I know the author made the reasons for that make sense in world and made them important to the plot, but I think it could have been done another way. I wish she had stayed blind, and how cool would that have been? To have a great heroine doing all of this with other senses she had developed throughout her life? This isn't a major thing that affected my rating, but something worth discussing.

Overall I think this is a very good first installment in a series, but a bloated and repetitive second half keep it from being great. I received an advance copy of this book for review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Content warnings include graphic violence, death, death of animals, torture, traumatic childbirth, mention of incest, experimentation on children

DNF at 84%

I'm just throwing in the towel. It's a decent story with good characters and worldbuilding, I just don't care. It's been going and going and going and my attention is drifting further and further away.

Not a bad book, or a bad audio, I just need to move to something else before it triggers another reading slump.

I loved listening to The Starless Crown and now I want to get a copy of the book that I can hold in my hands and slowly devour. I'm looking forward to what comes next!

I read The Starless Crown via audiobook. The medium in which I took in the story definitely effected my enjoyment. Although the narrator, Nicola Barber, gave an enjoyable performance, the book was book hard to follow. My biggest issue was that two of the characters names sound the same, which caused my a lot of confusion. Additionally, the story is fast paced and action packed, so if you miss a couple minutes of the audiobook, you’ll be confused. Finally, this story is told though multiple perspectives, that often change mid chapter, so having only one narrator made the perspective shifts confusing.

All of the issues listed above probably aren’t an issue if you read the book physically.

Even though I was confused while listening to this book, and had to restart chapters multiple times to figure out which character we were following, I still enjoyed parts of this story. The most memorable scene for me was a truly disturbing torture scene that conveyed how horrible the villain of the story is. There were also interesting magical creatures, an interesting survival/travel plot line, distinct characters, and apocalyptic suspense.

Overall, while I wish I would have physically read The Starless Crown, I don’t have any other strong feelings. It was a solid 3 star read for me.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for for providing me with an arc of this book.

The Starless Crown by James Rollins is a long and sweeping introduction to a new world. I am new to this author and I often don’t really enjoy the fantasy types of books. However, sometimes they really draw me in. This book did that. I listened whenever I was doing things that were repetitious. I found myself caring for the characters very quickly. I think is in thanks to both the author and the narrator. I was angry for Nyx early and often.

The characters are spread far and wide in the beginning:
The young student who doesn’t know her own origin but was taken in by a wonderful family.
The slightly younger twin prince who knows his life is pretty meaningless, and acts like it.
The exiled soldier who angered a king and has lived his life in a harsh outer land.
The thief who finds an amazing treasure and escapes with it.

This is a story of many lands on the verge of war. Everyone is preparing for it and everyone will come together as their paths taken sudden turns.

I can say that I was right there with them on this journey. I held my breath with them. I cried with them. And I can’t wait to read the next installment.

My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC so I can give an unbiased review...

Okay, so objectively, this was a 3.5 for me.

But the main character has such an original backstory and powerset... all I can say is extra points for imagination.

It's the start of a series with a typical "the world is ending, let's go save it" trope. However, Rollins shines in he aforementioned creative characters, and the growth that we see. While Rollins built a well-fleshed fantasy world, some things felt a bit too "see-what-I-did-there" for me (ex: the world is Urth... no reference to it being Earth past or present, though).

One area James shines is his action writing, with a good mix of believability, realism and foreshadowing of over-the-top things to come. Kudos there for not just making it an adjective-a-thon!

I didn't love the magic systems, outside of Nyx, one of three main characters and bearer of the world-ender prophecy that was raised in such a way that she has a well of power enabling her to... I guess the word would be commune and control with things around her. Some GREAT opportunity around her growth theu the series that will absolutely have me showing up for #2!

In all, not highly original, but very well executed.