ARC Review - Eclipse: Fractured Orbit Book 1

Eclipse is the first book in a series of sci-fi adventures. You might think from the cover that this will be a typical space opera / military sci fi. Instead, what you get is a thoughtful plot that blends familiar sci-fi elements to come up with something truly unique.

It’s two hundred or more years in the future. Earth is ruined and uninhabitable after the Climate Wars. Above the earth humanity had placed orbiting stations made up of donut shaped torus rings. These stations were designed as rescue vessels for humanity and as much of nature as they could bring with them, in hopes of someday reseeding the earth. But progress has been slow and now only one station - the Eclipse - remains.

Or so it seems to young Django Alexander and his family and friends aboard that one station. But the unexpected revelation of the truth suddenly shatters their reality and leads to the death of almost everyone Django cares about.

Meanwhile the reformed space pirate Mikka Jenax has her world turned upside down when she receives a distress signal aboard her ship the Redemption, and rescues Abigail Monroe, a pirate captain whose own ship has just been destroyed by forces unknown.

Jenax left piracy behind when her mother contracted lunar disease, a malady of unknown origin with no cure. But rescuing Monroe leads to a hefty fine and leaves Jenax with no option but to put one foot closer to piracy and accept a not-quite-legal mission to the Eclipse with Monroe by her side. The mission may also provide Jenax with a supply of the only substance that can relieve her mother’s pain.

This is a dystopian world where the powerful and evil Syndicate controls all, including all Earth-orbiting stations, and colonies on the moon and Mars. As Mikka discovers at one of the moon colonies, forces are preparing to challenge the Syndicate in a coming civil war.

Steuernagel has put together a fast-paced plot that bit by bit reveals the reality of what is going on in this world as the two storylines converge.

While the plot is thoughtful and the pace is good, the characters are a mixed bag. The main characters - Mikka and Django - are fleshed out as the story unfolds and by the end of the book they seem like real people. Some of the other characters however, like Abigail and Django’s lifelong friend and secret crush Eventide, who have fairly large roles, are not as well fleshed out and seem two dimensional.

Those familiar sci-fi elements? Well, the world building is reminiscent of The Expanse, while the social structure Django lives under on the Eclipse, along with the station’s lying captain, seems very much like the social structure surrounding Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, with its evil President Snow. Those are not bad stories for Steuernagel to have taken inspiration from, and if you are a fan of either series I think you’ll find something to like here.

In paperback form the book is around 300 pages long and can easily be read in a day. I read it in one sitting and enjoyed the pacing and the converging storylines.

One other thing I liked about the book is that it is a fully contained story. There is no cliff hanger ending, even though it’s Book 1 of a series. Steuernagel leaves plenty of unanswered questions about the larger story this book will end up being a part of, but reading this one book rewards you with a satisfying conclusion.

RATING: Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating Comments: A great sci fi beach read, or a good story for a chilly fall day by the fire.

NOTE: I read an advanced review copy of the book courtesy of Escapist Book Tours and the author. The book was released February 7, 2023.

ANOTHER NOTE: Book 2 in this Series, Chimera, will launch October 3, 2023, and should also be available at the booksellers below.

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Title: Eclipse (Fractured Orbit Book 1)

Author: Herman Steuernagel

Publisher: The Fourth Media Publishing (Self-Published)

Publish Date: February 7, 2023

ISBN-13: 9781990505089

Publisher’s List Price: $17.99 (Paperback)