Book Review: Maria V. Snyder's Navigating the Stars

Time travel, archaeologists, a mystery and Terracotta Warriors on other planets,  all make this one wild ride from start to finish.

My Rating for Navigating the Stars: 5 Stars and a Recommended Read

Available at Amazon

For seventeen-year-old Lyra Daniels, traveling across the Milky Way can suck big time, especially after leaving all her friends behind. With the discovery of Terracotta warriors on other planets, Lyra’s parents are the premier experts on the Warriors. When the warriors were discovered on over twenty exoplanets, Lyra’s parents are thrilled to discover another planet to explore and discover new information on how the Warriors got there. But even if Lyra likes traveling to other planets, the time dilation sucks because it can put her years in the future. But as Lyra and her parents travel to the newly discovered planet, she finds solace in annoying an impossible security officer who threatens to throw her in the brig and illegally worming into the Q-net. But after the planet they just left, Xinji, abruptly goes silent, security has a new threat to deal with than Lyra doing illegal worming. For crucial data files on the Warriors are going missing and looters are spotted on the new planet they are at. Time is of the essence and for Lyra, it’s either try to help or die.

NAVIGATING THE STARS is Ms. Snyder’s foray into the science fiction/futuristic genre and I got to admit she delivers a marvelous, intriguing start to her new Sentinels of the Galaxy series. The story is full of adventure, amazing characters and a story that basically kept me glued to the pages till the very end. This is an author who I fell in love with in her Study fantasy series and her new book, NAVIGATING THE STARS, is just as good if not great. The story flows smoothly and quickly with a few twists I sure did not see coming. Add in the mystique of Terracotta warriors and other planets, well you got the earmarks of a story that will either ride off on a rocket or go down in a heap. I am happy to say this one blew me away and then some.

Meet Lyra Daniels. Her parents are the experts on Terracotta warriors and when a new planet is discovered housing them, they are thrilled to go and see what the warriors have to say to them. But Lyra doesn’t want to leave her friends and life on Xinji. Alas, she leaves with her family and finds comfort annoying this cute security officer who is around her age and illegally worming on the Q-net. I really enjoyed Lyra. She surprised me at times with her maturity and yes, she does have moments of being a brat, but it fit the way the storyline was going at those times. I enjoyed reading about her thought processes and how she see’s puzzles in things, especially in the Q-net. She is intriguing and a perfect MC (main character) to root for. I got to admit all the characters are entertaining, in my opinion. You got Lyra’s parents who are typical scientists, full of excitement over new discoveries, then you got the annoying gruff security officer, some secondary characters that just made me giggle at times and more. All are entertaining on their own, but all together kept the story flowing at a quick pace.

NAVIGATING THE STARS is a pure gem of a book that literally has me anxiously awaiting the second book, Chasing the Shadows, just to see where the group of characters goes next in the series. The ending left me gasping in shock as the bad guy was one, I sure didn’t expect and one that left me wanting to know more of. Ms. Snyder delivers a perfect book to while a snowy night away with a mix of action/adventure, a little romance and a mystery that will keep you engaged right up till the end of the book. I look forward to seeing where the author goes next in the series and hope it won’t be too long of a wait for it.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement

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