Published by: Strange Chemistry, April 1st 2014
Genre: YA, Science fiction
Pages: 368
Format: Ebook
Source: Strange Chemistry, via Netgalley, before the huge shitstorm.
Zenn Scarlett’s novice year of exoveterinarian training on Mars isn’t quite going to plan…
After barely surviving a plot to destroy her school and its menagerie of alien patients, could things at the Ciscan cloister get any worse? Yes. Yes they could: Zenn’s absent father Warra Scarlett has suddenly ceased all communication with her. Desperate to learn what’s become of him, Zenn stows away aboard the Helen of Troy, a starliner powered by one of the immense, dimension-jumping beasts known as Indra.
With her is Liam Tucker, a towner boy who is either very fond of her, very dangerous to her, or both. On the verge of learning the truth about her dad, Zenn’s quest suddenly catapults her and Liam thousands of light years beyond known space, and into the dark heart of a monstrous conspiracy. Braving a gauntlet of lethal environments and unearthly life forms, her courage and exovet skills will now be tested as never before.
With the fate of entire worlds hanging in the balance, Zenn is racing headlong into trouble… again.
Zenn Scarlett’s novice year of exoveterinarian training on Mars isn’t quite going to plan…
After barely surviving a plot to destroy her school and its menagerie of alien patients, could things at the Ciscan cloister get any worse? Yes. Yes they could: Zenn’s absent father Warra Scarlett has suddenly ceased all communication with her. Desperate to learn what’s become of him, Zenn stows away aboard the Helen of Troy, a starliner powered by one of the immense, dimension-jumping beasts known as Indra.
With her is Liam Tucker, a towner boy who is either very fond of her, very dangerous to her, or both. On the verge of learning the truth about her dad, Zenn’s quest suddenly catapults her and Liam thousands of light years beyond known space, and into the dark heart of a monstrous conspiracy. Braving a gauntlet of lethal environments and unearthly life forms, her courage and exovet skills will now be tested as never before.
With the fate of entire worlds hanging in the balance, Zenn is racing headlong into trouble… again.
As wonderful and imaginitive as the first of its series, Under Nameless Stars takes exovet Zenn Scarlett away from her homeplanet of Mars and across the stars in a quest to rescue her father and find some answers about why she was abducted.
Under Nameless Stars starts with a bloody big bang. Zenn has boarded the Helen of Troy with little to no plan, no way of staying on the starliner because of a lack of boarding pass, and Liam nowhere to be found. So what does she do? Befriends a big walking dolphin with a voicebox and a penchant for crime mysteries.
The thing about this series is it is so utterly bizarre, but somehow Christian Schoon makes it believable. I don't know how, but a dolphin in a walksuit makes total sense. You kind of just accept Jules as a regular person, and that's by far my favourite part of this book, and the series. You're introduced to all these alien lifeforms, these absurd and completely unfounded creatures, and after a while you forget that they're alien because they have their own personalities. You meet someone as a strange, imposing animal and end up loving them as a person. That, I think, has quite a few real world implications that I enjoy a lot.
But I'll stop ranting about the aliens and say: the plot of this book is as packed and exciting as the first, the world as brilliant and wildly creative as that of Mars, Zenn is as gutsy and real a character as any you'll ever meet, and Liam is a love interest who isn't much of a love interest (I enjoy this so much. A book with a new kind of romance and a giant lack of kissing. Thank you, Schoon.)
Also Katie. You really ought to just read this series of Katie. I usually refrain from quoting from galleys as a courtesy to Strange Chemistry, but since there is no Strange Chemistry anymore, what the hell! Enjoy these snippets of Katie, furry rikkaset sweetheart that she is:
Katie yawned, then climbed out of the pack, sat on the arm of the chair and gave Jules an intense, inspecting look. She signed at Zenn:
"Walking fish-man have food for Katie?"
"Friend-Zenn! Friend-Zenn!"
"Yes, Katie?"
"Katie have breakfasty food? Food now?"
The rikkaset was sitting upright on her haunches, vocalizing in high-pitched squeaks and signing a stream of words that equated roughly to "Friend-Zenn being silly. Katie doesn't like. Stop now."
Under Nameless Stars starts with a bloody big bang. Zenn has boarded the Helen of Troy with little to no plan, no way of staying on the starliner because of a lack of boarding pass, and Liam nowhere to be found. So what does she do? Befriends a big walking dolphin with a voicebox and a penchant for crime mysteries.
The thing about this series is it is so utterly bizarre, but somehow Christian Schoon makes it believable. I don't know how, but a dolphin in a walksuit makes total sense. You kind of just accept Jules as a regular person, and that's by far my favourite part of this book, and the series. You're introduced to all these alien lifeforms, these absurd and completely unfounded creatures, and after a while you forget that they're alien because they have their own personalities. You meet someone as a strange, imposing animal and end up loving them as a person. That, I think, has quite a few real world implications that I enjoy a lot.
But I'll stop ranting about the aliens and say: the plot of this book is as packed and exciting as the first, the world as brilliant and wildly creative as that of Mars, Zenn is as gutsy and real a character as any you'll ever meet, and Liam is a love interest who isn't much of a love interest (I enjoy this so much. A book with a new kind of romance and a giant lack of kissing. Thank you, Schoon.)
Also Katie. You really ought to just read this series of Katie. I usually refrain from quoting from galleys as a courtesy to Strange Chemistry, but since there is no Strange Chemistry anymore, what the hell! Enjoy these snippets of Katie, furry rikkaset sweetheart that she is:
Katie yawned, then climbed out of the pack, sat on the arm of the chair and gave Jules an intense, inspecting look. She signed at Zenn:
"Walking fish-man have food for Katie?"
"Friend-Zenn! Friend-Zenn!"
"Yes, Katie?"
"Katie have breakfasty food? Food now?"
The rikkaset was sitting upright on her haunches, vocalizing in high-pitched squeaks and signing a stream of words that equated roughly to "Friend-Zenn being silly. Katie doesn't like. Stop now."
Characters ★★★★★
Setting/world building ★★★★★
Writing Style ★★★☆☆
