Customer Reviews

Starfinder: Book One of the Skylords

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As a teenager, I used to read a lot of fantasy, but as an adult I spend most of my time on memoirs and biographies. Reading Starfinder reminded me of how much I really enjoy the fantasy genre. I was so captivated by Marco's book, I read it in a few days while I was supposed to be working. The plot moves along briskly, and always keeps you eager to find out what happens next. The protagonists, two lonely children named Moth and Fiona, are very believable and sympathetic, while even the villains (i.e. Rendor and Alisaundra) have their redeeming qualities, making it impossible to truly dislike anyone in the story. Although this novel is targeted at young adults and has some important lessons for youngsters about believing in oneself, I think adults will find Starfinder equally enchanting because of the world it creates and its exploration of the themes like free will and faith. The conclusion of the story is left open-ended, all but guaranteeing that there will be a sequel, which is something I'm greatly looking forward to.

A great story with charming characters, Starfinder will let you escape the humdrum normalcy of everyday life to enter a new world filled with beings you've always wanted to meet. The narrative flows smoothly and sucks you right into the lives of Moth and Fiona as they embark upon a much bigger adventure than they ever thought possible. I eagerly await the next book.

"It is mankind's birthright to fly. I've always believed that. I tell you, Captain, we are born to it, like the birds themselves. Why else would God put such a desire in the hearts of men? Children look up at the sky and they want wings. They want to touch the face of God."

This paragraph, spoken by Governor Rendor, is the key artery to the heart of STARFINDER, John Marco's latest effort. Written with a younger audience in mind, it is no less enthralling for adult readers, and is an engaging and emotionally charged tale of anguish, loss, regret and redemption.

Thirteen-year-old Moth has grand dreams of flight. He wants nothing more in all the world than to fly one of the mighty dragonfly ships as a Skyknight, protecting his home city of Calio, which is truly on the edge of the world. His parents having passed, he lives with an elderly guardian, Leroux, who succumbs to illness, but not before spilling an unbelievable story and bequeathing a mysterious gift.

His friend, bitter 14-year-old Fiona, resides with her grandfather, Rendor, the Governor of Calio and the man who invented the mighty airships that patrol the skies. Fiona's parents were killed in an accident aboard an airship. Rendor is more concerned with his ships and his governance, much to Fiona's displeasure, and she views life through a lens of abandonment and betrayal.

When Rendor's men seize the late Leroux's possessions, Moth flees and hides away, aided by Fiona and Skyhigh Coralin, the one Skyknight who offers Moth hope for the future. Knowing the danger he puts his friends in, Moth decides he alone must take on the fantastic task set to him by Leroux and violate the law by crossing beyond the misty Reach and into the land of the Skylords. As with all plans, however, he cannot shake Fiona. Together with the strange bird Esme, rumored to have once been a Skylord herself and armed with the magical Starfinder device, the two commence a journey replete with danger.

Once they enter the realm across the Reach, they are hunted from all sides: Rendor, who secures a force to cross the void and reclaim the Starfinder, and the Skylords seek them, with the aid of the Redeemers, creatures formerly human who were captured and enslaved by the Skylords. Along their perilous road, undertaking every effort to stay a step ahead of their hunters, Moth and Fiona encounter dragons and centaurs as they seek answers to what the Starfinder truly does and how they can accomplish their mission of restoring Esme to her rightful form.

Marco's delivery of the story is impeccable. It has a steady pace throughout, and its action scenes are vivid. The quieter moments carry weight, especially those where Fiona is lamenting the loss of her parents and trying to convince Moth that no one can ever be trusted because they will just leave you. Throughout their journey they constantly must come to terms with those who leave, needing to somehow have faith in their return --- a faith that fails in many instances.

One of the strongest elements of the writing is that for the majority of the novel, there is no real understanding of good and evil, or who is right and who is wrong. Rendor cares nothing at all for the children; he merely wants the Starfinder device. The dragon, Merceron, one of the finer characters in the story, refuses to aid the children, changes his mind, receives the Starfinder from Moth, and sets out on his own quest. The Skylords control the sky. No one may fly but them --- not dragons, not birds, and certainly not humans. For them, the Starfinder device is a necessary tool for controlling flight. Who can be trusted?

Set in that framework, Moth and Fiona struggle to discern the proper path. They are struggling on the cusp of no longer being children, burdened by world-altering events and decisions, battling inner demons of doubt and despair as they seek faith in those around them and in themselves. It is a well-conceived and executed coming-of-age tale. And even so, their elders are also battling with those same issues, illustrating that these problems are universal and not limited to any specific age group.

STARFINDER is a gem for all ages cleverly wrapped in a shiny package. Inside that covering you won't find exactly what you were expecting. John Marco, himself enamored with the miracle of flight, has put his passion into this story, and it breathes on the page. Beneath the serious tenor of the book is a wonderful well of boyish belief in the wonder and magic of dreams.

--- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard

Thirteen year old Moth has always dreamed of flying. And Rendor, his friend Fiona's grandfather, also had the same dream and created flying ships to allow humans to take to the skies. Rendor has also been spouting on about the dangerous Skylords. Though, no one has ever seen them. And when Moth's old friend passes along a secret, Moth must embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

While Moth's world is similar to our own, he travels past the barrier that his people are forbidden to cross into a world of mermaids, dragons, centaurs, and magic. This world is ruled by the Skylords, a jealous race that doesn't allow any other creatures to fly free.

As a coming of age story, this is a wonderful fantasy novel for all ages. The excitement and wonder is continuous. Following the adventures of Moth and Fiona, both must learn about long-kept secrets and friendship.

The characters are different and fun; and though Fiona's complaining got annoying quickly, she stayed true to form. Everything about this creative world is exciting and full of suspense. A fantastic beginning to a unique and fresh story, I'll be waiting impatiently for the next installment!

As a little boy, Moth's adopted father Leroux tells Moth strange stories the Reach, a sea of fog north of Calio. The strangest thing of all was Leroux's kestrel, Lady Esme, who has eyes of two different colors. The day after Moth's thirteenth birthday, Leroux dies, shortly after ordering Moth to find a dragon called Merceron.

The mayor, Rendor, starts acting very strangely towards Moth, and ransacks Moth's house. Having no where else to go, Moth and Rendor's neglected daughter Fiona flee into the Reach, hoping to find the dragon Merceron. Guided by a mysterious trinket, the Starfinder, Moth and Fiona start the quest that will open their imaginations, and test their will to believe.

STARFINDER book is one of the Skylords series. This book was amazing - a real page turner to the end. Moth's and Fiona's adventures will have you wanting more at the end.

Review by Jimmy, my middle son.

Sometimes I read too broadly for my own good.

Years ago, I discovered a fantasy debut novel by the author John Marco, a novel by the name of the Jackal of Nar. Nice and gritty military fantasy that I liked enough to email the author about.

My interests and reading drifted, and I didn't follow up with his later works, and in point of fact John Marco slipped from my mind until I rediscovered his work. An email contest for a copy of his latest novel led me to obtaining a copy and reading where the author I had enjoyed a decade ago had gone in his writing.

Starfinder is very different than the military fantasy novels of his past.

Starfinder, aimed at a YA audience (although perfectly enjoyable by adults) is the story of Moth and Fiona. He's an orphan, the ward of an old knight, and dreams of flying in the skies even as he hears Leroux's stories of the Skylords, Faerie beyond a misty reach that laps against their mountain city home. She's the granddaughter of Rendor, military mind and creator of newfangled steampunk-ish flying machines called Dragonflies, as as well as a brand new, armed to the teeth airship, the Avatar.

When Leroux dies, willing and bidding Moth to enter the Reach and aid his avian companion, Lady Esme, to return to her true form in the process, Moth and Fiona find themselves on the run into the mists of Faerie, the Reach. As they flee, they are chased by Rendor, in his massive flying ship, and the Skylords themselves, seeking the unique magical gift that Moth now has in his possession, and only he can wield.

The Starfinder.

Part steampunk, Part YA, part borderland-of-Faerie novel, Starfinder is the sort of novel that adults will wish they had available to read when they were 12. Instead of the more conventional fantasy novel a la Harry Potter, the world of the Skylords is an amalgam of several fantasy and science fiction subgenres that provides a stew rich enough for adults such as myself to enjoy as well as children. Combine steampunk technology with a coming of age story, and a faerieland with dragons, centaurs, mermaids and more, and mix well. Very well, as it turns out.

Certainly, the plot and characters are somewhat simplified for a YA sensibility, to be sure. One shouldn't expect Joycean style characterization or Gene Wolfe-esque complications in a turgid plot in a novel aimed at teenagers, to be sure. With that aside, however, Marco has done a remarkable high-wire act in balancing these various concerns, and still producing a book that is enjoyable for older readers as well. There are strains and motifs of deeper and more complex themes layered in here in a way that hearkens back to his first novel.

It's clearly the first of a series as given it is subtitled "a skylords novel". I am looking forward to the subsequent volumes.

Starfinder is one of the better Young Adult Fantasy novels that I have read in quite some time. The storyline is exciting and keeps the reader interested and John Marco's blend of technology and fantasy elements makes for an interesting fantasy world for the reader. The characters are all fairly likable and easy for a pre-teen to relate to. I found the material itself to be very age-appropriate and not in any way objectionable.

I read this book at the same time that my 13-year old grandson read it and both of us enjoyed the book and the experience of discussing it as we read to be an enjoyable affair. The book is written in such a way that it does not get tedious for either adults or teens. The switching of focus between characters is a nice way to break the novel up a bit and give the reader the perspective of different characters in the tale without having to go through the entire story from only one character's point of view.

We both look forward to future installments in the trilogy and eagerly anticipate continuing our journey along with Moth and company.

Starfinder was a great story and I can not wait to find out when the next novel will be coming out. The novel may be marketed towards the young adult crowd, but, you really never get that feeling. We're given a great story, told in a setting that is not only shiny and new, but definitely fuels ones imagination. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy or to anyone looking to get into the fantasy genre.

For my full review, check out Literary Escapism.

STARFINDER provides a fine Skylords novel beginning a new fantasy adventure series for adults and teens. In a world where steam trains and electricity are changing the world. Moth of Calio is obsessed with dreams of taking to the sky, and faces the wrath of Skylords who have guarded their sky world. An outstanding story of worlds colliding evolves.

Starfinder (2009) is the first Fantasy novel in the Skylords series. On a world far away in spacetime, humans live in scattered cities. The city of Calio sits on a high mountain overlooking the Reach -- a mist filled land stretching northward -- from which no traveler has ever returned.

At the aerodrome in Calio, the great airships land and take off. From there, Skyknights also fly armed patrols along the edges of the Reach in aircraft much like dragonflies.

In this novel, Moth is a thirteen year old orphan who works as a cleaning boy at the aerodrome. He really wants to be a pilot. Moth lives with Leroux and Lady Esme.

Leroux is a retired Eldrin Knight. He is old and sick, with a very persistent cough. He tells Moth stories of the other side of the Reach. He is extremely dedicated to Lady Esme.

Lady Esme is a kestrel, but once she had been more. She has a nest on the balcony of the apartment.

Fiona is a friend of Moth, although she is a year older than him. She lives with her grandfather.

Skyhigh Coralin is a Skyknight and the best pilot at the aerodrome. He is Moth's friend and give him rides in the dragonfly now and then.

Rendor is the grandfather of Fiona and the governor of Calio. He also invented aviation on this world. The airships, dragonflies and the various aircraft components are his designs. But he is anxious about the Skylords, who apparently rule the other side of the Reach.

In this story, Moth is flying a kite when he sees a dragonfly crash. He runs to the site and tries to free the pilot from the cockpit, but the frame is too hot. Skyhigh lands his dragonfly and uses his gloved hands to wrench open the canopy and pull the pilot to safety.

After the rescue, Skyhigh give Moth a ride in the dragonfly to the hangers. Moth returns home that evening filled with excitement. He tells Leroux about the happenings and Leroux says that he has a story to tell him.

That evening after supper, Moth's friends gather for a birthday party. Moth has just turned thirteen. Leroux has decorated the apartment and his friends bring a cake and presents. Fiona comes to the party and afterward Moth walks her back to the Governor's mansion.

They sit on the outside wall and look over the city and the Reach. Fiona tells him about her problems with her grandfather and Moth tells her about Leroux and Esme. Then Fiona gives him a knife like those the Skyknights wear.

Later that night, Leroux wakes Moth to tell him the story. He says that Esme had been a Skylord, but had been transformed into a bird. He asks Moth to take her back through the Reach and search for the wizard Merceron. Moth sleepily agrees and goes back to sleep.

The next morning, Leroux is silently lying in his bed. His body is room temperature and Moth cannot find a pulse. Moth fetches a doctor and Leroux is declared dead.

Later, Moth finds Rendor and his men searching the apartment. Rendor says that Moth's home has reverted to the city. He asks where Esme is located, but Moth does not know. He does wonder why Rendor's men are tearing open the walls and floors to find a kestrel.

Moth flees the apartment as soon as he can and goes to find Fiona. She is already angry at her grandfather and now she declares that she will never return to him. They find Skyhigh and he tells them to hide in an old hanger.

Skyhigh brings them some food and then leaves them in the hanger. Moth remembers his promise to help Esme and thinks about going across the Reach. Then Esme appears with the Starfinder and the three of them leave for the Reach. They discover strange things on the other side.

Rendor goes after them in the Avatar, the first aerial warship. He is searching for the Starfinder. He also takes Skyhigh and his dragonfly with him into the Reach.

This tale places the humans -- and Esme -- in a tense political situation beyond the Reach. Along the way, Fiona discovers that Leroux and her grandfather had explored this strange land as Eldrin Knights. Everything Leroux has told Moth was true, but he had not mentioned some significant things.

Moth and Fiona become adults in this story. Another installment will be coming soon. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Marco fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of strange places, armed conflict, and maturing youngsters.

-Arthur W. Jordin