Black Star Renegades by Michael Moreci

Published by St. Martin's Press on January 2, 2018

Black Star Renegades is really bad. You could probably tell that from the title. I read it because I trust St. Martin's Press to publish quality work. In this instance, my trust was misplaced.

Cade and Tristan are afraid of Zero because their parents cost Zero a lot of money by attracting Praxis (the evil empire) to their planet. Fortunately, they are saved from a Zero attack by Ser Jorken, a Master Rai at the Well. The Well is suspiciously similar to the Jedi, although they fight with glowing bladed staffs rather than glowing lightsabers. Jorken has come to recruit Cade and Tristan to join the Well. Their mission will be to “keep peace and justice alive throughout the galaxy.” They have been chosen because Jorken believes one of them is “destined to save the galaxy.”

The idea here is that Tristan is the heroic brother and Cade is the tag-along brother. The brothers try to get their hands on a weapon called the Rokura that, legend has it, only the “chosen one” can wield (suspiciously similar to Excalibur, except it glows). Their assumption is that Tristan is destined to wield the weapon while Cade is destined to watch his brother be heroic. Of course, an evil guy with a Rai weapon who fights like a Rai (yes, he’s suspiciously like an agent of the dark side) just happens to be trying to get the weapon at the same time Tristan and Case find it. What a bummer of a coincidence! And you can kind of guess what happens next.

A less promising start to a science fiction novel be difficult to imagine. Reliable space opera clichés follow: the brash pilot (Cade) who walks away from a crash landing on a hostile planet; the android with an attitude (“Duke”); Tristan’s role as “the chosen one”; Cade’s role as the normal guy who is thrust into a position of heroism; the evil empire’s power-driven queen; a ship (sort of like the Death Star) that devastates solar systems (this one drains the energy from suns); the planet that has become a haven for space pirates and other criminals; Cade’s former friend who resents Cade’s membership in the Way; and the list goes on and on.

Apart from its derivative, unoriginal, and uninteresting plot, Black Star Renegade is written in the prose of mediocre fan fiction. The author has a limited literary vocabulary and a fondness for cliché. His dialog is stilted. Adults in positions of authority speak as if they were teenagers. I could continue trashing the book, but why bother? It’s been some time since I read a book this bad, and I hope I never repeat the experience.

NOT RECOMMENDED