Starbreaker: Volume 1

Starbreaker

By: Luke Chmilenko

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

“Born of a pyre ten thousand souls strong. When stars are right his home will die.

Hollow of heart; black hunger unending. Eater of light. Vanquishing kings.

Doom in hand; pour loose the sands of time. Ender of hope. Feller of storms.

Twinmaidens blood stains; on sorrowful soles. Fast claimed war’s domain. Glad of war. Glad of pain.

Beast eyes close for him. Vault’s gates open.

Starbreaker, thrice named.

Starbreaker, awake.”

(Prophecy of Aion Origin, date unknown)

Sylvas Vail is a big fish in a small pond, the most powerful mage on his planet. But when the doors to the cosmos come crashing open and all the untold wonders and terrors of the universe come pouring in, he is left with only two options:

Ascend or die.

©2024 Luke Chmilenko (P)2025 Audible, Inc.

Ah sweet Louis,

Extradimensional horrors from beyond my comprehension!

Haven't finished the book yet but I'm having a good time. Great start so far. MC is strong, but has enough flaws that he isn't overbearingly OP. The nightmare creatures attempting to eat reality are interesting. Good magic system. I'm looking forward to finishing this book.

holy shit this is good.

I have a tase in progression fantasy. my favourites are : the perfect run, calamitous bob and journey of black and red and azarinth healer.
the reason I like them is because the writing is good. the story is solid. and the plot is engaging. it's so rare to find a progression fantasy book that feel actually *good* for so many reasons. the psychology of the main character, the overreaching plots, the side characters, the power system. they are all really really great. magic feels like a living thing they're meant to explore... and how the mc goes from being a peasant from a medeival planet to an admiral of an intergalactic space empire is very engaging. though the latter would probably happen more towards the end of the series. I can't believe I nearly missed this gem.

immediately engaging

I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter of this book. From the very start I was interested in the development of this character and. story. I thought it was an excellent blend of the fantasy and sci-fi genre. There were no long drawn out explanations justifying the existence of magic and science existing in the same world. They exist and I choose to believe we're in the same Universe. I look forward to Book 2.

the roadblocks starting building up qui

the first few hours of the book were enjoyable. he had some interesting personality quirks that humanized him as well as his budding relationship with the girl he grew up around. my issue started with common knowledge is the galaxy both broadening his horizon but at the same time doing absolutely nothing to help him at all. the entire book he has the same spells, he purposely didn't update his spells. any time he does anything interesting he is then punished severely for it. the entire book just feels like he never wins. ever. it's frustrating to the extreme but the story is interesting enough to continue. I'm annoyed

Great mix of sci fi and old world magic

Slow to get going but overall a good book. Great narration but could use a little more work building

Enjoyable

Best by author in awhile. Have tried the author a few times before but can never get into his books. Hopefully this series will be better than just another scratch in the mud.

Protagonist is bland.

I don't know if this is by design, but the protagonist has zero traits other than "determined to always advance" and "being neurotic obsessive compulsive"
I don't know if this is the author's attempt at making a neurodivergent protagonist, but it was very annoying to have to listen to this protagonist basically just disconnect his way through the whole story. He drifted through every scene with minimal interaction with anyone. The only things that would ever get an emotional reaction out of him, were if something happened to threaten his position as "The Chosen One" or "Number One Wizard" status. If he was at risk of being held back from class, he would go into a mental spiral of rage and anxiety. He was determined to do anything and everything to advance, and while that's a pretty common trope, often referred to as the Determinator, I don't feel like he's written very well this time. Which I find odd because Luke has written other characters similar to this, who actually have a personality. Namely Raiden Ward from the Stormbringer Series, is a FANTASTIC example of a Determinator. He's stubborn, self-destructive when it comes to training, and unwilling to consider ANY amount of common sense and caution when it comes to the risks he will put himself through. He was also someone with charisma, charm, and an actual personality. The protagonist of this book, Starbreaker? He's like a blank slate, intentionally made without any defining traits because......some reason I guess? I dunno, I found him difficult to empathize with overall. He was too detached, too standoffish for my liking. It feels deliberate, given how well the author personalized everyone ELSE in the book, and in other books he's written, still doesn't mean I enjoy reading that type of character

Solid new series

Started out like many others, but quickly turned into the quality work we’ve come to expect from Luke. Great magic system, likable characters, and interesting world. Looking forward to the next one. It’s definitely worth your credit

Most organic intro to a progression fantasy ever!!

Really well done. Love it. Consider me a fan.
Even the MC's trauma n his personality feels organic.
You know this is a fantasy story, but that said a lot of books are still very clumsy about how they introduce u into the whole fantasy world, and magic powers situation. Every story in this genre has to explain to the reader where they are and what is happening ...but this story really nailed it.

I fully enjoyed this book, but even so you can tell all the really cool stuff is yet to come.
Highly recommend checking this on out!!!

looking forward to the next book

Great start to a new series. Very interesting mix of tropes and genres. narrator was excellent. it reminds me a bit of Starships Mage series