Stars Uncharted

By: S. K. Dunstall

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

In this rip-roaring space opera, a ragtag band of explorers are out to make the biggest score in the galaxy.

On this space jump, no one is who they seem....

Captain Hammond Roystan is a simple cargo runner who has stumbled across the find of a lifetime: the Hassim, a disabled exploration ship - and its valuable record of unexplored worlds.

His junior engineer, Josune Arriola, said her last assignment was in the uncharted rim. But she is decked out in high-level bioware that belies her humble backstory.

A renowned body-modification artist, Nika Rik Terri has run afoul of clients who will not take no for an answer. She has to flee off-world, and she is dragging along a rookie modder, who seems all too experienced in weapons and war....

Together this mismatched crew will end up on one ship, hurtling through the lawless reaches of deep space with Roystan at the helm. Trailed by nefarious company men, they will race to find the most famous lost world of all - and riches beyond their wildest dreams....

©2018 S. K. Dunstall (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A fun adventure novel with an irresistible ragtag crew." (The Washington Post)

"An absorbing space opera, in the tradition of The Expanse and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet." (Charles Stross, award-winning author of The Delirium Brief)

"[A] brilliant female-driven tale...Readers of Asimov, Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga, or Anne McCaffey's Pern series will enjoy this story." (Booklist, starred review)

Best space opera I've listened to in awhile

I'm not sure when I bought this audiobook. Last night I was bored with what I was listening to and went searching in my Series and spotted one I didn't remember.

While, at times, I wondered when the story was going to go places, once Nika and Snow joined the Road, the story took off and was a constant ride from there to the end. I loved the characters - from the calm assurance of Royston, to the warrior Josune, the artistic Nika to the perfectionist youngster Snow, and from the passionate chef Jacques to Carlos, the Road's engineer, I loved each of the Road's crew. Each had a distinct personality that stayed true.

There was more than enough medi-science to bring the SF to the fore, but not too much to where I stopped listening.

While I had figured out who Royston was early on, it did not dull my interest in the story or where it was going. I now look forward to listening to the 2nd book in the series

Left with mixed feelings

There is enough in this to make me hope that this could be the beginning of a great series. However, authors are playing with dice when they not only immediately start with ongoing events, and many mysteries, but then proceed with slow world-building and sparse reveals that help uncover what is actually happening, as occurred in this book. Between the a narrator's whisper-like tone to evoke a sense of urgency, and the author's weak character development, I had trouble engrossing myself in the story or even caring about the characters. I can see now, at the end, the merits of the story and the characters, but would probably need to listen to this again before continuing with the series.

Unique to me

I thought this book would be about space travel and going into new places. And while that is part of it, the main plot revolves around Nikka Rik Terri, a body modder trying to escape her abusive ex. I really enjoyed the details of body modifications and how they work in this science fiction. It was the first time I read anything like it.

Fun Space Opera!!

It gets a little repetitive, though, having the same types of encounters with the same enemies over and over again. Also, the crew seems to be completely oblivious to the danger those enemies represent, seeming so ill prepared and ending up in exactly the same "boat" each time. Oh, well! it is still an engaging story and the kind of space opera we adoring sci-fi junkies live for!! The narrator is excellent. Without her well-metered flow and distinctive voice differentiation it might have been more of a struggle.

A Winter Sale Treasure

This was a fun space opera that gripped me from the first scene. Very addictive. Emily Woo Zeller does a great job; she’s one of my favorite narrators.

Modding the Galaxy

Crazy body hacks ala John Ringo's There Will Be Dragons, great multidimensional characters, and some interesting ideas I'd like to see a sequel develop further. Honestly, my biggest complaint is that it doesn't feel finished.

Great Characters. A story that keeps your interest

Really good story. Intriguing characters. Good to see characters that aren't one dimensional and technology that you want more depth on.

Ok

This book wasn’t bad, but not great either. It certainly had a lot of action but the entire time the protagonists are on the run. It never seemed like they chose a course for themselves.

Maybe for that reason, maybe the narrator, but I never really got into this book. There are some interesting concepts like body/gene modding and some of the characters are interesting but the plot was lacking for me.

One of the characters, Snow, keeps on saying things like “you can’t do that” or “that will kill them” when he is obviously wrong and that was a major negative. If it was once or twice it would have been OK, but it must have been 10 times, and it just begins to get on your nerves.

I’ll skip the other books in the series.

Good story

Story was very entertaining and the reader did an excellent job with it. Kept me wanting to come back and finish it. The interaction between characters was well written.

Narration and story is grating

Slow moving story. Written in the style that aims to frustrate the reader that is popular in recent years. Key characters slow to react, passive, etc. Narrator drops into a desperate whisper at times that I find irritating.