To Catch a Falling Leaf

The Stargazer's War: A Sci-fi Cultivation Epic, Book 2

De: J. P. Valentine

Narrado por: Connor Brannigan

Training is over. The hunt is on.

With Fyrion a distant speck behind us and the resources of the Dragon’s Right Eye out of reach, there’s only one place in the system we can go to gather the materials we need to advance to bronze.

Ilirian beckons.

But dangers lurk in those dark jungles, and the ruins of a civilization long dead house threats the likes of which no amount of training or meditation could’ve prepared us for. It’s advance or fall behind, and with the infinite sea at my back, there’s only one real option.

At least the monsters only want to kill me.

©2024 Nixia Publishing LLC (P)2024 Nixia Publishing LLC

It's a good book 2

A lot of secrets are revealed, a lot of cultivation progress occurs, and a lot of new world building is added on. You get hints of where this is all going as well as what happened to people in the first book. Basically, it's everything you could want in a second book that's trying to widen the story and progress the plot.

The narration is great again. Lots of emotion in the scenes you expect emotion in. Honestly just get the book if you want a cultivation scifi story, it's got everything you could want and not many pain points.

Brilliant

Great story continues. I hope that the next audio book in the series comes out quickly.

almost everything is what I like the most.

I don't really dislike anything the store so far is really good it's different from others too so far then not in the totally bad way.

Please keep it going

This is a very good series so far. The story is great and it seems the author is great at using foreshadow and building up the plot. Good Stories get small reviews unfortunately, mainly because I don't want to spoil it. I can only say give it a shot, It is not too complex, but does seem to building up a complexity that I find myself enjoying.

World Building

I’m slowly getting back into audiobooks and this series was a welcome refresher to why I should. I like to read manga, and there are a lot of series that start with cultivation and the different levels of progression. As a western individual, I find it very hard to sit through as there are so many different levels. The MCs are always focus on getting to the next level. These books strike a very good balance. Still a big development on the main characters, personal cultivation and progression, there is a lot of world building that I suspect will be more focused on than the next book. Xavier’s answer this book was obviously not a lie to the reader. The clash between society classes is escalating. It will be interesting to see how the author weaves the eventual clash and resolution.

Note for the author. There is a stark mirror to our reality between the working class and oligarchs. Your story won’t be complete without a mortal resistance against the MC that is convinced the sects are right and the mortals/MC are wrong. Maybe a group that blames the miners (the ones that protested for their safety) for how the sects currently treat them. Incorporate propaganda.

Thank you for an enjoyable listen.

It's Quality Work

Not much to say about this one.

The strengths of the first book were the setting, the characters, and the philosophy of practical nihilism. And in that regard, we've gotten a perfect continuation. More character stuff, a few cool insights in the setting, and a bunch of tidbits on apathetic philosophy.

The weaknesses of this book are much the same, though. Cal's "Divine Inspiration" at the end of the first book was pretty clearly a case of Deus Ex Machina, and we get another case of "incredibly convenient revelations" in this one.

That said, I don't really...care? The direct stakes of combat have never been what hooked me on this series, and they still don't, regardless of the Deus Ex Machina. Sure, they should all be dead, but it's more interesting if they're not. All this plot contrivance does is weaken the least interesting part of the series, so I give it a pass.

Also, in a pretty nice touch, we don't just forget Nick. And we explore the synergies of dark and light chi a bit more. While it's certainly pretty interesting, we're still on the building blocks of that system. So that's neat, but not very substantial, yet.

Overall, I highly recommend.

Issac

great book. just want to point out that negative review from Issac is so far off I honestly believe he is reviewing a different book.

Everything I wanted

Loved the character building, great dialogue. Waiting not so patiently for the net book. Keep up the good work!

Suffers a Little from Sequel Syndrome

Overall it's a good book, and Connor does an excellent job narrating just as he did with the first installment. It feels a little short in content, however, compared to the first book. The first book established a large amount of worldbuilding while this book simply builds on that foundation at a steady pace and feels more like a setup for the next book than a proper episode on its own.

This isn't to say that it's filler material - the book is remarkably absent of filler, particularly for the cultivation genre. Neither does it contain any notable plot holes. It's both highly focused on a single adventure while simultaneously developing multiple subplots, with the lightest of touches, that will clearly be explored in upcoming books.

It just ultimately left me wanting for more in the same way that a midday snack can awaken your appetite more than it sates it. This is good in terms of continuing a well-crafted story, and disappointing in terms of providing relief from the itch for a substantial step forward in the plot. I look forward to the next book, as I hope it will deliver that larger chunk of plot development that I'm craving.

If nothing else, the book does an excellent job of increasing the stakes and hyping up future events. It also re-contextualizes a few events/conversations from the first book in a way that makes it clear the author had a clear vision from the get-go.

5/5 - Would Lose Myself to the Void Again

Great world building, pacing and character development. Coupled by a solid production and narration, Outstanding overall.