Umbra: Sentient Stars

De: Amber Toro

Narrado por: Megan Carver, Benjamin Farmer

Umbra is the first book in the Sentient Stars trilogy, an intergalactic, space opera, adventure story, with a slow burn enemies to lovers romance, told from 3 POV’s with fully sentient starships, a militaristic society, alien worlds, and a signal in the darkness that threatens to destroy humanity.

Earth That Was has faded into myth. After millenia spent wandering, humans are no longer nomads. Twelve tribes stand allied under the United Tribal Axis; but there is a signal in the darkness that threatens to destroy everything.

All Skyla wanted after leaving the Navy was to be left alone. Just her ship, the stars, and a new adventure. But when a strange virus disables her ship, she is thrown into the middle of a conflict she doesn’t understand, forcing her to take on responsibilities she swore she never would again.

Hinata always followed the rules, honor above all else. He always won, until he didn’t. Sentenced to exile for his failures, he is determined to prove himself, until a mysterious woman arrives on his station and chaos threatens to break already fragile alliances.

Freyja was always angry, an outcast, playing the part of admiral and black ops operative. But she is tired of being a pawn in the Empress’ games and when she’s stranded on the wrong side of enemy lines after a vengeful battle, she’s forced to ally with her adversaries to clear her name.

A Rogue. A Commander. And an Admiral. Brought together by circumstance, held together by duty. Can they find a way to work together to save humanity?

©2024 Amber Toro (P)2024 Amber Toro

Space opera, love story, action!

Get this if: You love slow burn romance, you love space opera, you like a big emotional ending that pays off a lot of loose threads.

Once the two love interests begin to interact, I didn’t want to put it down. Investment in back stories pays off in megaton quantities. The bang-up conclusion features suspense, action, and an emotional tying up of some loose ends that had me wiping away a tear.

The voice actors made choices regarding some side-characters’ accents that I really enjoyed. It made it easier to distinguish among them.

Space Opera with heart

An interesting story that makes an excellent setup for a series. The opening is a bit confusing but once the story takes off it’s characters are great and the action is well written.
A male narrator does the chapters for the MMC very well and I wish he had a few more chapters. Both narrators did good, but the female narrator spent more time in the gutter trying to voice the MMC.

Sci-Fi Slow Burn

I love sci-fi and I love romance but anytime I’ve attempted to read a book that tried to blend the two genres, they always came up short. The romance always felt half baked or the sci-fi was seriously lacking. Until now. This book is a wonderful blend of both. It is a bit heavier on the sci-fi than the romance but it is a delightful slow burn with a strong female lead. Can’t wait for book two!

Firefly meets Arora Rising

This is a 4.5 star read in actuality, but closer to a 4 than a 5.

This review is for the readers, not the author. I would say I mostly loved it with very few things I didn't.

The writing was SO good. I was brought into the story right from the beginning and the whole time I wanted to know what would come next.

It has all the things I like about a space opera. It was like it pulled from very familiar stories such as Star Trek, Star wars, Red Rising, and even Sanderson's Skyward series.

The characters were fantastic. Everyone had their own voice and personality. I loved the different ways they played with and against the other personalities.

I loved the relationship between Skyla and her ship Pele, and I had feelings about Hinata and his ship too.

I'm very invested in Sky and Freya's friendship!! ,

I wasn't a huge fan of all the profanity. I don't know why. But that really bothers me. And I strongly disliked Tristan's playboy nature and exploits. He was believable, but gross.

What I did not find believable was the romantic tension. When the lovers would get together, I wasn't feeling it. That might just be me. Except for a moment of extreme stress at the end.

Even with those criticisms I really really loved it and can't wait to read the next one!!

Thanks to Amber Toro for the complimentary audiobook. All the opinions in this review are my own.

Such an enjoyable adventure!

I love this book, this is my second time reading and first time listening. This book had me at page one. Umbra stands out as a well developed, thoroughly enjoyable space opera with a cinematic feel that checks all the boxes of a good sci-fi. The moderate pace struck a nice cadence while allowing the depth required for a well thought out galactic world. The growth that happens for the characters was palpable. This book has heart and I'd recommend it to any reader looking for their next great adventure.

Action, Intrigue, and Unforgettable Narration

Umbra: Sentient Stars is an intergalactic adventure that absolutely delivered on its promise of space opera, political intrigue, and slow-burn romance. Amber Toro weaves a gripping narrative with fully sentient starships, alien worlds, and high-stakes drama, told masterfully through three distinct POVs.

The narration was nothing short of phenomenal. Megan Carver captured Skyla’s roguish charm and layers of vulnerability, while Benjamin Farmer gave Hinata the perfect blend of stoic honor and emotional complexity. Both narrators excelled at differentiating the characters with subtle inflections, ensuring the fast-paced dialogue and action sequences remained easy to follow. The chemistry they brought to Skyla and Hinata’s slow-burn romance was absolutely captivating and added so much emotional depth to the story.

The story itself had me hooked from start to finish. The clash of personalities between Skyla, Hinata, and Freyja created compelling tension, and the overarching conflict kept me on edge. The mix of cinematic action, political intrigue, and personal stakes made for an unforgettable reading (and listening!) experience.

Fans of space operas with heart and richly drawn characters will find Umbra: Sentient Stars an absolute delight. I can’t wait to see where the Sentient Stars trilogy takes us next!

Absolutely Fantastic!

Wow! This was such a great listen. The narrators did such a fantastic job with this. And Amber delivered such an amazing story that had me hooked from the start. I absolutely can not wait to see what's coming next with that ending.

Fast paced space opera

space opera with great characters and top notch narration. If you get a chance to listen, the narrators tackled the different characters with amazing precision and attention to detail as their voices needed to change when characters came up with specific dialects.
Humanity has taken to the stars and is ruled by the UTA. But with any leadership, it’s not always going to be perfect and some may want more power than they have….There are things in space we are searching for, but were we meant to find them? Told at an amazing pace UMBRA focuses on three perspectives all in varying levels of societal placement. A misfit who searches the stars for wreckage to be sold to the highest bidder, a disgraced captain placed far away to serve his time for failure and an admiral who was willing to do anything to get what she wanted.
This book is driven by mystery and political intrigue. Ancient structures that exist with advanced tech that no one understands, but are willing to pay high prices for. The battles in this book were amazing. Whether it be with humans or tech, the sequences flowed so nicely and I felt ambers grasp of her storytelling never stopped the flow.
The ships were ai driven and could be linked with the pilot. Giving the added character to the ship was a great touch as it humanized something we might take for granted.
This book has the political intrigue of Star Wars and the back alley planning, using mercs to set in motion events that would alter the course of the UTA.
There was plenty of quirky convos and the characters really kept the story moving so nicely. There were even a few SLOW BURNING romance stories brewing and hoping some resolution is obtained in the next book. Will be waiting patiently after this ending..

Excellent 🔥🔥🔥

For a book that is anything but relaxing, this narration makes you feel so relaxed. I listened to the majority of this book while driving around. Sometimes I struggle with getting frustrated while driving, and Megan Carver’s voice is so soothing that I found myself really getting lost in the story instead of being frustrated over minor inconveniences. Farmer and Carver do a great job narrating for our main characters, and I felt like I was able to get to know the characters even more by listening instead of reading.

I read Umbra when it first came out, but listening to it is SO worth the experience.

What are you waiting for? Read this!

This book is so much fun to read! It’s filled with space adventure and slow-burn romance! If you like Red Rising, you should definitely read this one! The narrators were fantastic, and both of them did the characters really well!