Far in the future, in a galaxy not so far away…

Starquest was sold to me as a loving homage to Star Wars, but a fresh and renewed approach to the theme; as a fan of both Star Wars and the author, I had to try it.

I had high expectations, but was still blown away. The prologue alone got me hooked on the first book; Book 1 got me hooked on the series.

The theme is Space Opera more than it is Science Fiction. Theoretically, the spaceships and supertechnology have a hand-wavey physical explanation. But the author does not waste your time explaining them, as the priority is the finer things in stories: Adventure, Romance, Revenge, Pirates, Space Princesses, and the Annihilation of Entire Planets.

The setting is clearly inspired by Star Wars, and when the narrative describes Recent Historical Events you will hear some familiar story beats. Fortunately, the author has a creative imagination and made the setting his own. There is much that has no parallel in Star Wars; the robots, for example, are much like the robots from Isaac Asimov, but inventors have managed to jailbreak them to circumvent or add their own programming. This lets the author put in backstory plots and setting details - the Rebels had developed a Liberty Code to give robots the free will to disobey orders, the Empire had retaliated by purging their navigator-bots - which would have been impossible if the author merely reskinned the setting by renaming everything.

Instead, the author gave himself the freedom to recreate the theme of Space Opera, but in his own way. Even those things that are similar to Star Wars get a fresh and unique feel, so it never felt like I was re-reading something I’ve already heard before. Since he is a master of the craft, the result is a gripping adventure.

The heroes are really heroic, and also Way Cool. Chapter 1 opens with Athos Lone of Star Patrol infiltrating a pirate ship alone by crawling inside a rocket engine and cutting a hole in the side. Then, he must sneak through the ship undetected, climbing on the ceilings with use of an ancient Mask of a long-dead mariner, whose death-mask gives the wearer his strength and stamina. And, because he was a lion-man, it also gives the wearer lightsaber claws.

The Evil Empire is really evil, and also Way Cool. Chapter 5 begins with the Empire accepting a planet’s surrender by landing a dreadnought on top of the capital city, crushing the former government buildings and anybody who didn’t manage to evacuate. Then the ship lifts off and blasts the rubble to slag… which forms a nice, flat parade ground, and the legions march out for the military demonstration.

You will not find hamfisted lectures about contemporary political topics. What political narratives there are, are fit into the setting proper, and are never overbearing. “Evil Empires are Bad, Liberty is Good, but the newly formed Commonwealth must prove it can keep the peace, let’s go on an adventure.”

“Space Pirates of Andromeda” was the most fun I’ve had reading in years. I eagerly look forward to the sequels.

Disclosure: I backed the crowdfund campaign, so I received an advance copy for proofreading. I was not paid for this service.

Bouncing back and forth on the timeline isn't my favorite thing; but there was a nice, clean storyline there at the end. I have read a majority of JCW's published stuff and have enjoyed the tributes that he does for authors and stories that have influenced him. In fact (and as was probably his intention), they have led me to explore new authors (ex. William Hope Hodgson). Overall, there was plenty of action, lore and intrigue packed into this short, approachable novel. Note: Kindle version had a lot of typos - makes the work seem rushed.

Fun, fun, fun! Straightforward adventure in another galaxy without a bunch of contemporary nonsense to break the immersion. Highly recommend for those just looking for a little heroic escapism

A great book from John C. Wright! Space Opera at is finest. However, I do encourage him to revisit this work and check for typos. No misspellings per se, but some things that spellcheck cannot always catch. I won't diminish my rating over this, but it can really take the reader out of the setting when a polity called 'the Republic' is referred-to in subsequent chapters as 'the Commonwealth'.

Space Pirates of Andromeda is John C. Wright's attempt to bring back bold stories of heroism in the vein of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon and John Carter of Mars. And he succeeds. This is a glorious adventure featuring a noble hero, a magical space princess, mysteries, cliffhangers, an evil empire of darkness, space knights, killer robots, non-killer robots, monsters, struggles against impossible odds, cool weapons... and a scene in which a character escapes death by riding a shark.

I loved this book. I am handing this book off to my kids now that I've finished reading it. I am buying the next book in the series the moment it becomes available.

The beginning volume of Starquest tells a good story and sets a promising foundation. The lead characters are likable enough to care about and root for. The reason I gave four stars rather than five was because of an over-abundance of fight scenes, with long, blow-by-blow descriptions of Athos (the most martial of the protagonists) facing enemy warriors, monsters, and pirates. I eventually started skimming those sections looking for where the story picked up again. I understand that, for some readers, an abundance of fight scenes is an attraction. And, in the end, the story told during intermissions between battles was good enough that I intend to buy the next volume.

I'm not going to analyze the plot or anything, but John Wright's writing is beautiful and amazing. This is the most satisfying read I've had in far too long a time, the work of a clear sci-fi grandmaster.

This is the beginning of an epic saga filled with honorable knights, feisty and charitable princesses, evil empires and the unmen who serve them. Pirates and princes battle for survival against an empire that can darken the stars and who all but a few believe vanquished. Tech that is at the level of magic, and spirit blades powered by the unquenchable flames of the righteous soul designed to burn through steel and soul alike. Robots both free and enslaved with uncanny insight into morality and logic of the universe. Dark allies and darker things that exist between the light of the stars. This book has it all without the nialism so inherent in current media. This is one of those shut up and take my money kind of series.

I was aware of this project for many years. Glad to see that it is ready for the public. JCW has a way with words that make him worthy of the title of Grand Master of sf. The worldbuilding is vast with knightly orders, empires both ancient and wicked, pirates, heroes villains and most importantly space princesses! Looking forward to the rest of the series. 12 books if I'm not mistaken.

There's nothing not to like - high adventure, vivid characters and unambiguous good versus transparent evil. After decades of the gritty, grim and morally ambiguous offerings of film and television, this book is a brightly coloured sorbet to cleanse the palate. Crucially, JCW writes superb villains for his heroes to sharpen themselves against. The evil empire described is unremittingly awful in a variety of imaginative and chilling ways, but the good guys shine all the more brightly for it. The universe that the plot occupies is pleasingly rich and coherent. There is no dead wood here, no long, boring diversions to a soapbox. The plot rattles along at a good pace. I was very entertained and I look forward to the forthcoming sequels with relish.

Clever and fun. Good prose but the right balance that it doesn’t get in the way of the story but still develops characters and surroundings. Mostly faced paced and moments where it spends time on details are quite good — couple of real touching moments. One sometimes wishes more time was spent robot lore and scenes are too good to be so brief. Still a nice change that this doesn’t try to be a 600 page laborious world builder while still having backstory depth.

Bought this book on a whim. As someone who grew up on up on the likes of Leigh Brackett, Henry Kuttner, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Kenneth Bulmer, Lin Carter, Flash Gordon, and many others, I have mourned the lack of decent modern space opera. So I got this book on a whim. I was shocked. This book is excellent. The story is fast-paced and very interesting, has a wonderfully imaginative plot, appealing characters, and very solid writing. If you enjoy old-school space opera, then I highly recommend this book.

Interesting and engaging characters, both on the good and bad side. A lot of promise for the series as a whole. However I must agree with some others sentiments regarding verbosity. It is present throughout but most marked during the fight sequences, making it somewhat of a trudge through those sections.