Published: May 23, 2023
Publisher: Orbit
Series: The Devoured Worlds #1
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 491 (Paperback)
My Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis:
When a spy is stranded on a dead planet with her mortal enemy, she must first figure out how to survive before she can uncover the conspiracy that landed them both there in the first place.
She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.
He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.
Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.
I must ashamedly admit, I’ve had this book on my shelf since before its release in 2023. I had intentions of reading it then, but sometimes life and a TBR tall enough to fall over and crush me gets in the way. In the interest of time and using up some Audible credits, I decided to check out the audiobook and I’m so glad I did because I loved the narration, which added more life to the story!
The Blighted Stars is the first book in Megan E. O’Keefe’s The Devoured Worlds trilogy and it really outdid itself. This follows three primary POV characters – Naira Sharp, Tarquin Mercator, and Acaelus Mercator – as their mining ship, The Amaranth, begins malfunctioning right at the beginning of the book and they must escape to the uncharted cradle world below. To provide some much needed context for the rest of my summary, you must know that this is a society where minds are mapped and stored and bodies can be reprinted with or without enhancements to strength, speed, healing, etc. on demand. Naira was printed in the body of E-X Lockhart for some unknown reason and is now guarding Tarquin, heir to the Mercators on this strange and hostile planet rather than murdering him as she would like to do. Naira, a former E-X turned rebel, was convicted and ‘put on ice’ by the Mercators for later torment and Tarquin helped in her conviction. Tarquin finds himself on what should be the pristine Sixth Cradle, but finds it already infected with a fungus called the Shroud which should be impossible. He begins to question both his family’s honesty and many of his previously held assumptions. Then there’s Acaelus, who died aboard The Amaranth and has now been reprinted and is dealing with the fallout of the failed mission and the other predatory families in power.
That’s quite a long summary, but The Blighted Stars is a complicated book with many layers that I simply could not put down. I dedicated a great deal of time to some mindless games and household tasks just to keep my hands busy while my mind was on Sixth Cradle following the somewhat terrifying journey of Naira and Tarquin. While Acaelus’s chapters provided an interesting look into the MERIT families that run the universe, he’s by far the least interesting character. Naira is fascinating and seeing her vacillate between wanting to strangle Tarquin and also kiss him is bizarrely endearing. She’s got a lot of personal baggage to unpack and justifiably so. Tarquin is one of those characters you can’t help but to love because he’s genuinely a good person and actually learns from his myriad mistakes throughout the book. Lest I forget to mention, there is something of a sci-fi horror element to The Blighted Stars, though I won’t reveal what it is because that would ruin the fun of you finding out for yourself! It doesn’t dominate the plot or the overall feel of the book, but it does add an exciting element of danger that makes every unusual sound the characters hear even more ominous.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Blighted Stars and have the next book queued up soon! I read very little science fiction as it just doesn’t appeal to me quite as much as fantasy, but I’m so glad I made time for this and hope to wrap up the entire trilogy in the first half of 2025. This is great if you like stories that aren’t just one-dimensional in terms of plot because it has a great blend of science fiction, horror, and even a delightfully satisfying romantic subplot that adds yet another layer of tension to the story.
Powder & Page 