Title: Zenith Dream
Series: Broken Moon: Book Three
Author: F.T. Lukens
Publisher: Interlude Press/Duet Books
Length: 258 Pages
Category: Sci-Fi, Teen Fiction
At a Glance: These are people who will live on in your heart and mind well after you turn the final page. The story is just that good. I highly recommend not only this installment but the entire Broken Moon series to you.
Reviewed By: Sammy
Blurb: When Ren wakes from his life-threatening injury on the Star Stream, he learns that Asher has left with the Phoenix Corps and that the Corps believes Ren to be dead. Despite the opportunity to disappear, Ren is determined to fix his mistakes. He convinces the crew to join him for one last mission—find Asher, free Liam, and escape from the Corps’ reach. But a war is brewing between two formidable armies, and, despite his wish to flee, Ren is drawn into the conflict. With his friends by his side, Ren must make a choice, and it will affect the future of his found family and the cluster forever.
Review: Unbelievably, I am not a huge science fiction fan; although, recently, I have reviewed several new novels in this genre, but none have thrilled me more than the release of F.T. Lukens’ final book in the Broken Moon series entitled Zenith Dream. I have been waiting with bated breath to see what would happen with poor Ren and Asher and the motley crew of the spaceship Star Stream since the second novel ended with such a gut wrenching cliffhanger. Before I continue, I will warn you there will be spoilers here if you have not read the previous two novels in this series, The Star Host and Ghost & Ashes, respectively. I would encourage you to grab them up, because I feel this is perhaps some of the best Sci-Fi work I have read in a long time.
So when we last left our intrepid crew, Ren had been horribly betrayed by Millicent, and presumed dead. Asher was grabbed by the corps and hustled off to a place no one knew about. After six weeks of recovery, Ren wakes aboard the ship just as it’s being broken into while the rest of the crew is on the drift they’ve landed on. Thwarting the spunky thief, Darby, Ren collapses in exhaustion. But not for long. He is determined to find Asher and save him. Rowan, the captain of their ship and brother to Asher, agrees to help, as does the rest of the crew. They enlist Darby’s help and all too soon realize that the danger Millicent represented is far from over; in fact, she is just getting started, killing corps members who don’t willingly follow her, and conquering one small drift after another.
First Ren must find Asher, then he must find his brother, Liam, who has also been taken by the corps and whom Ren believes is imprisoned in perilous space. If he doesn’t get himself and everyone else killed doing all that, then he will finally have to face down Millicent—another star who wreaks havoc with his emotions and his powers to the point where he appears to be unstable and dangerous, even to the crew he loves. But Ren is about to discover just how much power he holds and if he can wield it without going all supernova and imploding.
There is never a moment in this novel when you disbelieve that Ren loves Asher and will do anything to find him and keep him safe. The tentative emotional attachment we saw growing between Asher and Ren in the first two novels blossom into a full-blown relationship in this one, and it is really quite lovely to watch unfold. Along with that, we get even more time spent with the crew: Ollie being like Ren’s protective shadow, and even Lucas, the navigator, opening up and admitting his growing respect and friendship with Ren. The feisty Darby is a fantastic addition to the group as she lends much-needed humor to one tense life threatening situation after another. It certainly spices things up when they realize how much she loves to play with explosives.
With not one but two daring rescue missions to execute and then the final confrontation where most all the baddies of both novels come back into play, this novel barely gives a reader time to breathe before jetting off to another harrowing job. But it is those rare moments between Asher and Ren, when they are alone and emotionally intimate, that really provide the most beautiful of interludes. Note that I said emotionally intimate; there is no doubt that this is a young adult novel, but I must honestly tell you that the story is so riveting the lack of on-page sex will not be missed by anyone, fan of the series or new to this author’s work.
F.T. Lukens is a gifted writer, creating alternate worlds and inhabiting them with fascinating characters who may fall to the traumas they endure but are never ruled out for long. They are resilient and courageous, and I love that this author took the time to create more than one hero in the series. The love story is there and a vibrant part of the novel. These are people who will live on in your heart and mind well after you turn the final page. The story is just that good. I highly recommend not only this installment but the entire Broken Moon series to you. Sci-Fi lover or not, this trio of tales will make you a fan of space adventures, guaranteed.
You can buy Zenith Dream here:
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