Book Review: Black Star Renegades by Michael Moreci

This review was first published by Booklist on December 1, 2017.

Rai brothers Cade and Tristan Sura are elite warriors dedicated to keeping peace. Tristan is destined to become the Paragon, wielder of a legendary weapon that can protect civilization from an evil empire threatening to take over the galaxy. But when Tristan dies, Cade is stuck with the weapon—and saving civilization. Problem is, he doesn’t want the job. Moreci’s debut novel is a delightful mash-up of genre tropes: a reluctant hero, swashbuckling space adventure, martial arts, an evil empire, a scrappy band of outcasts, and a sentient killer robot. It’s a loving ode to the science fiction Moreci grew up with. The pacing is fast and exciting, strong on action and generous with humor. Moreci’s writing style could stand to be a bit more sophisticated; he doesn’t fully adapt to prose from his beloved work in comics (Roche Limit, 2015). But he clearly has fun telling this story, and his joy is infectious; fans of his work in comics and the online Star Wars community will be looking for this one.