Preview
  • The Shattered Skies

  • The Cruel Stars Trilogy, Book 2
  • By: John Birmingham
  • Narrated by: Morgan Hallett
  • Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (83 ratings)

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The Shattered Skies

By: John Birmingham
Narrated by: Morgan Hallett
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Publisher's summary

Humanity’s last surviving heroes must protect a shattered civilization from an all-conquering enemy in this thrilling sequel to The Cruel Stars.

“[The Shattered Skies] is a delightful military space adventure that runs at full tilt.”—Booklist

The Sturm, an empire of “species purists,” have returned from the farthest reaches of Dark Space to wage a war against what they call mutants and borgs: any human being with genetic or neural engineering. In a sneak attack, they overwhelmed almost all of humanity’s defenses, blasting vicious malware across galaxy-spanning networks, dark code that transformed anyone connected to the system into a mindless psychotic killer. The Sturm’s victory seemed complete, their final triumph inevitable, until one small band of intrepid, unlikely heroes struck back.

Commander Lucinda Hardy and Admiral Frazer McLennan used the Armadalen Navy’s final surviving warship to fend off the Sturm, destroying the massed power of an entire Attack Fleet. With brilliant tactics—and support from drunken, grief-ravaged pirate Sephina L’trel and treasonous battle-rig operator Booker—this ragtag crew sent the Sturm running, managing to save Princess Alessia, the sole surviving heir to the gigantic Montanblanc ul Haq Corporation and perhaps Earth’s only remaining senator.

Now left with the remains of a fallen civilization, they must work together to rebuild what was lost and root out the numberless enemies of Earth. The Sturm invaders remain vastly more powerful—and they may not be the only threat lurking in the darkness of space.

©2022 John Birmingham (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“This is action-packed space opera at its most breathless.”At Boundary’s Edge

The Shattered Skies is brilliant, entertaining, and fast-moving. I’d give this six stars, but that’ll break the meter.”Interstellar Valley

“Birmingham follows The Cruel Stars with more heart-pounding, breakneck action in the fight for survival between factions with differing views on humanity. Fans of epic, military space opera with lots of last minute reversals will gobble this up.”Publishers Weekly

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