These Burning Stars

De: Bethany Jacobs

Narrado por: Natalie Naudus

A dangerous cat-and-mouse quest for revenge. An empire that spans star systems, built on the bones of a genocide. A carefully hidden secret that could collapse worlds, hunted by three women with secrets of their own. All collide in this twisty, explosive space opera debut, perfect for readers of Arkady Martine and Kameron Hurley.

Jun Ironway—hacker, con artist, and occasional thief—has gotten her hands on a piece of contraband that could set her up for life: proof that implicates the powerful Nightfoot family in a planet-wide genocide seventy-five years ago. The Nightfoots control the precious sevite that fuels interplanetary travel through three star systems. And someone is sure to pay handsomely for anything that could break their hold.

Of course, anything valuable is also dangerous. The Kindom, the ruling power of the star systems, is inextricably tied up in the Nightfoots’ monopoly—and they can’t afford to let Jun expose the truth. They task two of their most brutal clerics with hunting her down: preternaturally stoic Chono, and brilliant hothead Esek, who also happens to be the heir to the Nightfoot empire.

But Chono and Esek are haunted in turn by a figure from their shared past, known only as Six. What Six truly wants is anyone’s guess. And the closer they get to finding Jun, the surer Chono is that Six is manipulating them all.

​It's a game that could destroy their lives and devastate the stars. And they have no choice but to see it through to the end.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Like every good revenge story,These Burning Stars is baroque, intense, inventive, vivid, violent, and visceral. An impressive debut.” —Kate Elliott, author of Unconquerable Sun

"I love a book that makes me pay attention and rewards me for it. I love even more a book with complicated, messy politics. But really, I'm here for the characters, and Jacobs ' are compelling, flawed, tragic and hopeful at the same time. What's that? There's a sequel? I can't wait."—K. Eason, author of Nightwatch Over Windscar

“A richly imagined space opera packed with intricate worldbuilding, compelling prose, and twisty politics, artfully woven together and delivered through a cast of fallible, endearing characters. An incredible debut perfect for fans of Ann Leckie, Kate Elliott, and Scalzi’s Interdependency series.”—J. S. Dewes, author of The Last Watch

“A sizzling political space opera exploring the borders of passion and monstrosity, hunter and hunted, obsession and devotion. Jacobs is an exciting new author to watch.”—Essa Hansen, author of Nophek Gloss

“With a cast of deliciously dangerous characters and a gloriously executed plot that twists like a knife, this propulsive debut heralds the start of a sweeping space opera saga in the vein of Ann Leckie and Alastair Reynolds. Bethany Jacobs is an ingenious worldbuilder and a stunning new voice to look out for in sci-fi.”—Ren Hutchings, author of Under Fortunate Stars

“The vivid characters and ratcheting plot tension kept me racing through the book. And as soon as I hit the last page, I immediately wanted to turn right back and read it all over again just to savor the elegance with which it builds to its explosive conclusion. Jacobs' trilogy is destined to be the space opera of the decade and I can't wait to have the next one in my hands!”—Rebecca Fraimow, author of The Iron Children

“If I were to say that this was the best debut novel I've read in a long time, I would be doing it a disservice. It's more than that—it's one of the best SF books I've read period. It has it all: jump off the page action, wild twists, superb world building. And the characters! It's rare that an author can make you care about so many different characters the way that Jacobs does. Go ahead and pencil her in for your Astounding Award ballot for best new author.”—Michael Mammay, author of Planetside

Great story!

Awesome characters. Characters you love to hate and others you root for!Can't wait to continue the story.

Beautifully written with engaging plot

This was a great read! Wonderful world building. Dynamic diverse characters with complex motivations and emotions. Definitely recommend!

Intriguing if a bit convoluted

I enjoyed the plot and the characters, and I really appreciate female-led storylines in sci-fi because they are so rare. I did not appreciate the complexity of the setting (multiple worlds) because it was overdone for my preferences. I get that the author wants to set up a series, but the investment in learning these worlds wasn’t worth while for me.

The writing was okay and the voice actor did a fine job. I wish the characters had been more interesting. They seemed two dimensional. But no regrets. I just don’t want to follow along to the next book, which was set up at the end.

Visceral, Passionate, Queer

The narration embodies each character's tone, mannerisms, and accent; which is good because this book writes evocative characters. Intricately paced, dripping with passion, caked with blood, this book is violently delightful to read

Great from start to finish!

I was so pleased with this book. First of all, I will listen to anything this narrator reads. I have never read this author before and I am hooked. The story kept getting better and better as each chapter progressed. Nothing was predictable and every character was perfectly flawed. So much anticipation when you had no idea where the story was going. I can't wait to read the rest of the books.

Wow - what an excellent space opera 🚀

I just finished the sapphic space opera “These Burning Stars (The Kindom Trilogy #1)” by Bethany Jacobs and I absolutely loved it.

The narrator Natalie Naudus, as usual does an excellent job with a very large cast of characters.
Her voices are always so distinct.

The audiobook comes with a PDF which I recommend downloading as a reference since it lists character genealogy and world maps. I enjoyed “These Burning Stars” so much though that I ended up buying the ebook too.

The story stars two “Killing Eve“ type characters (brilliant, beautiful, and brutal) who obsessively chase each other across the galaxy trying to destroy one another, a female warrior cleric who is dedicated to them both, and an expert hacker and her female lover who is also a trained assassin.

The wide ranging and page turnery plot includes intricately layered mysteries, buried secrets, corrupt governments, unscrupulous leaders, political versus religious intrigue, ruthless families, constant tension, action, chaos, obsessions, time jumps, and so many twists. It’s cleverly written and has such compelling, complex, and badass characters.

The story also presents an interesting view on gender. Everyone has the right to gender themselves as soon as they discover what fits. All job titles in the society are gender neutral - the author uses the non gendered “aan” as a descriptor : businessaan, guardsaan, doorsaan, cloaksaan, etc.

There are so many twists that it’s the kind of book that when you finish it you want to start reading again from the beginning in order to view the bread crumb trail with a different perspective.

I would highly recommend “These Burning Stars” by Bethany Jacobs to anyone who enjoys reading a well written space opera with rich world building, morally grey but surprisingly likable characters, action, adventure, mysteries, many twists, and such an emotionally satisfying ending!

I loved it - easily one of my favorite books of the year.

wonderful world building

I really loved the immersive world and it's complexity. There are multiple schemes going on that keeps the story going while providing some wonderful twists. The multiple POV was awesome. Overall it was an enjoyable listen and I'm looking forward to book 2!! And a stunning narration.

Personally, I found the character of Jun a little one-note and I wasn't too invested in her story. But the characters around her kept me going. And just a warning for listeners--it was hard to keep up with the time jumping because the year was said at the top of the chapter, but then I wasn't able to go back and reference the time in relation to previous chapters.

Excellent space opera, will be a trilogy!

This space opera is excellent both on its own and as the beginning of an upcoming trilogy. It kept me guessing, excited, following characters I loved from multiple factions while they made choices with far reaching consequences.

The narrator used distinct voices for each. This was especially important in a story where characters sometimes impersonated each other.

Wow

Thats the best i can do. I not sure i can remember a book that tied up all the loose threads seemingly with one hour to go, and then completely surprised me in the best way with a shocking, but so fitting conclusion. I' m still stunned and will be thinking about this book for some time. In so many ways a dark book, but the ending left such a sense of goodness and hope. The best feelings one can hope for when leaving a great narration of a great book. Suzanne

The World, the characters, the intrigue

Such good charcters. The world building seemlessly plays into how the character interact with the environment, nothing feels out of place. The narrator does a great job of pacing things nicely given the context of the page.

Everyone will love hating Esek.