Black Star Renegades

By: Michael Moreci

Narrated by: Dan Bittner

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

In the tradition of Star Wars, comics writer Michael Moreci presents a galaxy-hopping space adventure about a galactic kingdom bent on control and the young misfit who must find the power within before it's too late.

Cade Sura holds the future of the galaxy in his hands: the ultimate weapon that will bring total peace. He didn't ask for it, he doesn't want it, and there's no worse choice to wield it in all of space, but if he doesn't, everyone's totally screwed. The evil Praxis kingdom is on the cusp of having every star system under its control, and if that happens, there'll be no contesting their cruel reign. Especially if its fanatical overlord, Ga Halle, manages to capture Cade and snag the all-powerful weapon for herself.

Cade can't hide from Praxis, and he can't run from the destiny that's been shoved into his hands. So he only has one option:

He has to fight.

Cade's not going to let destiny send him on a suicide run, though. With some help from his friends - rebels and scoundrels alike - Cade's going to use this weapon to chart a new destiny for the galaxy, and for himself.

He just has to do so before everyone around him discovers that he's a complete and total fraud.

Blending the space operatics of Star Wars and the swagger of Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Star Renegades is an audiobook adventure that blasts its way from seedy spacer bars to sacred temples guarded by deadly creatures - all with a cast of misfit characters who have nowhere to go and nothing to lose.

©2018 Michael Moreci (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Part 'Star Wars' homage, part unexpected coming-of-age novel...Moreci balances character with plot very well; the story moves at a brisk pace, and the frequent action sequences fit in well with the overall story." — Los Angeles Times

"...character relationships, a sense of familial duty and a fast-paced narrative all make Renegades a worthwhile read." — USA Today

"Narrator Dan Bittner throws himself into this science-fiction adventure with the enthusiasm the story begs for...Bittner's narration is bold and declarative...his character voices are a treat." - AudioFile Magazine

Sci-fi fun ftw!

Great sci-fi adventure full of heart and fun. You'll love the characters and enjoy going on this journey with them. Highly recommended.

Breezy but fun! A lot more than expected.

For one the narrator is great. Definitely a high spot among a lot to like in this book.
Story wise it speeds along and has action filled hooks with every turn in the plot. The characters themselves weren't fleshed out to the point of over saturation but were certainly unique and Dan Bittner's narration was key to that.
The plot itself won't tax your mind to much and the dialog is quite fun.
This book is a great in between books book. Fast. Fun. Doesn't taken itself too serious. I'll definitely be listening to the rest of the series.

Okay

There's nothing wrong with this story, but little to compel either. It's just fun, despite the predictability and cliches. Good vocal performance though.

Star Wars clone

What can you say about a clone, except that it’s a pale version of its predecessor.

Performance was good.

it's okay

this book is just okay. I didn't really care what happened to Cade and his friends. this story feels cliche.

Great narrator, but very middle of the road book.

The book started off with action to hook the reader, then quickly delved into too much exposition of the world and backstory. Some people enjoy that, but I find books more interesting when they tie the history into the action, instead of force feeding it to us all at once. The middle and end were much better, but still, nothing really stood out as exceptional to me. Decent read, but it doesn't inspire me to read the sequel.

Familiar, fast paced, engaging

Black Star Renegades check all the boxes for great light reading for sci-fi fans. It earns its reputation as a love letter to Star Wars and space opera in general. The story progresses at break-neck pace, has many well-defined multi-dimensional characters (sympathetic on both sides of the fight), and throws just the right number of curveballs to keep you guessing at the next step.

Needless to say, I’m very impressed by Moreci’s debut novel, as well as the quality of Bittner’s performance.

If anything critical must be said, it would be the very mild amount of earth-specific jargon and slang, of which most pop sci-fi is guilty. It’s more a style preference than fault.

Still, a highly rewarding read that I will gladly follow into its sequel(s).

Awesome sci-fi book!

A super fun science fiction space epic. Moreci’s love letter to Star Wars is enjoyable from beginning to end.

wow that was impressively bad

bad physics, bad character development, bad dialogue, unexplainable inattentive motivation changes, did they only read every other chapter?

just wow...

the dialogue is a cringefest, this is by far the hardest book to finish. Painful