My Book Review of The Tangled Stars by Edward Willett 

DESCRIPTION: 

More than a century ago, the network of MASTTs, the space-time tunnels that made interstellar travel possible, violently collapsed, the backlash destroying a lot of the solar system’s space-based infrastructure. Cooper “Coop” Douglas, a thief and conman, is in serious debt to outer-system crime-lord Eric Galioto. While trying to salvage a valuable chunk of a space station destroyed by the backlash, Coop makes a startling discovery: MASTT Primus, the tunnel that used to lead to New Earth, is open again. That raises an intriguing possibility: Coop could flee the solar system and his debt to Galioto and make a new life—and possibly fortune—around another star.

Accompanied by his first mate, the wisecracking, AI-uplifted, genetically modified cat Thibauld, Coop sets out to “liberate” the solar system’s only remaining functioning starship from an Earthside museum, enlisting the help of Laysa Grey, a former-lover-turned-cop on Luna. Along the way, he is pursued by Galioto and dogged by law enforcement and thugs.

And beyond MASTT Primus, the tangled stars await . . .

MY REVIEW:

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and WOW, what a ride.  I thoroughly enjoyed this story. 

Let’s start with Thibauld, the AI uplifted cat.  Every chapter started with a snippet from his journal and a few had me chuckling.  Willet nailed our perception of the feline species to a T.   He’s my favorite character in the tale.

Then there’s Coop and Laysa.  They are very well-written and developed.  They both have personal growth through out the story as they try to figure out where they stand with each other.  Will they, won’t they?

Galioto plays a perfect villain, though he’s not the only one. Who to trust and who not to?  There’s lots of intrigue and betrayal woven through out the plot. 

There were several times while I was reading that I stopped and went, Man, this would make an awesome movie.  I couldn’t help comparing it to several series like Firefly, Voyager, and Sliders.

The only drawback for me were all the side notes the author injected along the way.  I know it’s his writing style, but there were times when a side note took over the scene and totally disrupted the pace of the story.  Some were not even necessary to the furtherance of the plot. 

There’s no mention if this is a start of a series, but I hope so as there are a lot of unanswered questions.  I highly recommend this book for lovers of space opera, action and adventure, and readers who are looking for a wonderful story to get lost in.