Stardreamer

Even though I absolutely love the story, I had to give the 1st book 3 stars because of the massive amount of editing errors in it. Not so with this one! There were a few minor errors, but he must have gotten an all new editor for book two. Can't wait to buy book 3 when it comes out! (Reviewed at amazon.com)

I spent long pondering whether the book is 3 or 4 stars. I'll dissect my thoughts as follows:

Technique

Mr. Forsberg flavours his pages with a delightfully vast vocabulary conveying the impression that the reader is now in the hands of a practised writer. Disjointed narrative, with frequent jumps between backstories and subplots, is growing into his voice, but is not quite there yet. It could be argued that enhanced capability of some characters is in itself Deus Ex Machina leading into eucatastrophic halts.

Environment

Second in the Shades Space Opera -series, the Stardreamer, follows its predecessor into the noirish world of grimy Spit City, corrupt galactic organisations and the quotidian grind of space-faring undesirables. The world is mostly experienced by living it through the minds and senses of the characters. The reader is empowered into a god-like being that could tap into synapses of the characters and observe the nascent affairs in situ. The book inserts a completely new location, Remola, with its indigenous population into the Shades world inventory. This new development could have benefited from more thorough detailing as it was definitely sub-par in the ADVANCE READER COPY -version when compared to earlier locations that had their backdrop and expectations subconsciously set by the well-known mainstream Sci-Fi.

Experience

After a sporty start the middle region felt like wading through a muddy backwater while trying to connect detached plots. However, the story manages to ramp-up its engines towards the ending, but I have to say that the cliffhanger felt unsatisfactory.
Putting it bluntly the first book of the Shades Space Opera -series, the Starcrasher, was more balanced and stellar performance. This one felt more rushed and unpolished, which may be a set of qualities pertaining to the ADVANCE READER COPY -version itself, thus I'm willing to round it to 4. (Reviewed at amazon.com)

I thoroughly enjoyed my return to Rock's writing, devouring Stardreamer in a matter of days. The twists and turns were great - I still get chills thinking about one in particular. Character development is well done, and it is interesting to see how all the characters have grappled with their "success" in book 1. Finally, the writing, whilst good in Starcrasher, moves to a new strength in this book and was a joy to read. (Reviewed at amazon.com)

Stardreamer is the second instalment in Shades Space Opera Series. It continues the story of Tredd Bounty and his friends, and it is written with the same style and quality as the first book. Therefore, if you liked the first book, you like this one, too. I really liked it. (Reviewed at goodreads.com)