On the planet of Renascido, a mysterious stranger hires out of work computer genius Jin Liú to break into some very high security communications channels to discover some top secret information. Jin Liu doesn’t really have any option but to accept and begins the next years of his life in secrecy. But Jin is just one of several people work for the this mysterious stranger who is gathering data from many areas to discover a secret that could result in the extinction of humanity itself. While this is in motion, Captain Aral Nikumi finds his latest mission going from bad to worse when he encounters an unidentified object during his latest mission. When he reports it and locks down the ship, there is a mutiny and his superiors have to decide what to do with him and now the knowledge he possesses. There are several other stories that go on intertwined with these as the stakes begin to escalate.

This is a difficult book to review. While I understand that Space Opera can be about many different themes and stories that can seem disparate until all the threads pull together and provide an overarching story, this is still fragmented at the end of the novel, with little to nothing being resolved. It is the first in a two part series, but that doesn’t mean as if it should feel incomplete. There are several sections of the plot that seem there either to provide a bit of background or perhaps to add a character in for later, but don’t seem to provide any purpose to drive forward the story. Towards the end some of the questions are answered, but there are still several plots left to be wrapped up or even joined together in some ways.

It is a shame as the writing is quite excellent, delightfully descriptive and giving life to the city and planet of Renascido, from the highest of the high and the luxuries of their lives to the lowest of the low and the hardships they face. The majority of the characters are well fleshed out, even those who only appear for a little while and it is not afraid to put them through their highs and lows and how they respond and grow because of it. But as the stories being told are very different, I found myself paying less attention to some parts of the story to catch up with the next chapter involved in the characters I wanted to know about. Reading it was easy enough, the book is well laid out and in general reads fine, although there are a few typos which are distracting such as “very nation” instead of “every nation” on the first page of the story.

Overall, while it certainly attempts to grandiose in it’s scope, it’s the lack of cohesion that really plays against it. It feels like four or five very distinct stories playing out in the same universe with very little to tie it together. Perhaps the second and concluding part will accomplish this, which is a shame because if this book perhaps narrowed it’s focus, it could have been far more persuasive to recommend.

If you enjoy grandiose stories in the far future, this is likely to be for you, but the lack of focus left me a little cold.