The Brighter The Stars – Bryan Prosek

Once again, I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with this amazing opportunity to read this book. Bryan Prosek has such a unique and different writing style to what I’m used to, and it was really nice to read his book The Brighter The Stars. This is one of the first sci-fi novels I’ve read in quite a long time, so I have to admit, it did take me a while to get into, however, the storyline was super addicting and I became really into it which made me want to read 24/7. 

Plot

The Brighter The Stars takes place far in the future, and Earth has discovered other planets, life forms, and types of medications. One of the most important discoveries was Haelatite crystals that could be ground to a powder as a cure for various diseases, or kept as a full solid to use for powerful weapons. Earth is no longer divided into continents, but sectors, and our main character, Jake Saunders lives in the military sector. Sector four is military run, with the president included. 

Jake Saunders witnesses a horrible crime as a fourteen year old. After witnessing his Uncle Ben’s murder by another planet’s leader named Romalor, Jake is traumatized, and is unfortunately ignored. Uncle Ben dies protecting a record sized crystal brought into Sector four headquarters illegally. The government covers up the attack on Sector four headquarters and it isn’t thought of until eight years later. 

Eight years later, Jake is put in a position to take his revenge on the leader of the other planet. The huge crystal was detected, and Jake and his best friend Cal, along with Cal’s sister and Jake’s crush Diane, are sent to the planet Craton to find out more information. Jake, Cal and Diane are captured by Romalor, Craton’s leader and Jake’s Uncle’s killer. 

Jake and Cal are able to escape Romalor, and they head back to Earth with more information to find their superior for help. Frank, their superior and close friend helps them out and they discover a huge crystal dealing, and a mole inside the presidential mansion that is covering everything up. 

Jake finally gets his opportunity for revenge, and he finds that there are more important things in life, than dwelling on the past. 

Characters

Jake Saunders was our main character in this story and I really did like him. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and he really just wanted to defend his Uncle’s honor and get the revenge that he deserved. I think that Jake deserved better, especially since this book takes place in the span of a couple days and that’s an awful lot to go through. Overall though, he seemed pretty OK for a character.

Cal was kind of amazing. He made the story really funny, and he was practically a child in a man’s body. He was also super smart and I felt like he really knew what he was doing which made the entire journey that much better. On top of that, his tech skills were awesome. I felt like he was definitely an amazing side character, and he added a lot more depth to the book too. 

Diane was also a really interesting character. I always love a good strong, independent woman in a story, and she portrayed it perfectly. Diane’s amazing depth of knowledge of other planets, and her strength to be herself made me enjoy the book that much more. She was a character I really wanted to read more about. 

Setting

Earth was one of the main settings of this book. Earth has been split into eight sectors instead of continents now which I found really interesting. Sector four, the military sector was our main setting and it seemed pretty amazing. The technology has advanced greatly, which is what I usually expect in a good sci-fi novel, and just in general the entire world seemed like a better, more advanced place. 

Craton was also a setting that we became very familiar with. Craton sounded horrible in my opinion. It was described as super hot and humid, which, dont get me wrong, I love the heat, but not too much of it. It also seemed kind of dry and it just overall doesn’t seem that nice of a place. Along with all of that, there was the pit. The pit was basically a huge rectangular field, in the ground. It sounded disgusting and horrible. The fact that they use that as entertainment and as a landfill just grossed me out. 

Writing

I actually really liked Bryan Prosek’s writing style. It was different and unique, and exactly what I wanted in a sci-fi novel like this. His world-building style was so different and I loved how he added little informational pages between the first couple of chapters to introduce me to the world and what Earth is supposed to be like when I was reading it. 

In Conclusion… 

Overall, this book was pretty good. I wouldn’t say it would make my top 10 list or anything, but it was an averagely good book. I enjoyed the storyline, I liked the characters, and the world-building. It was a genuinely good book. 

Rating: 3.5/5⭐