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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Lily Starling and the Storm Riders by Christian Hurst, book two in the Lily Starling series, sees Lieutenant Lily up against a cult known as Leviathan’s Hand, whose attacks across planets suggest a coordinated plan involving forbidden technology and immortality experiments. After a failed rescue mission and skirmishes with cultists and hostile factions, the team heads to the planet Gherion Prime, where a nuclear event triggers an unexpected environmental transformation tied to radiation-feeding vine creatures and crystalline catalysts. While Ronin seeks control of these phenomena, Lily’s team regroups and rejoins the Salamander. During the fight, a critical ally enters the enemy flagship, the Warden of Tarshish, intent on forcing its retreat into the Leviathan storm. Trapped aboard the enemy vessel, it is a race against time to rescue them as the cult’s broader goal threatens everything.
Lily Starling and the Storm Riders by Christian Hurst is a knockout in its relentlessly fast, smartly written, and brilliantly confident space opera scope -- a reader absolutely can’t help but ride along with it. I love Hurst's effective use of the third-person point of view, with perspectives that glide between Lily and the surrounding cast, giving the story texture and movement, and showing us what is happening from multiple angles. The settings are spectacular, the standout being the Ankaran Reach desert with its copper locust swarms and heat-blasted terrain. Every sequence presses forward due to Hurst's skill in pacing. We get a great sense of the world, and even technical discussions and quieter moments hum with energy. As the sequel to Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander, and with the promise of more to come, readers looking for a great ride will find it here.
