A #SciFiMonth One Way Ticket Book Review | Space Opera [set in the Rims!] novella series #HeavensEdge by Jennifer Silverwood (stories 1-3!)

Acquired Book by: Long before Sci Fi November 2019 – I started planning which authors I wanted to host during @SatBookChat (my Romance & Women’s Fiction chat wherein I discuss multi-genres in/out of those spheres of interest) – whilst I also had a hearty knowledge of which stories I would be reading throughout November during the event. I wasn’t sure if this was available to request for review – and due to a slight misreading of an email I nearly missed my chance to have a copy of it in time for the event itself – all I knew prior to event starting is I wanted to feature Ms Silverwood and I wanted to chat about Heaven’s Edge due to the fact this series is first told through novellas and secondly I have a newfound affinity of interest of Space Opera Rim stories! Being blessed with an omnibus print edition of the first three stories is something which filled my bookish heart with loads of happiness – such a beautiful edition, with lush purple cover art and a series of bookmarks tucked in for added random joy from Ms Silverwood’s other series I already love reading the Borderlands Saga!

Uniquely, it has taken me more years than I deemed possible to continue my journey into this series and to complete my ruminative thoughts about what I was reading therein. I am thankful for the patience of the author and of allowing me to continue this journey into Heaven’s Edge at a timeline which suited me best as a reader. This might have taken a long time to finish reading and reviewing – but the journey of being held inside this series was an experience I shall not soon forget and am grateful for being able to undertake.

I received a complimentary copy of the omnibus edition of “Heaven’s Edge: Novellas No. 1-3” direct from the author Jennifer Silverwood in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

on why i am itching
to read this novella series:

Ever since I first learnt about Space Opera stories set at the Rims – those tucked off remote areas of space where Spacers and Miners have to come to an accord to live amongst each other whilst they mine & live so far removed from inhabited planets & interstellar civilisation – it begs the question, what kind of people can take that kind of challenge and how would they thrive in that kind of chaotic environment of wit, stamina and fortitude?

My first introduction to this Rim side of Space was within the delightfully addictive audiobook “Rimrider” of which I had this to share about the environment & atmosphere of Rim set stories:

I truly loved the humourous takes on Spacer life through the pen of Ms Kelley,.. I knew from the jump-start this was going to be a fast moving story, as soon as Jane’s voice filled my earphones – the was something happily different about this Space Opera. It was written from the perspective of teens – wherein this would fit well with Young Adult SF, but it’s more layered than your typical teen angst novel set in Space. No, it’s more about the curious way how if you have the fortitude to change your own destiny, you can do incredible things!

The author kept the ‘pirate’ traditions and legacies of their rituals in place throughout Rimrider – including sorting out how to ‘insert’ this culture into a Spacer’s experiences. Basically if your familiar with this culture, the interesting bit is watching how even in outer space, pirates can surprise you! There was one aspect of their lives which took me back to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – especially when we are treated to another ‘parlay’.

As Jane learns more about how free traders can lay claim on both ships and land – she gets a wider picture of how her life can play out. She doesn’t want to make too many plans too far ahead – not that you can blame her truly, she’s lost a lot and is just starting to gain her confidence back in knowing she’s living for the moment. Except even in this new life of hers, she has hard choices to make – including how to help someone whose dying but who has a lost daughter. She surprises herself for the rising strength inside her bones – of being able to table her own anguished emotions and focus on someone else who needs someone to care about them more than worrying about things which cannot be changed. It was here – in those hard moments where Jane was no longer a teenager but a young woman – one step closer to being an adult, Jane emerged as a leader.

From this moment forward – Jane is coming into her own skin. She’s taking on more responsibilities but also finding within her the strength she needs to carve out her own niche amongst the free traders by sorting out how she can help take a stand against the UEC. There is so much going on – I simply found myself fully absorbed into the action of it all! When Jane goes undercover in order to seek out the ‘missing’ – you get caught up in the fuller back-story of how the UEC is truly working against the will of humans and aliens alike – you start to see how what is held back from sight is really right there waiting for someone to take notice and do something to affect change!

I am in love with the fuzzy aliens with paws on Rimrock! Jem and Jane are a dynamic duo of a team – there are elements of telepathy and inter-species communications which I found fascinating as it showed how despite the differences between species, there is a general acceptance for what is ‘right and what is wrong’. The overlays between this culture and ours are clearly present – especially when it comes to scathingly horrid practices of non-environmental friendly industrial mining – this in of itself, is worth watching unfold.

Honestly – the narrator nailed the characters and the theatrical mannerisms which make this audiobook ‘SING’ to the reader – meaning, you can easily forsake whatever else you intended to do and simply ‘listen’ to this Space Opera! The humour is bang-on brilliant, the setting is intoxicating because you dearly want to know ‘more’ rather than ‘less’ and if this first installment is the gateway into the series at large – your going to want to consume the next books in sequence! I truly loved this audiobook – it was wonderfully produced, but it’s more than that — my sci-fi geeky heart was overjoyed getting caught inside a world which simply gripped me from the first moment I heard ‘Jane’ come through my headphones!

-as quoted from my review of “RimRider”

You can clearly see what motivates me into the Heaven’s Edge series now – as Kelley gave me the curiosity about how young persons reliant on themselves can do extraordinary things on the Rims. I cannot wait to see what Silverwood has done with her series as I entreat inside Heaven’s Edge and sort out what is about to befell her characters in this lovely hidden niche of Space Opera Lit!

On my connection to Jennifer Silverwood:

When our paths first crossed, Ms Silverwood and I shared a mutual interest and connection; however, our friendship did not form for a while afterwards. It was truly after the interview went live and after I noticed I was reading her blog as much as she was reading mine – where I realised we shared a lot of commonalities in our reading lives as well as our writerly lives! We decided to stay in touch, and it is an honour to find someone who understands the bridge between reader, blogger and writer.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Silverwood through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I hosted her Silver Hollow blog tour and privately as well. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to hosting a guest feature by the author I share a connection.

Heaven's Edge | Novellas No. 1-3 (omnibus edition)
by Jennifer Silverwood
Source: Direct from Author

Series Introduction from the author Jennifer Silverwood:

Welcome to Heaven’s Edge! Grab your scythe blades, strap on your plasma gauntlets and prepare yourselves for one steampunkish adventure to the far corners of space with Qeya and co.

But before we begin, did you know this series about a group of stranded space teens was among the first stories I ever penned? A long time ago, in the year 1998, my folks had just bought our first computer. I wanted to write stories set in a world like Star Wars, but without adults interfering, of course. I spent my first formative writing years exploring Heaven’s Edge with Qeya and the gang. So it seemed only natural to update the story and make it my first publication twelve years later. My struggle to see Qeya published was what directed me to self-publishing and the rest is history.

We meet a crew of former Royals, the Miners who once served them. In Qeya, the crew was attacked by a mysterious alien force, then crash landed on the primitive world below. Trouble is, none of the adults survived and now a small band of children and teenagers must cross the boundaries their parents imposed on them to survive.

Over the years and between releasing my “big” books, I worked with editor and friend, Jessica Augustsson to breathe back life into this mini-series. It’s been one epic steam-clunking ride, reinventing this world from my childhood.

I hope you’re ready to take a tour of the Rim with me. Enjoy the adventure!

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Young Adult Fiction

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1717897091

Also by this author: Author Interview: Jennifer Silverwood (Silver Hollow), Stay, Book Spotlight: Borderlands Saga, Silver Hollow, Book Spotlight: Blackbriar Cove

Published by JayHenge Publishing

on 4th April, 2019

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 326

The Heaven’s Edge novella series:

**Omnibus includes first three Heaven’s Edge Novellas**

Qeya (book one)

Qeya, the future Queen of Datura, can’t do much about her red hair, but she knows how to wield a scythe blade and suck the life out of her enemy, literally. Life seems great, if a little boring on heaven’s edge. Until her ship is attacked and nearly everyone on board is murdered. Now, the miner who saved her is the only thing standing between her and the hungry beasts hunting them.

Ohre (book two)

All Ohre wants is the kind of freedom a life in the sea can give. But he doesn’t want to live it alone anymore. He wants the princess and if Qeya won’t come willingly, he’ll make her.

Tamn (book three)

Tamn has always lived by a code. He doesn’t question his duty. Until his crew is stranded on a hostile alien world and he’s forced to watch the girl he loves burn in the sky. Stripped of his reason for living, the voices from his past haunt and guide him in a path of endless retribution. Only the strongest will survive the trials ahead and Tamn is determined to keep the family he has left alive.

→ As revealled in #SatBookChat,
there are a potential 2x novella sequences & a full-length novel!

Formats Available: Trade Paperback (omnibus) or Ebook (individual or combined)

Genre(s): Space Opera | Stories set on the Rims | Young Adult Speculative Fiction

Converse via: #HeavensEdge, #SpaceOpera, #YALit,
#FuellYourSciFi and #SciFiMonth

my review of heaven’s edge: novellas No. 1-3:

One of the interesting ways this story was written is through a sequencing of novellas – the first time I saw this was when I read Corvidae and Scarecrow which had an interlocking novella duology betwixt them. In this instance, I am most interested in seeing not just the continuity but how the overall layout of the world within the Heaven’s Edge series is going to project itself through the novellas whilst enjoying the alternating perspectives as we shift off one character for another as we move through the novellas themselves.

| Qeya (book one) |

As you peer into Qeya’s world for the first time – you start to see the impressions a fifteen-year-old would have upon a journey through Space without a compass pointing towards home. Qeya was cast to space for seven of her young years already – with the promise of a return trip to their home planet but with a growing sense of certainty that this was a fading dream without the hope of truthfulness in its yearning. She was critically aware of the state of the worlds they were encountering – where species were more off-putting than giving them a reason to stay and where the enormity of space could enfold against your own sense of self. She was from a beautiful planet eloquently described by Silverwood with a rounded touch of allure for those who like planets with twinning moons and fragrant fruits (as this is a hint towards how she gained her name) – as she describes her planet – her origins, you can feel the longing she has for the past but also, the will to carve out a future elsewhere than just bumping round the universe in a discourse of random discoveries.

Qeya’s life is heavily controlled and influenced by the parents who took escape from their homeworld to cast themselves into the offworld realms of the deep space realm known as the ‘edge’ or the Rims (as I would reference) – uniquely casting their children into a stasis of sorts, where maturity arose naturally and where they were more or less left to their own devices. It was an interesting prospect from that vantage point because without the outside influence of the miners who worked the ship itself and the parents who would normally be more hands-on in their parenting skills – these children were individually independent at younger ages than the norm. It would curate their own sense of identity and how they viewed the hierarchy of their elders. This kind of setting also sparked a natural genesis of a found family amongst the youngsters and it was their strength of bond which would prove valuable when they would become tested in order to survive the unthinkable.

Qeya also knew she was destined to be with Tamn, as all relationships (by way of tradition) are matched at birth. Similar to how arranged marriages work in our reality and world; the chosen have to grow used to the idea as they embrace their eventual fate to be together. For her, though, you could see she was equally smitten with the idea of Tamn long before she was old enough to embrace the concept of what this arrangement would involve. Hers was an interesting childhood – given their circumstances and the ways in which they had chosen to survive – it was a life unfilled with wonder and exploration and more of duty, honour and service. As everyone was in preparation for ‘what came next’ rather than having growth out of experience. Their ship was their world in essence despite the fact they visited other planets – the children themselves never saw any of those new worlds for themselves. Everything had an order to it in this life of theirs – until the children were of a certain age they were limited in what they were allowed to experience. It felt suffocating a bit – because all they had were their lessons and a rotation of hours which never deviated from each other.

Nothing quite prepares you for the destruction of a ship. It rips apart and explodes faster than you can understand the implications of its loss. If Qeya hadn’t acted quickly, I am sure the outcome would have been far worse than it was already. Yet, her internal strength is what fortified her against the terrors of that moment – of losing her parents, most of their crew and being jettisoned to an alien planet. They are the last of their kind – castaways in Space, without the guidance of their elders now and with only memory and instinct to guide them forward. Qeya’s brother was just as strong as she was – trying to find his own courage out of the destructive death of the ship. Both of them were destined for so much responsibility – but in those first moments away from the ship, just finding their footing was a hard road to walk.

Ohre was a miner and there was a distinctive separation between him and the others as the ruling class in their world was very akin to separating people by their caste. Ohre has his own inherent advantages, too, as apparently the miners were trained different than the Royals and the practicality of their talents definitely gave Qeya and the survivors a bit of an edge to survive this new world, too. Yet, nothing was quite as normal here as it had been on their ship – where there were boundaries and rules and structure to their way of living. On this lost world and environment of dangers so brutal and cruel to even contemplate how they could survive it every day without the rest of their people helping them – lent itself to a causal acceptance of their fate. In small moments, each of them started to grow accustomed to this new way of living where they were the prey and constantly hunted by their unknown predators. It was Ohre who was able to give them an advantage and keep the balance of life stable amongst this ragtag group of survivors, but I feared at what cost to him and how long could he hold the line?

Your heart bleeds for Qeya and the choices she has to make whilst she’s inhabiting this alien world. The movement of the story is so dearly quick-paced and guttingly emotional – as there are lives sacrificed to an enemy they didn’t understand whilst there was a light at the end of the chaos here – in the form of a new alliance during one of their worst days facing the enemy. Their reunion with the remaining lost crew members from the other ship was only the start of their new beginning here. It was both a beginning and an ending of sorts – where Qeya soon learned a harder lesson in how in order to move forward you have to accept what cannot be healed from the past. Qeya is a healer of her people – she has a fusion of healing energy within her and as startling powerful as she is – there are limits to her gifts. And, rightly so, as otherwise I felt the gift would then become a curse.

Right at the point where I was on pins of nerves to turn the pages on Qeya’s journey, I found myself at the end of this novella – where the future of Qeya’s people had an optimism that was not felt until then. They were orphaned castaways in the Rims of Space and suddenly, their fate was being protected by those who would become their allies. It was a bittersweet ending on Qeya’s storyline and yet, it felt right all the same. A passing of the torch and of one-chapter merging into another one.

| Ohre (book two) |

Ohre’s story changes our perspective greatly – as it was quite apparent through Qeya’s eyes, despite her people’s innate prejudices towards the miners like him, Qeya entertained a more open-mind about them. In fact, her positivity was part of the reason the morale of the survivors had sustained them through the worst battles they had to endure on this alien planet. Without her light and her willingness to forge a family atmosphere out of the ruins of what had once been their home (aboard the ship) – I am unsure if any of them could have lived as well and as long as they had. Through Ohre’s eyes – we’re presented with more insight of truth into the backstories of their homeworld. Especially about where they used to live and how they lived before they took to Space. I found it wicked fascinating how they were a species who thrived under the water and for whichever reason erased that lineage of origin and transferred themselves to being surface dwellers instead. Yet, the longing for water and sea and the liquid breath of life called to them the longer they pushed themselves further away from it.

Ohre teamed up with another miner who survived the crash, Adi but she was consumed by anger and hatred towards the Royals and couldn’t see past her hate to embrace the current circumstances they found themselves. These two made an interesting team – as the only thing which united them was their passion for space travel and of getting back to Space itself. His own heart was torn between his instincts to live offworld and to find a way to bond to Qeya – which seemed to me to be something which was not readily encouraged nor was it ever spoken about having happened previously. They were two lost souls who found each other and then, fate took charge and changed everything.

As we shift forward with the salvage of both ships struck down from Space, we entreat into the back-histories of Ohre himself. Of how he was rescued by Old Brien and tuck under his wing and given a place of refuge. Ohre has a very strong connection to the water himself – especially of the hidden (and underwater) palaces back on their homeworld. What is interesting is how strong an affinity and affection he has for the water as much as Qeya does herself. His inherent gifts are shown more fully in this section of the story, too. Especially his internal strength and how that strength fuells his extraordinary gifts – this was presented so dearly well by Silverwood. As there is a moment when they both emerge from this alien sea and what they brought back with them was quite brilliant as much as it was shockingly impressive!

There was a revelation about Ohre which I was already starting to pierce together myself. Mostly as Silverwood knits out each character’s back histories over the arc of the series – as she switches perspective per each character who is the featured focused of each of the novellas – more of the past inks itself out onto the pages. Ohre is a complex and complicated soul – he is also a tortured soul by many respects and on that level, he has never known peace within himself either. Ohre changed portions of himself and his instincts when he was with Qeya and the children; almost as if a different part of himself stepped forward and replaced his old ways. Giving him keen insight into a different path and of course, giving him full reason to turn away from that new version of himself, too. The more he is around Adi, the more the old Ohre comes back from repression and aims to overtake the new Ohre. Adi isn’t my favourite character by half – as she’s self-obsessed with her own agenda and she hasn’t learnt anything by her experiences or interactions with the Royals. She only wants to live the life a miner would choose to live and not once think about the welfare of anyone else. It leads to a lot of drama for Ohre but also, a lot of soul acceptance on his part as his truer nature is by far darker than anyone would have first suspected.

Through Ohre’s eyes – we watched how the balance and order of this world is quite delicate, and war driven. The Var are a warrior race and the Nuki are more peaceful and content to live in the trees. There is a secret behind the Var though – as you can gather a sense of that secret as Silverwood touches on things that allude to a secret history or a secret connection with the Var. It is just on the peripherical sphere of the story, but it is there all the same. Ohre is a fighter and much more than that, too, and yet, his heart has fallen into a tragic love story all the same. Before he can comprehend his heart, he has to make choices between fighting to save people he cares about (which surprises him, as usually he doesn’t form attachments) or fighting alongside his own kind and achieving what they want him to help them accomplish. It is a war of the mind as much as a war of territory. There are a lot of battle sequences in this part of the story – brutal person on person battles and a bloodbath of the dead to follow it all, too. Yet, the focus isn’t on the battles themselves, but rather the people who are caught betwixt and between the wars between the Var and the Nuki. The Royals and miners are simply caught in the way of what appears to be an ongoing power struggle between the two aliens.

Whilst at the same time, the animals on this world are also predatory towards everyone and have their own instincts for finding prey to kill too. Nothing on this world isn’t hostile except the treetop living quarters of the Nuki who appear to be more community based and loyal to peace and a life lived without strife or stress. Theirs was a simpler path of life whereas the rest of the world was rooted in war and embattled disputes. Ohre flexed his soul in this installment – sorting out his heart, his mind and his soul – of trying to own the portions of himself he disliked and embrace the newfound parts of himself he would rather dismiss.

| Tamn (book three) |

IF the revelations during Ohre’s sequence had surprised me, I was not quite prepared for what Tamn was going to reveal of himself! Especially as in the beginning it felt like the Royals were emissaries of their homeworld and peaceful travellers of deep space. The further you go into the series itself – as you walk inside Qeya’s, Ohre’s and Tamn’s shoes you start to wonder if they were ever a peaceful race and if they were all heading a darker secret about themselves. Tamn had a darkness inside him that makes you shudder just to think about it too much – because of how readily consumed he is by the hunt of the kill and how his entire soul is consumed by the pursuit of death. This was a full contrast of change from the Tamn we previously met who was thankful to find Qeya alive and not dead as presumed.

Similar to have we re-shifted our perspective about recent events in the eyes of Ohre as we transitioned past Qeya’s initial perspective, as we moved into Tamn’s storyline – it re-shifted everything once again! Including some surprises I wasn’t expecting – such as his infidelity and his disloyalty to Qeya. Except, considering what he was shouldering internally and how slowly mad he was becoming because of it (ie. mad here refers to insane) – you sort of understood how his actions in the height of certain moments could be explained or at least sympathised with a lot of empathy for a kid who was just trying to survive the unthinkable he had to live through. Whilst at the same time – some of his actions were directly against certain beliefs and morals of his people, too. You had to question how he was going to re-align himself with his people if he hadn’t yet taken full stock of how far he had fallen in the interim since they were apart.

I found reading from Tamn’s point of view a harder one to move through because of how much Tamn had changed. His inter conflict and turmoil made it a harder read out of the three novellas and of course, his possessive nature didn’t help either. He was an interesting person from that angle. He had less than loyal tendencies when it came to whom he considered family and yet, his possessive inclinations were almost too much for me. He was consumed by obsession and compulsion. Not to mention the fact that the war of his mind was playing against him at every turn. He had goodness in him, but it was battled down by the war of this alien world and the internal war of memories which consumed him body and soul.

Through this chapter of the evolving story, we see all the children emerging as ascended adults in their culture, even if their lived years defy that classification. Some of them are addicted to the fight and battle and others are more intuitive to know the boundaries between fighting and surviving. For Tamn’s sake, I knew his greatest moment of truth would be when he owned what he had to choose and force him to do something with honour rather than selfish interest. Getting to see him reach that point though was difficult because he is a hard character to keep company with due to all the conflicts inflicted on him.

I also felt – of all the novellas, Tamn’s felt more like a flashback sequencing of events than of shifting the storyline forward. It was a bit more disconnected in that way of the method of delivery used in the previous two stories. I also felt we were missing a few things in the time we spent with Tamn, as most of his story was limited by what we had already experienced through Qeya and Ohre’s stories – we were given Tamn’s personal views and perspectives on everything we had seen previously but part of me felt it wasn’t enough. Again, I felt like we were just re-living a lot of what happened, but we hadn’t progressed far enough forward for me or seen enough growth in Tamn to feel this novella was as complete as the others.

| Notes on the Epilogue |

I held my breath – literally, because I had a feeling Tamn wouldn’t do what I wanted him to do. I will say this though – the Epilogue was a satisfying conclusion of the story at this point in the series. I actually loved how Silverwood centred the focus of it on Qeya and Tamn. Despite the fact, part of me wanted to peer into a bit of where Ohre was at that moment in time – this series at this junction needed to focus on Qeya and Tamn.

At the heart of the series, it was always about their relationship and the connection they had together which transcended this reality, too. Without spoiling anything as Silverwood had a hidden secret about these two which I felt was wicked brilliant. It is an emotional ending too – because you know there will be harder talks in the future for both of them. Harder paths to walk and soul searching too. Yet, having come through the series as I had these past few weeks, this was a strong finish, and I am wicked thrilled to have taken the journey.

I dearly need more though! Much more!

on the space opera styling of jennifer silverwood:

I had noticed the murmurs of water being mentioned throughout the first installment of the series within the story of Qeya but I couldn’t quite put all the pieces together until Silverwood revealled more of it herself. I had a feeling the gills each of these characters had was a keen reference point to the fact they were ocean and/or water bound at some point in their evolution of species, too. Being a competitive swimmer when I was a child, I lived under the water more times than I didn’t – I practically sprouted gills of my own! Laughs. It was a clever way of referencing this part of their species – as I did wonder if water played more of a role in their heightened awarenesses too. As water has a way of holding knowledge within it.

The further you dive into this series, the more realistically convicting the story becomes – from unfathomable enemies and predators to the harsher realities of trying to survive day to day with young children in tow and never knowing if you can get help from the rest of the survivors who were aboard a different ship than your own. Silverwood has garnished an incredible eye for dramatic narrative set within an unjust world and a twist of fate no one saw coming to them. She dug deep into the watery culture of their home world and of their innate draw to water. I loved how she played with that as a tool to best understand them as a whole whilst owning to the fact their species was dearly connected to water overall. It is this sense of how water carries a connective thread of origin and species and awareness I appreciated the most. It isn’t oft you find an element like water to be used in this way and I loved how Silverwood knitted it together into the fabric of her character(s) origins.

It took me a bit to sort out why Ohre felt so familiar to me – until I realised, his personality and his heritage of a miner reminded me dearly of underground dwarves! I also appreciated the entire back-histories of this world Silverwood has created as it is so much larger in scope than where the novellas take us – these are almost like little antidotes of the larger story – small portals of insight into their universe and world – ahead of the bigger revelation that could come lateron when Silverwood expands the series. Either through another anthological novella collection of stories and/or through a full-length novel which continues where these stories leave off or perhaps offers a prequel of sorts of the times before the Rims before it carries forward where we leave them here in Heaven’s Edge.

There are so many layers to this collection of stories – you feel as if you’ve become each of the characters Silverwood is highlighting in this collection as we take-on their essence as we transition from one novella to the other and with that transition comes a full sense of themselves, too. You can definitely understand the differences in their perspectives and personalities as much as gain further insight into their internal conflicts and consciousness. It is a clever way of setting the momentum for the stories whilst expanding our worldview of their experiences – complete with the bias and judgements they may or may not have towards each other as well.

For Space Opera readers – you’ll be instantly glued to the pages – Silverwood has crafted a wholly conceived universe within this series and it continuously pulls at your heart. Mostly as outside of the dangers of Space and of being stranded on an alien world – she tucks into the heart of relationships, found families and drawing alliances to defeat a common enemy. The relationships are both romantic and platonic – as naturally the survivors would consider whom to pair off with and forge a future together. If only to pass on their knowledge and experiences to a new generation of their kind.  However, they were also sisters and brothers of sorts – co-raising each other and forming a bond that was stronger than blood. Silverwood gave them a wicked good sense of fighting instincts and defined how they fought against enemies as a singular unit who moved in synchroneity with each other. It was quite the undertaking I would think to carve out that particular unity amongst her different characters and she did it with grace and a natural confluence of events.

There are certain moments in reading this series, I felt there were some Shakespearean overtones and undertones occurring in the background of the stories themselves. In particular, the tragic love triangle and how tragedy played a strong role in the dramas of Shakespeare’s plays. The characters in this series have tragedy befalling them at every corner and yet, they find strength and perseverance to carry-on and transcend those circumstances whenever they arise. They are phoenixes rising out of ash and they are a testament to those of their people who liked before them. Part of me wondered if part of their story was only just beginning in Space and perhaps a final showdown if you would to be played out back on their own homeworld. A reckoning if you will and a righting of the wrongs which left them cast adrift in the Rims.

Silverwood has created different alien species in her series – the Var and Nuki live on this world they crashed onto after being taken from the sky whereas the Royals and miners are from the homeworld Qeya, Ohre and Tamn are from originally. Each of them has unique characteristics and differences amongst them and yet, there are murmurs of connection between them as well. Part of me wondered if this might not have been the first-time people from their world have travelled so far into deeper space and if perhaps, the destination on a lark of ill-fate might have a larger meaning to them all overall? Either that – or there are other species out in Space with similarities to those who crashed onto this planet.

Honestly there is so much in this series to unpack and contemplate –

you’ll stay up long into the night to read the stories and then,

happily stay ruminative long after you’ve finished the collection!

Content Notes:

I was completely tethered into this storyline and anchoured into the lives of the characters to the point where the images took a bit of a turn to be a bit on the more graphic side of the ledger, I was a bit perplexed and shocked. Until I realised that anything less than what was being described wouldn’t have been accurate for this particular world. It has savage hungry predators on it and they do not approach you with diplomacy but rather accelerated aggression and thereby, brutal attacks and violence go hand in hand on this world. Some of the stuff did rise to my upper tolerances for violence but the rest of it was contained within the perimeters of what I can handle. I will say if your sensitive to healing magic and imagery of medical wounds after intense combat scenes you might want to know about this before you start reading the stories.

There is a funeral pyre scene sans wood which tugged at my heart because it was very difficult to read. Mostly because the people in charge of it had within them a prejudicial hatred of the Royals and thereby, the dead to them were simply the dead and they had a chore to do rather than have sympathy for the dead and the living affected by their loss. For those sensitive to these kinds of scenes just know it is towards the end of Qeya and the start of Ohre.

The battle scenes continue and carry throughout the story – some are dearly brutal and bloody due to the nature of the fights and what is happening in-scene. I was thankful Silverwood found the right kind of balance for these images and scenes as it was a balance that worked for me as a reader. However, I also know there are others out there who are even more sensitive than I am to these kinds of inclusions, and I wanted to keep transparent about what I find as I am reading. She also talks about drug addition, psychological and emotional trauma as well as what I would consider borderline PTSD as well as the fact there were hostages on this alien world too.

For atmospheric sound whilst I read the stories,
I listened to Exospheres a playlist via Spotify. It
added a beautiful ‘extra’ layer of joy for me as I read, too.

I should also mention this story kept me good company whilst my Mum was in/out of the ER and hospital 3x this November. The first two visits were referenced on this post and the third was the day before Thanksgiving (erm, the 27th!) wherein she was admitted overnight. The emotions in this story were equal match to my own needless to say.

A small segue about a tale of two writers:

I don’t remember previously knowing we both began writing on typewriters or that we both started writing our stories as young children. I have a similar back-history as a writer – wherein my grandfather was pivotal in helping me start to compose stories on his Commodore computer (within the programme “Once Upon A Time”) which predates my love of filling in the Reader Rabbit story templates and the Mad Libs as well. I was also an eleven-year-old sixth grader who loved inventing stories and sampled them with her English teacher who was quite kind and encouraging rather than shattering the joy I had to write which too many teachers tend to do. He was a storyteller himself and if I were to lay my hat on what appealled to me about his war stories would be the founding reasons why I read human interest, homefront and feminist driven war dramas today.

I, for one, haven’t re-attached my love of writing to computers – I have already started to gather vintage typewriters (my first is a late 30s/early 40s Royal) and will be solely composing ‘all’ my manuscripts offline and strictly keeping them typewritten! As a girl whose had more technological hiccups in her writerly life than there are USB drives to bail a girl out of losing her files when a computer self-implodes – you could say, by going ‘offline’ I’ve reset my joy for being a writer! Typewriters do not let you down – you always have a hard copy of your work, you create without the engagement of tech and its simply you, the story and the characters to occupy your hours. Blessedly simple and wholly organic in creative synergy – to realise we both had the same foundation as writers is quite telling as we tend to appreciate the same kinds of stories, and we have a heap in common as writerly and bookish friends; so, it does stand to reason we’d have entered our respective field of choice in a similar fashion! 

This book review is courtesy of:

{SOURCES: Book covers for “Heaven’s Edge” series as well as the author biography and author photograph of Jennifer Silverwood and all promotional press materials (including the author’s banner), series synopsis and other bits about the series were all provided by the author Jennifer Silverwood and are used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. SciFiMonth 2024 banner created by Imyril (Artwork credit: SxWx) and is used with permission. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Sci Fi Month Book Review banner and the Comment Box Banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2024.

I’m a social reader | I share my readerly life on #bookstagram and BlueSky

I talked about reading this series via #bookstagram

I also shared my journey reading this via BlueSky

I shared this book review via #bookstgram and BlueSky.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Sci Fi November 2024