Out Past the Stars

As someone who was deeply disappointed with the author's choice to pair Hail up with one of her abusers, I almost didn't read this one. I guess I'm glad I decided to because the curiosity would have nagged at me otherwise, but it did nothing to repair the overall series for me.<br /><br />The whole thing is just painfully slow, and I say this as someone who's often a fan of dense, political reads. The story drifts for a hundred plus pages at a time with little real tension, and when things do pick up a bit, the drama is too often centered around Mia, who's still Hail's love interest despite that whole "helping torture her for half a book" thing.<br /><br />And completely aside from my distaste at their partnership, the romance reads like it's driven more by the story structure than by the characters. I'm tempted to chalk that up to my dislike of the abuser-becoming-partner trope, but unfortunately much of the rest of the book has a similar feel. The plot includes space battles, high-intensity fights, emotional conversations, and stunning reveals about various alien races, but somehow it's all kind of dry.<br /><br />It's a real shame because Wagers' prose is still smooth and comfortable, and some of the scenes between Hail and her more established companions are as interesting as ever. But Down Among the Dead broke something that Out Past the Stars couldn't fix. The long torture/training stuff from the last book compressed the plot of this one, stacking developments fast enough on one another's heels to blunt their impact. And this sense of things being crunched too close together is pushed even further by piling a problematic relationship immediately on top of trauma.<br /><br />The first trilogy in this series is easily the best sci-fi/adventure I've read in a long time, but I'm not sure I'll be able to reread or recommend it after knowing what comes next. I'd try something else by this author though, either a book in another setting or maybe The Adventures of Hao and Gita (if that could happen in a way that didn't subject me to more Hail and Mia).

What a fantastic end to a trilogy—really, two trilogies. The previous book was lighter on action, delving deeper into psychological manipulation and grief. Out Past the Stars ramps up the action, emotion, and sacrifice, and is the very epitome of what space opera should be.

I will miss Hailimi. This author is amazing. I especially appreciated the acknowledgments at the end. Thank you, you amazing human. And if you ever decide to quit the NeoG and go back to Haili, I won’t be mad. <br /><br /><br />I will now go sob uncontrollably because my second favorite series is over.

The last of the Farian War Trilogy manages to tie up the loose ends of the previous two novels though feel considerably distanced from the previous trilogy. Wagers first pulpy run around in this universe was interested in galactic warfare, with the slightest hint of alien seasoning (the Farians). At this point in saga Hail Bristol has saved her part of the Universe once, developed alien powers, died on every other page in the previous novel and now has the potential fate of the galaxy in her hands as an alien invasion takes over the civil war she was trying to solve. So a lot to unpack, and whilst it does, I couldn't help but feel Wagers is happy to finish it off.<br /><br />This trilogy started with a successful attempt to broaden the political scope of this universe. The second one took a sharp turn into trauma, perhaps too hard (though not without interest), but this one has nothing thematically going on beyond finishing the thing. The peril is there and there are some decent set pieces but there feels like there's two main competing principles, complete the book without repeating the previous trilogy beats. The Empress Hail (cos yes, still space monarchy), has recovered from her previous trauma but is in no mood to play nice with anyone, though she is more likeable here than she has been. But despite this book having the biggest revelations and the most lore to unpack, it doesn't really sing. <br /><br />Whilst this isn't quite a by the dots contractual obligation ending, I do get the sense that Wagers has moved on from this character and this universe. It was always on the edge of YA and perhaps this is what happens when a story and a writer grows up. I mentioned I liked the complexity in the first of this trilogy, and was blindsided by the trauma in two, Well this is very much the aftermath of both, Wagers tried to broaden the world and the character and came up against the pulp limitations perhaps. There are some good ideas in the centre here around the warfare, and it works as an ending, but it feels the right time to end it.<br /><br />[Netgalley ARC]

I want more Hail! I don't want this to be the end (although she does deserve a bit of a break from saving the universe.)

In the exciting conclusion to the Farian Wars trilogy, Hail Bristol must defeat the aliens that have been pulling the strings all along between two sides of a galactic war, figure out whether what she’s being told by seers is true or if the future can be changed, and deal with other assorted aliens along the way. She’s got a great team backing her up, but it’s still all on her shoulders to make the right decisions to end all of the conflict and find peace for the galaxy, and hopefully for herself as well. I really enjoyed this tough, always evolving and growing, infamous gunrunner/empress and her exploits. Hail really deserves a bit of quiet and I hope she finds it, although I wouldn’t mind some more adventures after a while. I have a feeling she might not mind a bit of action later, as peace might get a bit boring after the life she’s lived.

I had no desire to reread the first two of the trilogy because I disliked book 2 quite a bit. Because of this, I forgot most details about minor characters and minor plot points. I think this lack of knowing 100 percent wtf was going on is why I gave this a 3 instead of a 4.<br /><br />So basically this book gets a bit lower ranking because I thought book 2 was too bad to reread. :)

Thoroughly recommend this trilogy!

This is the third book in the "Farian War" trilogy by K.B. Wagers. This is a continuation of the story started in the "The Indranan War" trilogy. In this one Hail Bristol, Empress of Indrana and former gunrunner finally confronts the Farian gods. The last thing she expected was to discover that they were part of a race of aliens who'd attacked the galaxy long before humanity's ancestors had crawled out of the sludge of Earth's oceans. She also discovers that they are being hunted by the Hiervet, who are beings from the same race, who are looking to destroy them before they can enslave the entire galaxy. The Hiervet will destroy anyone one or any being that stand in their way unless Hail can unite the Farians, the Shen, and her own people to destroy them first. <br />This book is the conclusion of this series and wraps up our Hail's journey neatly. The story may end here but there is plenty of room left for a continuation if the author wishes to do so. <br />I stated in my reviews of the books in the "The Indranan War" trilogy that they were some of the best Space Opera that I had read in quite some time. The first two books of this trilogy and this book continue that trend. I will note that you should read the books in the "The Indranan War" trilogy before starting this trilogy because you need the background laid out for context in this book and the preceding two in this trilogy.<br />

4.5 stars. I really liked this entire trilogy (and the whole six book series together) and I'm admittedly a bit devastated that it's over and I have no more books from this author to read. I would have loved an epilogue of what happened in all the worlds after this book ended, but maybe she left it open-ended to eventually do another trilogy? Because I'd love that too, tbh.<br /><br />Anyway if you love sci-fi and gay characters and diverse casts and strong female leads, this is a GREAT series. I really didn't want to finish it in the best way, haha.