These Broken Stars

Amy Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Allen & Unwin

Otago Daily Times, 2016

These Broken Stars, which is described on the back as “a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds”.

It tells the story of a common-born soldier, Major Tarver Merendson and Lilac LaRoux, the daughter of the richest and most powerful man in the galaxy. Sole survivors of the crash of the interstellar liner they were travelling on, they find themselves on an unfamiliar and apparently uninhabited world.

Forced to work together to avoid various perils and find some way to signal for help, they inevitable fall in love despite both knowing Lilac’s father will end it as soon as they are rescued. But it gradually becomes apparent they are not alone, and it turns out that the planet hides a secret that could keep them together or part them forever.

As an attempt to broaden the appeal of ‘YA’ fiction to an older audience, These Broken Stars is less successful than Sean William’s Twinmaker:Jump (reviewed elsewhere). By sharing the writing, the authors ensure Tarver and Lilac have distinct voices, but I had a lot of trouble believing that they were only in their late teens. Then again few people quibble with Shakespeare’s characterisation of 16 year old Romeo and Juliet so perhaps I am being a little unfair. My bigger problem is that this is advertised the first book in a trilogy but it is not clear where the story might go from here and I wasn’t invested enough in the world to really care.