Brighter the Stars

The Brighter The Stars is the first novel in Bryan Prosek's young adult science fiction series which is set some two hundred years into the future when Earth is a very different place and humans have made contact with a number of other alien races in our solar system. Despite there now being apparent peace between everyone on Earth, our outlook towards other planets still assumes violent intent so the Legion was formed. The book's juvenile heroes, Jake and Cal, both become Legion soldiers and most of The Brighter The Stars follows their maverick escapades as they rush to save Earth from duplicity and potential disaster.

I did feel that Jake especially often felt too young for the role assigned to him. Both he and Cal are meant to be experienced soldiers, yet their impetuousness generally leads them into more trouble and dangerous situations. Of course, they always survive by the skin of their teeth and always have just the right gizmo to hand to save the day! Prosek has certainly written a fast-paced, exciting novel and I could easily imagine its target audience of teenaged boys being enthralled by Jake and Cal's adventure. There's lots of gung ho bravado, fights, spaceship battles and nefarious aliens to defeat. I did enjoy spotting nods to series like Star Trek along the way too. While The Brighter The Stars isn't the sort of story I would usually choose, it did make for a fun diversion.