In Dying Starlight: A Cyborg Sci-Fi Adventure

Information

Status

Ongoing

Year

2022

Author

emily_mccosh

• 12.1
  Jul 6, 2023
• 11.1
  Mar 4, 2023
• 10.1
  Dec 27, 2022
• 9.1
  Oct 17, 2022
• 8.1
  Aug 9, 2022
• 7.1
  Jul 5, 2022
• New Novel Announcement! (Not a Chapter)
  Jun 9, 2022
• 6.1 (and exciting announcement!)
  May 16, 2022
• 5.1
  Apr 14, 2022
• 4.1
  Mar 14, 2022
• 3.1
  Jan 31, 2022
• 2.1
  Dec 20, 2021
• 1.1
  Nov 29, 2021
• Writing Playlist/Songs to Listen to While Reading
  Feb 13, 2022

Reviews

Community Reviews(10)

• sid_cypherRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  A hard-bitten captain of a small starship and his trusty companion doing risky jobs to make ends meet. The story engrossed me quickly, and the flawed main character is easy to sympathize with. There's well-noticeable character development, too, they don't all stay the same.
  It will take a lot of patience and trust to break out a battered and bitter loner out from his shell, though.
• AnehaliaRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  This story is non-stop action. Many chapters end with a cliff hanger, but it would be hard not to with how action packed the start of this story is. Where I stopped to leave a review is about where the story feels like the current arc ends, but is definitely NOT the end of the story or action. Be prepared to not want to stop reading once you start this story because it is addicting.
  Style Score: There were some spots where a little more detail would be helpful in the story, especially near the beginning. I docked half a star for that. Otherwise the story used a minamlistic style that made it a fun fast read. Thiss story is high octane actiong at a fast pace with no room for slowing down. Make sure your seat belt is secure for this space opera.
  Grammar Score: Some small typos, but nothing big. No issues with tense switching or anything.
  Story Score: I'm addicted. What else can I say? This story is gripping and I would be finishing it right now if I wasn't trying to review a large number of stories for the reviewathon.
  Character Score: Charcters were interesting with unique motivations. The first person perspective really allows you to ride inside Aaron's head as he navigates a world where cyborgs are almost robots, but he's not.
  Overall I highly recommend reading this, and I plan to be back to finish it.
• Banner CaygeonRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  The story is about a cyborg and her badger companion who has mechanical legs. They are bounty hunters and the story starts on a god forsaken ice planet. It's brilliant and you should all read it.
  Style score: Full marks. The prose isn't over the top, but the author is so craft with how they drip out little details here and there...you feel like a genius when you catch one...but then wonder what else you might have missed. It's like a gently unfolding flower and quite possibly some of the exposition I've seen.
  Story Score: It's not ground breaking or unheard of, but it's so well done that it doesn't matter. You like the characters, you can't wait to read more about the world, and you desperately want to find out what happens next.
  Grammar Score: Other than one typo, I did not notice anything so full mark from this grammar police academy dropout.
  Character score: Full marks. I love the MC. The badger. The weird kid in the office. The tough guy who's not quite so tough. The old man and his huge fish things. The brother and sister. Everyone is multi-faceted and most importantly compelling.
  I love it, I'm going to read more. I think you all should too!
• BubblepunkRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  A really beautiful story on the theme of cybernetics and post-human relations. The author embarks us in a universe of his own while taking up the majority of the codes of scien fiction and cyberpunk. The writing is as fine as elegant, and does not pose any problem to the comprehension. The balance between action and world building is perfect, making this work a really nice material to follow. The grammar and spelling are perfect too. In other terms, this story belong in the pro section, and should be published on amazon.
  The characters are endearing and radiant with life. Their flaws, as well as their assets, transpire humanity through the mechanical and software modifications. The MC became one of my all time favorite on this website! I can't wait to read more, and learn more. Funny as hell!
  The story is very interesting and well thought out. We follow the chapters with ease and desire, gobbling up the cliffhangers and twists to ask for more! I particularly liked the last chapters, proof that the author still takes pleasure in writing.
  This was truly a masterful discovery. Bravo! I will recommend it to anyone who is a true cyberpunk fan.
• Chaos JesterRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  I read this for a friend who wanted me to check it out for them, and boy, can my friend pick a story. A space adventure with its own sci-fi twists with incredibly vivid writing, making for exactly the kind od story readers look for.
  Style wise, the description and detail going into this is abasolutely amazing. Emily does wonderful work weaving words to create an amazing atmosphere. Formatting is exact and well structured.
  If there were any grammar issues, I was too immersed to notice them. Syntax works well, and there are no immersion breaking syntax issues.
  This story, at least in the first five chapters, hooks a reader in with imagination, action, motivation, and characters that are beyond great. Emily must have fully formed this idea before writing, because for a debut story, this is top tier.
  Aaron and Bat make for a great duo, exactly what the story promises you. Side characters and cameo characters all have their own personality and feeling.
  Overall, this is a great take on the space adventure genre and I am absolutely stoked to see where it goes. Enough of this review, I want to go back to reading. Keep up the great work!
• DeathlyOreoRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Like the title says, this is a really good character-focused space opera. It follows the MC aaron, an anti-social cyborg with emotions, as he attempts to survive and collect bounties, but instead reluctantly assembles a team of misfits who he helps due to those emotions.
  The MC is easy to root for, and each character has their own unique endearing personality traits. They MC especially is suffering from past trauma, and much of the story involves him slowly moving past that trauma through his relationships with the other MCs (though the focus of the story is the adventures rather than the trauma itself). The universe has an interesting and well-thought-out backstory, and the environments are well-described and vary interestingly between the different adventures.
  There are a number of grammar mistakes here and there, but nothing terrible or too distracting, mostly just stuff like "to" instead of "too" or missing letters like "aound" instead of "around".
  Overall, I really enjoy this story. I do have a number of small complaints, but none of them are large enough to remove a star, these are simply feedback for the author:
  The story focuses more on the relationship side of things than the sciency part of science-fiction, which is fine, but I'm still somewhat disappointed in the lack of any focus on the science behind anything. Travel between worlds isn't really explained at all beyond "it takes a few days to get from here to there". There's no explanation of "warp speed," or how the galaxy communicates, or really what it is that a space pilot does beyond the fact the MC is a "good pilot" and there's a weird energy crystal that space-faring vessels use to get around. There's little description of the guns or weapons -- the MC is immune to certain small-arms fire, but there's not really a reason for this described. Another cyborg at one point is mostly immune to weapons fire...is he armored? Force field? It doesn't really say or explain how. I'm not a super hard-sci-fi fa
• Freya StoneRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Wooo! This book got me so incredibly hyped and invested. So, without further ado - let's begin this fun and raving review.
  Style: 5/5
  What we have here is a brilliant example of what 1st person present perspective should look like. It's executed to perfection! We're following the story through the eyes of our MC. Worldbuilding and lore is explained from his perspective and is discussed as needed. This is a breath of fresh air as we see no longwinded explanations nor lore dumps. It is a pleasure to read this style. Emily has done a phenomenal job creating an interesting world and fast paced action!
  Story: 5/5
  The story category is a shining aspect of In Dying Starlight. Do you like bounty hunters? Endless tension? Or pieced together cyborgs? How about a perfect talking animal? Phenomenal new planets? Mayhaps you enjoy idiotic humans?
  If you said yes to any of those, stop reading this review and go read the book. Honestly, the seemingly effortless creation of tension, new worlds, horrifying creatures and fascinating galactic relations is amazing. It had me hooked from chapter one and kept me coming back for more instantly.
  It seems simple: Cyborg bounty hunter and his sidekick badger. But you get so much more than you bargained for with this one. There's plenty of worlds to be explored and epic adventures (even if there are absurd humans involved) to be had.
  Grammar: 5/5
  I am no expert, but Emily has a well polished book here. I noticed one tiny thing in the 12 chapters I binged.  It's a joy to read and the sentences flow perfectly. There isn't anything to complain about here.
  Character: 5/5
  By far my favorite part. As previously mentioned, this story is done through the perspective of the MC. The MC, Aaron, is a complex and beautifully written character. He's snarky and troubled but you can't help but root for him. Instantly, you want him to succeed and maybe, just maybe, start trusting others (that said, he has yet to meet anyone worthy of his trust. Here's to hopin
• RathowmRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Ill say that right off the bat I was heavily baised. After reading that synopsis I though this story would be exactly my cup of Tea, and it sure is.
  The story is told in first person in the greatest ways. We get little snippets of personality and humor in The MC's thinking and dialouge. Scenes are well described and they tend to hit the stylistic tone of a 'space opera' mixed with some comedy. I cant help but think of Good ol starlord and rocket from Guardians of the galaxy when I read About Aaron and bat.
  Grammar is great. Ive never had a keen eye for small issues, but the writing flows perfectly fine that I didnt notice a single issue so far. I do read faster than most, but I can say for sure the writing lets the story and dialouge flow naturally.
  Im still in earlier chapters, but I will be certain to catch up and keep reading as the author updates. The simple synopsis is of a cyborg bounty hunter and his half-cyborg animal companion. It is fact-paced, entertaining, humorous and more.
  Characters are fantastic, and Ive done alot of speaking ot them up above. Aaron and bat are both hillarious and loveable characters. So far, I also love the mystique in the MC's origin and background. Plenty of potential for charcter exploration.
  Overall, a story that hits all the spots in the right places. Comical, fast-paced action packed adventures in space. Cowboy bebop vibes abound. I love it. Keep on writing, seriously. Great work
• Saffron HoneyRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  If you like found family tropes and science fiction, give In Dying Starlight a chance and you won't regret it! The landscapes are surreal and the characters are believable - and now I want a talking badger for a friend!
  Style: Simple and effective. I enjoy the way that everything is written as if the main character is narrating what's going on; it's a really good way to put the reader in his head, and give them a clear, sharp, concise picture of the situation, without bogging down the story by dwelling overmuch on details about his "enhancements." To me it reads so quickly and precisely - almost like a camera zooming in and quick-panning around the room - that the author hardly ever needs to remind the reader he's a cyborg.
  Grammar: Caught one or two typos, but otherwise flawless! Couldn't decide between 4 1/2 or 5, but concluded that it is definitely worthy of 5 stars; even traditionally published books have a few of those.
  Story: I can't remember which chapter I left off on but so far the story has been fascinating, with the promise of some really interesting character dynamics to come.
  Character Score: 11/10, I would give this more stars if I could; incredibly likable characters that fly off the page.
• SchubertRoyal Road

  ★★★★★ 5.0

  Just caught up to the most recent at the time of review, so I thought I should write a review to help (or try to at least) get this story the attention it deserves.
  For me, pacing in a novel is very important, and I think this novel gets it right. The progression is not so fast that it feels jumbled and can become hard to understand, while also not being so slow paced that the chapters feel like an info dump. I feel that the story includes enough of the small details to build a proper picture of what's going on, without boring the reader with unnecessary details.
  Another good point of this story is the fresh (to me anyway) ideas that the author uses in the book that keep it interesting. It makes me not be able to predict what's going to happen next, and really brings the mysteries of the plot and the surprise that comes with developments to a really high level
  To me, the highlight of the story is the characters and their development thus far. It really makes the reader feel good seeing the MC open up more and let people through his hardened, antisocial exterior and learning to trust. I won't talk about the other characters, as that would spoil the story, but all the characters of the main cast are likeable, even if they seem like arses at first.
  Plus Bat is the most adorable little critter ever. I want one.
  The only gripe I have with this fiction is the grammar and spelling which can be rough at times, but even then it isn't enough to massively disturb the flow of the text or make things hard to understand.
  This is much better than I ever expected for an authors first work, and they should be proud of what they created.
  Definitely give it a try.