Earth was destroyed hundreds of years ago and remaining humans live aboard a massive space station. The Nova-King Ressinimus rules all. Nobles still reap the benefits on the top of the social hierarchy, while commoners live in poverty. Synali Emilia Woster is a bastard who survived an assassination attempt that her father, Duke Farris Hauteclare, orchestrated against her and her mother. Her mother didn’t survive. So her final life’s mission is to destroy House Hauteclare and ruin the family name forever. After killing her father, she escapes capture by infiltrating the giant robot “steed” and competing in the next match. Once defeated and finally arrested, she wakes up in a hospital bed and a strange nobleman offering a deal. If she successfully competes in the Supernova Cup, he will help her in her mission to destroy House Hauteclare. But as she continues to win and bodies pile up, she also becomes more familiar with her steed – and the strange presence she feels inside the machine. Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf is a sci-fi fantasy novel in which Synali must trust her instincts, her new allies, and the machine that is her only chance to achieve the impossible.
Book
Dravik del Lithroi promises Synali that for each rider she defeats, he will kill a member of House Hauteclare who helped her father hire the assassin who killed her mother. But she will need to train in Heavenbreaker, the generations-old steed once used in the war that nearly ended all humankind. All riders in the tournament have trained at the academy and earned the glory over years of competing. Among them are her half-cousin and unmatched rider Mirelle Ashadi-Hauteclare and the legendary Rax Istra-Velrayd. She knows that defeating them is necessary to accomplish her ultimate goal. Yet she can’t help but wonder the life she could have had and the relationships she could have developed in another life. As the story continues, her desire to see her mother again through death becomes the very fuel she needs to succeed, rather than the finish line.
And as Synali improves in her training, the thing inside Heavenbreaker slowly becomes less of a vessel and more of a partner in the tournament. She and the machine get to know each other. But Synali has more questions and doesn’t know who to trust in order to get the answers. Even so, Dravik’s motivations to help Synali see her mission through become more clear. But he’s still hiding plenty of truths from her – the sort of truths which could shift the powers that rule and future of humanity.
Review
Wolf offers a complex world and captivating heroine in Heavenbreaker. Synali is an off-putting character fueled by revenge and closure and will achieve her goal no matter what. The mystery surrounding Dravik’s history and his connection to Heavenbreaker will keep readers wondering if he can be trusted. While readers get POVs from other characters – including Synali’s mother’s assassin – it’s ultimately Synali’s story. And while I commend the author for developing such an intricate, futuristic/sci-fi world, she might have bitten off more than she could chew. The writing style is repetitive and there are lots of moving parts of the plot and characters. Not to mention subplots that I’m not sure belonged in the first book of a new series. Basically, there’s a lot going on and it can get tricky keeping up. Some concepts were overexplained while others were underdeveloped. I want to give the author the benefit of the doubt that such plotlines will expand with the next installment. But some choices will likely turn readers away – or at least the darker, triggering themes will.
Sara Wolf joins the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about the research and themes involved in developing this story, and what readers can expect in the next book. Keep an ear out for the episode and pick up a copy of Heavenbreaker, available now.
