Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars

October 25, 2011 Uncategorized 0

Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars

Author: Nick James
Publisher: Flux
Publication Date: Sept. 8, 2011 
Pages: 384
Series: Skyship Academy, book one
Source: ARC from BEA (Thanks Kristi!)

About the Book: A devastated Earth’s last hope is found in Pearls: small, mysterious orbs that fall from space and are capable of supplying enough energy to power entire cities. Battling to control the Pearls are the Skyship dwellers—political dissidents who live in massive ships in the Earth’s stratosphere—and the corrupt Surface government.

Jesse Fisher, a Skyship slacker, and Cassius Stevenson, a young Surface operative, cross paths when they both venture into forbidden territory in pursuit of Pearls. Their chance encounter triggers an unexpected reaction, endowing each boy with remarkable—and dangerous—abilities that their respective governments would stop at nothing to possess.

Enemies thrust together with a common goal, Jesse and Cassius make their way to the ruins of Seattle to uncover the truth about their new powers, the past they didn’t know they shared, and a shocking secret about the Pearls. (goodreads)

My Thoughts: I am always hesitant to pick up sci-fi books. I think I must have had a bad experience early on! Thankfully this anti-sci-fi book deal I have didn’t deter me from The Pearl Wars. I would have missed out! 


This book draws you in right away. The event that is the beginning scene is already underway. There is no info dump of history, facts, etc… The reader is introduced to the unique aspects of the world little by little as the information is needed. I liked this because I felt like I was always learning new things and it keeps the pacing from getting bogged down. Also, I appreciated that the slang isn’t overdone. Sometimes when reading books set in the future I spend so much time trying to figure out what the character is trying to say that it loses impact. There are slang words and world-specific terms but it is clear what they mean. Well done! 


I also really loved all the twists and turns the story takes. Clearly I don’t want to go in to to much detail as it would spoil the story! I will say that I loved all the different connections that are revealed as the story progresses. Both the Skyship dwellers and the Surface folk come from the same place. Their history is shared. The events that caused them to be where they are now are the same. I am always interested in knowing how different people react/view to the same event. 


The Pearl Wars has totally convinced me to give more sci-fi a chance. Also I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll be reading everything Nick James gets published!  He is mass awesome 😉

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