Written by two Australian sisters who call themselves S. K. Dunstall, Stars Uncharted had all the ingredients I needed for a fun space opera read. Lots of action and humor, space travel, a slow burning love story, and characters that I enjoy rooting for. Although presented as an ensemble cast, there are two characters who do the narrating – Nika Rik Terri who is a skilled body modder (modifier), and Josune Arriola, an engineer, who is living under an assumed identity after the exploration ship she was crewing on was destroyed. These two women are thrown together and form a fast friendship as they and their allies try to escape from a deadly corporation who wants to silence them.

This group of widely assorted characters come together as they are all on the run from the same enemy and although many of our heroes are not exactly who they are pretending to be, together they bond and become a family of misfits with common goals and aspirations. As this is the first book of a duology, not all problems were cleared by the end of the book, but it also didn’t leave us totally hanging, as the immediate problems were addressed.

I found Stars Uncharted to be a rip-roaring adventure and as this appears to be a resource-run universe, the continuation of space exploration and the search for rare elements and metals was widely hinted at. Of course I can see that this exploration could well cause them to once again become the quarry of these dark companies. I look forward to continuing the adventure in the next book.. ( )

Very enjoyable and inventive. This book drew me in from the first page, with its pleasant writing style, intriguing world building and interesting characters. I liked Nika in particular for her inventiveness, her passion, and her dogged determination to survive. Also Josune and Roystan refuse to give up, continuing to plan if things go awry. That makes both the women on the free people to root for, and I like that the two of them are friends. In general, the crew as a group works well together, having each other's back, even if some of them only joined recently.
And, always a nice thing to be able to comment on: women are well represented on all sides, being just as likely to be in charge or be an expert and experienced as the men.
The only thing that I would have changed is the pacing. It it's incredibly high, all the time. Everyone is continuously in running, fighting, and/or problem-solving mode, invariably with high stakes. Some down time would have been good... The linesman series doesn't have this problem, so the authors are definitely capable of it. ( )

Awesome. This book has a Firefly feel of found family and scrapes that require blowing things up. There was just enough action throughout the story for it never to get slow. Also, enough character to building to feel invested. The end left felt satisfying even if you don't finish the series. ( )

What a great fun read. Couldn't put it down. Likeable characters, lots of action, surprises and twists, nicely written. Already picked up book 2. ( )

A space opera about a ragtag band of big damn heroes, brought together by fate, personal goals, past mistakes and a general wish to be one step ahead of those who follow them. Also, there might be some treasure-hunting adventure into unknown regions of space involved.

What's not to love?

This is character-driven space opera at its best and if you enjoy those stories, I highly recommend you read this book. Or listen to the audiobook, because that is great as well.

The two POV characters quickly grew on me, as did the others. I liked how everyone had something to hide, how everyone mistrusted everyone and how the trust and friendships between all of the characters developed, it felt very natural and not forced. Thoughts and motivations of each character were believable, which is something I appreciate. The story is fast-paced and there was a lot of really good action, it never reverted to the classic (read: overused) space-opera/sci-fi action tropes you find in every other story.
I enjoyed the worldbuilding and especially the pseudoscience of body modification, it's perfect space opera science. Fans of hard sci-fi will probably have a few things to complain about, so be warned.

The writing is great, the authors nail character voice and development as well as subtle interactions and great action scenes. They let you experience this world in all its details, which I appreciate a lot, without simply telling about it. This is why I have to compare this book to 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet': I loved the worldbuilding in the latter, but couldn't finish it because it was all tell, don't show. 'Stars Uncharted' shows you its world, and it's equally fascinating.

Also, how beautiful is this cover?

This is the best book I read in 2019.
Unmistakenly of my favourite genre and at the same time presents ideas and worldbuilding I haven't read before.

I took one half star off for:
- I did not need the developing romance between Josune and Roystan, to me, them being friends felt much more natural and a fast, deep friendship would have served their motivations in the story in the same way. This way, it seems like an editor told the authors there was too little romance in the story. But since it's not the focus of their relationship and it develops slowly, it's not that distracting. And, who knows, maybe it is building up to something more which we will read about in a later book.
- I hope the companies and their employees will be painted in a more grey light in the future. In this book, they are pure evil. That's okay, because we got to know our main characters in this book. In future books I hope to see more morally diverse characters working for the companies. ( )