ShatterMooN

released 14 June (Ebook out now) 434 pages | Paperback/ebook

Author dominic dulley Publisher Jo Fletcher Books

everyone loves a good con artist (well, except the people who get conned by them that is...), and the latest grifter to hit the SF genre is Orry Kent, heroine of space opera adventure Shattermoon.

Orry is a teenager living in a spacebound future, doing her best to learn the art of the con from her criminal father, but when the attempted robbery of an aristocrat on the planet Tyr goes terribly wrong, she ends up accused of murder and on the run.

With her father dead and her younger brother abducted, the only person who can help Orry is a burned-out spaceship captain. This first instalment in the Long Game series follows her adventures as she’s forced to use her con artist skills to prevent an interstellar war from breaking out.

Debut author Dominic Dulley has crafted an unpretentious page-turner that’s at its best when serving up lurid images and fast-paced action. The book features some imaginative world-building touches, but also often seems more like a Scott Lynch-style roguish high fantasy with SF elements awkwardly welded on. Still, while the pacing flags a little in the final quarter, Orry remains an engaging protagonist; overall Shattermoon delivers a lively sci-fi romp that’s often entertaining, even if it doesn’t quite feel like essential reading. Saxon Bullock