This one was slightly less great than the first one--there's a little bit of "oh, that magical technology sure proved convenient later on in the story," but I still loved it, and can't wait for the next book. ( )

Some remarkably weak plot points about 3/4 of the way through, unfortunately, but I am still eagerly awaiting the next book. ( )

This one took a little while to get going but once it did it went out with a bang! ( )

The Exiled Fleet is the second book in J. S. Dewes' Divide series, and it is a continuation of everything you want from a space opera. With believable science, the dangers of deep space, fantastic characters with the best chemistry, and an outstanding story, it is a story that you cannot stop reading.

This is my third Dewes novel, and I must say that she is quickly becoming one of my favorite science fiction authors. Her stories are so well-built. She develops her worlds carefully without sacrificing any action. The same holds true for her characters. You know all their backstories, but she develops her characters so organically that you don't realize just how much information she gives you. It's an impressive feat.

Not only are her stories high energy and high action, but her character dynamics are outstanding. She builds new relationships naturally and establishes existing relationships using the type of back-and-forth conversations that only come when you know someone inside and out. The banter is pitch-perfect.

I listened to the audiobook version of The Exiled Fleet. While I loved it, I had one minor issue with the narration. Of the two, I find Nicol Zanzarella the weaker of the two narrators. She struggles to perform the various accents used to individualize the characters. Her male voices are also a little rough. While both concerns are distracting at times, they were not enough to have prevented me from enjoying the audiobook.

The Exiled Fleet is such a great story. The high stakes of needing more fuel in deep space would be enough for some authors. But Ms. Dewes adds the additional peril of a potential mutiny. And if that wasn't enough, the Sentinals need to evade two different enemies. It's a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I don't know if Ms. Dewes has any more installments of the Divide series planned, but I know I will gladly read anything Ms. Dewes publishes. Her stories are some of the best sci-fi I've read, which is saying something because I read a lot of science fiction. ( )

A long time ago I learned a bit about Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, a theory posited by Roger Penrose. My layman's understanding of this is that the big bang singularity was actually the end of a "previous" universe and that ours will end in a second big bang singularity (not to be confused with the big crunch). At the end of the universe only photons will remain and as they "ignore" both space and time and as the universe will then be empty of stuff for it to interact with, they will obey their own co-ordinate system and effectively (from their frame of reference) all exist in the same place at the same time. So, my random bloke theory is that everything is falling (and hence accelerating) through space and time, away from each other and towards this oddly coordinated second singularity. None of that stupid flat divide between “normal” and Dark Matter stuff…Of course, everyone knows that it’s the Great and Wise Kim Jong-Un that controls all movement within the universe....peasants! I quite like Dark Matter but in stuff like this there is no “quite”. You either like it or you don't. Now, go away Dewes and study the ways of the dark stuff If you want the force to be strong in you otherwise you’ll only write SF crap …

Along with Dewes’ novels, my books can also be purchased in the foyer.

NB: This second volume is even worse than the first volume, if such a thing is even possible…

Book Review Conformal Cyclic Cosmology Dark Matter Kim Jong-Un Roger Penrose SF = Speculative Fiction ( )