Review: Eclipse the Moon

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This is the second book in Jessie Mihalik’s Starlight Shadows space opera series, featuring a band for former military from opposite sides of the war trying to save the universe by a future war between their people.

Our heroines thus far, Kee Ildez and Octavia Zarola (Hunt the Stars) are human soldiers who were well known in the prior Human-Valoff war. Both of our heroes have been Valoff, a human plus species with telekinetic or other abilities. I have enjoyed watching this team overcome past prejudices from their experience in the war and come to trust one another.

Kee is our quirky nerdy girl, extremely capable with all things technological. She is deft and awe-inspiring when it comes to infiltrating systems, overriding technology, finding secret information. She acknowledges that physical fighting and prowess is not her strong suit, but she actually sells herself short in that regard. She may not be a powerhouse, but she holds her own and her heart and caring for her teammates overcome any shortcomings that she sees in herself. I wish I had half of her technical expertise and patience… but I can see that she gets so lost in her work that she really needs a keeper.

Kee’s Keeper is the perfect job for our hero, the broody and aloof Valoff, Varro. Varro was somewhat of a silent shadow in the previous book, we were not quite sure what his strengths and capabilities were. I was super happy to learn more about him in this installment, and his secrets were worth waiting for. I liked that his greatest strength was also causing his greatest vulnerability. He is full of honor, almost to the detriment of his health and external relationships. I was glad that Kee was able to sink beneath his shell and coax him into her life.

The teams are still trying to prevent a war between the FHP (human federales) and the Valoff empress. We still aren’t quite sure who is pulling the strings, but we learn more about their motivations and key players. There are also some additional tertiary characters introduced that were nice additions. I continue to commend Jessie Mihalik on her creativity and ability to craft such interesting and futuristic worlds.

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