Title: Defy the Stars
Author: Claudia Gray
Published: April 4th 2017 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Buy: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
She’s a soldier.
Noemi Vidal is seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.
He’s a machine.
Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.
Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.
I am a big Sci-fi fan so I was so excited to read Defy the Stars. I admit I am a little leary of AI though. I also think in my head I’m not going to like it, or I couldn’t ever think of the machine as something else. This story really sucked me in and I really enjoyed not only the AI but also the journey across the galaxy.
I started thinking of the planets as different things that humans seek; Genesis is Faith, Kismet is Pleasure, Cray is Knowledge, Stronghold is discipline and Earth is desire/greed. I think there are many ways you could label them but it’s interesting how they fall into these categories. I loved that each one had a broadcast welcome message. Like the promo you have on the tv when you stay at a hotel. I also really liked that they didn’t just explore each planet. They got to know different characters while they were there. It gave each place a different layer.
Defy the Stars is a long book. About 500 pages worth, but there was a second that I would cut out. I was riveted through the entire thing.
Noemi is such an interesting character and I think that stems with the fact that she has made peace with dying and that nobody would miss her. She doesn’t really see her life has holding any significant value except for protecting her best friend Esther. As she travels the galaxy I think she learns there is value in just being and life can be a set of dominos that put other things in motion. I liked how kick butt her character is from the beginning but she also has room to develop. She has very keen mind and good instincts.
Abel, it’s funny I wasn’t sure what I was going to expect from him. He’s a machine, a droid. Not a person of flesh and blood. Then again as you get to know him and be in his head you see him as so much more. I love how arrogant and superior he is in the beginning. He also shows a great deal of character development throughout the book.
Noemi and Abel together are a force to be reckoned with. It doesn’t matter if they at odds with one another or on the same team. They have a dynamite combination. I really enjoyed the how they play off one another through the story.
There are lots a of great side characters. Which is something I always really enjoy, especially in a Sci-fi. Again I think it’s such a great way to show the many layers of a world that you might not know much about.
I really enjoyed Defy the Stars. The book had me riveted and as a Sci-fi fan I was very pleased with the writing, the plot and the characters.