Kayavan Rising

The Kayavan Chronicles, Book 1

By: Maria Grace

Narrated by: Benjamin Fife

Myths older than most of the settled worlds of the Kayavan System warn that when the Kayavan comet appears, storms will upset the balance of power.

The part about the comet signaling fierce storms was true enough, as to the rest? It made for entertaining media feeds but wasn't enough to stop the biggest sporting event in the system—Lighten’s Ring Fighting Championships.

Arilyn Lysand, one of Lighten’s most talented pilots, has a fraught relationship with the Transport Guild Master, preventing her from achieving much of anything. Skirting the edges of Transport Guild rules isn’t exactly the way to get out of her dead-end job at the Ship Yard. But she's ready to use whatever she can to her advantage, so when forced to fly the Guild Master to the Championships, she plans to use the opportunity to make new connections and improve her prospects.

Lord Heir Matteo Sennet, heir to the largest Clan on Dextra, struggles with his own fraught relationship with his grandfather, Lord Timnon. Sent to the Championships to rub shoulders and make connections on behalf of his Clan, he has his own intentions in mind, plans which will require hiring a pilot once he gets to Lighten.

Flying Matteo on his personal errand starts off as a simple side job for Ari, but quickly unravels into a tangle of danger, unexpected alliances, and political intrigue destined to change the future of the entire Kayavan System. A storm worthy of Kayavan's Rising.

©2024 Maria Grace (P)2025 Maria Grace

What is this?

Feels like this book has an identity crisis. I primarily listened to this book, but did follow along with the kindle copy. I was repeatedly rewinding and going back because there are many plot skips or introduction to new details at random. It feels like the author used AI to rewrite historical fiction as scifi, and barely edited the output. I never could get into the plot as it just wasn't that compelling.

Please tell me this is a first draft. Voice acting is only redeeming aspect.

A little jaring at first, Promising First in a Series

I had a pleasure of being in the alpha readers for this book when the author was still working out how she wanted the story to go. It was a delight to watch the rough sketch of these characters evolve into full-blooded real people. The author's strength is definitely in the characters and their dialogue, and less in the traditional sci-fi trope of the technology or the environment.

I am very eager to see how the series and the characters grow over the next few books!