The Pearl Wars: Skyship Academy, Book 1

By: Nick James

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

A devastated Earth's last hope is found in Pearls: small, mysterious orbs that fall from space and are capable of supplying enough energy to power entire cities. Battling to control the Pearls are the Skyship dwellers - political dissidents who live in massive ships in the Earth's stratosphere - and the corrupt Surface government.

Jesse Fisher, a Skyship slacker, and Cassius Stevenson, a young Surface operative, cross paths when they both venture into forbidden territory in pursuit of Pearls. Their chance encounter triggers an unexpected reaction, endowing each boy with remarkable - and dangerous - abilities that their respective governments would stop at nothing to possess.

Enemies thrust together with a common goal, Jesse and Cassius make their way to the ruins of Seattle to uncover the truth about their new powers, the past they didn't know they shared, and a shocking secret about the Pearls.

©2011 Nick James (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Starts slow but picks up in the quarter...

I have had this book to read for quite awhile. I thought it looked like a really interesting premise (and it has a cool cover). It ended up being okay but not great. It takes quite a while for the story to get going and I never really connected with the characters or the story.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was fine. The narrator did a decent job with characters voices. The narration wasn’t anything special but it wasn’t bad either.

The first half of the book is pretty typical post-apocalyptic sci-fi stuff. Humanity has been split into the military on Earth and the Skyships above; they both fight over Pearls which are an alien power source that falls to Earth from the heavens. Things get a lot more interesting when our two heroes (one boy from a Skyship and one from Earth) have an encounter that leaves them both strangely changed.

I will say the characters are pretty balanced between male and female; there are strong characters of both. So this book should appeal to both female and male sci-fi fans. Some of the things happening towards the end of the book are very mysterious and interesting. The book ends at a decent spot; some things are wrapped up but there are still questions.

Overall this is an okay sci-fi read. I personally never engaged all that well with the characters or the story. However the book does pick up quite a bit in the second half and get more interesting. While I don’t plan on reading anymore of the series I would tentatively recommend to fans of post-apocalyptic earth type sci-fi; especially YA fans.

Good for Young adult reader ...

Good for Young adult reader ... I am not sure that I want to read next book if it's going to be same level.

solid with a few lulls

at times the action is thrilling and commands attention, but the story have a few drawn out spots that caused me to set it aside a few times. but overall a good story

this is the best book

I definitely recommend this book if you like scifi or fantasy five out of five

I like it!

Good young adult book, the whole family can listen on a car trip. I'm 59 and give it 5 stars so its ok for older listeners too.