Synopsis
From award-winning scifi fantasy author Amber Toro comes an action-packed sequel of galactic proportions.
The tenuous alliances of the United Tribal Axis have fractured, breaking humanity into warring factions. Hinata finds himself fighting a losing war against an opponent that doesn’t play by the rules. While Freyja focuses all of her efforts on uncovering the origin of the signal that she is convinced is the key to revealing the source of the chaos ripping their society apart. Upon returning from an outer rim mission, Freyja realizes that Skyla hasn’t received a single communication they’ve sent in months and must convince Hinata to abandon his post to mount a rescue mission in search of the missing captain. But there are forces at play larger than any of them realize.
Quick Review
While not everything in Parallax worked for me personally, it’s undeniable that this is a fantastic sequel, and it teases exciting things to come. Keep an eye on Amber Toro.
Full Review
The Sentient Stars series has captured readers with Amber Toro’s blend of classic sci-fi drama and a slow-burn romance. In Umbra we were introduced to the setting and a few of its space-faring clans, and though there were certainly a few romances brewing, the story was ultimately about a few pilots who were thrust into a conflict much larger than any of them. (Read my review of Umbra)
Here in Parallax everyone’s gone off on their own adventures. Skyla finds herself on an icy planet trying to piece together what happened before she arrived. Hinata is fighting for his clan in a war, trying to protect his own. Freya is traveling to distant worlds, trying to track down answers about a mysterious signal. The way Toro writes their stories solves my biggest issue with Umbra—that it took a while for things to really get going. In Parallax there is no lack of action or drama.
Despite the fantastic start, some parts about the middle of this book didn’t quite work for me. My biggest issue: Hinata and Skyla’s relationship. A major part of his arc in this book is the longing and hurt Hinata feels about Skyla leaving after the events of the last book. Skyla also thinks about him quite a lot, such that it becomes repetitive. While I believe Toro handled that well, it became all-consuming for Hinata especially, to the point that I simply didn’t enjoy his chapters as much.
However, your mileage may vary. For me, the romance in this book was never the thing that I enjoyed it for. Toro does a great job with the classic sci-fi action and drama in these books, and I wanted more of that. More about the political drama and the clans in this world. We get some of that, but not as much as I was hoping. A large portion of Parallax feels like a romantic soap opera and left me wondering if this series was for me anymore. I enjoyed my time with Parallax, it just leaned more into the romance plot than I personally wanted.
That said, if you’re excited about romances taking center stage in your books, I think Parallax might just blow you away. Partly because Toro handles the romances well, partly because they’re all tied to this setting and the conflicts in it—the two are not separate at all. I have no shortage of friends who absolutely loved this book. Will Swardstrom wrote in his review that “Toro expertly leaves us wanting more at the end, and I will be waiting for book 3.”
And I completely agree with Will. Despite my conflicted feelings around parts of the middle, Toro does a lot of fun stuff with the book’s ending. By this point Skyla, Hinata, and Freya have come back together, and their final moments in Parallax are filled with some amazing action and twists. Then, as the dust settles, we’re given a little tease about what might come in the next book.
I recommend Parallax. This title is an incredibly worthy successor to Amber Toro’s debut. Parallax jumps back into the action and gives us some time with each main character individually before getting the team back together again. Anyone looking for more romance than what we got last time will be pleasantly surprised, and anyone looking for more action will get a taste of that as well.
Personally, I don’t know if this series is for me anymore. However, I’m absolutely going to keep an eye on it and see what Toro does with the next book. There’s a world in which book three is my favorite, depending on how she decides to follow this one up.
Either way, Toro is kicking goals with both feet right now. Her work is easy to read, and she writes both romance and action like it comes naturally to her. Whether Sentient Stars is the right series for you or not, this is an author to watch. I’m becoming convinced that whatever she comes up with deserves at least some consideration for space on your TBR.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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