A secret she must never share. A secret that two warring species are determined to control. A universe’s future at stake.
Twenty-year-old Cassiel Winters joins Earth’s new space academy in hopes of finding her brother, one of Command’s top pilots and her only family, who’s been reported MIA. But she quickly realizes she may not be cut out for life in space, where female cadets are outnumbered, competition’s fierce, and she’s already failed her hand-to-hand combat test once.
Even the station’s most respected officer, Lt. Damian King, probably can’t help Cassiel pass the second time around-so why is he so interested in her progress? If only one of her freaky deja vu visions would offer an answer instead of mysterious messages like hide.
When Cassiel’s manipulated into a perilous mission, she encounters a warrior species bred to protect the universe from an even greater threat. And she learns that her secret visions are at the heart of it all.
Now Cassiel must fight to control her own destiny and race to save her brother-even if it means pretending to be the pawn of Prime Or’ic, the cold-as-steel Thell’eon leader. Even if it means risking her life, facing hard truths, and making the ultimate sacrifice.
Lesley Young writes edgy, action-packed stories that keep readers guessing. The futuristic setting of her novel Sky’s End was inspired by a life-long love of the trekkie franchise, and a desire to imagine and explore our universe from the unique perspective of a young, female cadet. Cassiel Winters is desperate to find her missing brother, but first she must solve the mystery behind her own unusual ability, and learn how to be human herself, including experiencing love and loss in an epic adventure of first contact with universe altering importance. Lesley steals time to write novels between researching and writing health and lifestyle features for women’s magazines including Reader’s Digest Canada, Best Health and House & Home.
Sky’s End by Lesley Young
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sky’s End is the first book in the Cassiel Winters series and takes you on a ride that includes, intergalactic warfare, good looking aliens, and a bit of mystery.
Overall I found the story to be quite engaging and pretty action packed. Cassiel Winters is a cadet with the ESE (Earth Space Exploration) and needs to pass her H2H test in order to continue in her studies. She joined mostly because of her brother Daz. He is considered one of the best pilots ESE has and although he is supposedly on a secret mission, Cassiel is worried something has happened because he has stopped responding to her missives. Cassiel also has a little bit of a secret as she just happens to have an ability that she refers to as deja-vu.
There is more going on here than Cassiel just trying to find her brother. When her test ends disastrously, ESE proposes a way for Cassiel to stay in ESE as well as potentially help figure out what is going on with Daz. Her mission is to infiltrate a Thell ‘eon ship and find out everything she can about a supposed weapon called a Sift. Also, Thell ‘eon’s are a race of aliens that just happen to be pretty intimidating for a number of reasons…including the fact that they just happened to kill the spies that were sent to their planet.
At times I found myself cheering Cassiel on and there were other times where I was thoroughly annoyed with her. She is smart and loyal and really wants to protect the people who are important to her. This includes not only Daz but King and eventually, Or’ic. Does she always make the right choice? Definitely not but she has good intentions so I give her credit there. She struggles with who she is and what her role is in the whole scope of things. I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t get into the details but it is clear Cassiel has a very different future in the works than she was originally thinking.
The Thell ‘eon horde is an interesting dynamic. Where things may make perfect sense to them, that isn’t always the case for someone not familiar. Additionally, we see them all making some adjustments to help Cassiel fit in. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with these guys…mostly because of the way they treated Cassiel at times. I liked seeing the change in Or’ic just after the Candidacy and definitely appreciate what he did at the end of the book for Cassiel. I will be interested to see what happens next for the horde as well as between Cassiel and Or’ic considering how the rest of the story progressed.
There were a few editing issues and to be honest I didn’t care for the trademarking and how much content was italicized or in parenthesis but overall it didn’t hurt the story. I just found them slightly annoying. I would have also liked to know more about why the races didn’t get along – it felt like it was just assumed that because they were all different and they had their own agendas that they were all warring with each other.
The end definitely opens up the story to address the many questions I have left and I will for sure check out the next book to see what happens. I’m curious to see what is next for Cassiel, King, Daz, and Or’ic as well as the Aeons and the Ires – this one didn’t end on a cliffhanger which always makes me happy. If you enjoy a story from the science fiction genre you may enjoy this book. At 400+ pages it may seem long but it moves quickly and is definitely an interesting take on Earth’s future with the alien world.
View all Erin’s reviews
For someone releasing their first novel, you do an amazing job at blending genres – science fiction, romance, adventure. What made you venture outside your roots in journalism to write “Sky’s End,” and how did that background help make the fictional story more realistic?
Thanks! Journalism is exhaustingly serious, and I was tired of taking myself so seriously. The minute I freed myself from those restraints, within 60 seconds of staring at a blank screen, this is what poured (more like gushed) out of me.
That said, because I am a journalist, I wanted the story to be real. I guess the same integrity at the heart of my health reporting was at play in “Sky’s End.” I just couldn’t buy in if Cassiel and everything that happens to her wasn’t honest. That meant I had to root the science in some kind of truth, and question every single scene, how the plot unfolded, her character development, the dialogue…pretty much everything (including myself a million times — as in, ‘Can you really pull this off?!’).
Your writing style really pulls readers into the action. Why did you decide to let Cassiel Winters tell the story for herself?
Writing in past tense separates me from my characters, in the way that watching a television show puts an ottoman, a coffee table, and 100,000 miles between me and the actual set.Writing present tense connects me directly to characters’ here and now, and there’s not much in life I find more enjoyable. The experience is visceral, palpitating, real-to-life, moment-by-moment drama that I (and readers) get to live—through my characters.
Only after I started writing did I learn that people say present tense limits certain aspects of the fiction technique, but so far I’ve found ways around that. Funny, I actually find it much easier to write this way. I’m hooked!
What do you think makes Cassiel Winters such a unique character, especially when comparing to other sci-fi books?
Well, for starters, she’s female – and there aren’t many in sci-fi novels out there. But mostly it’s her voice. I didn’t want to get through lots and lots of plot before readers could get up close and sometimes uncomfortable with her. I wanted Cassiel to be ‘naked’ to the world from day one. I wanted her to amuse, and entertain, and disappoint readers just like real people do when you let them in. And, hopefully, she does.
You say the science behind “Sky’s End” is based on real astrophysics?
Well, very loosely. But yes. Increasingly, a group of leading physicists have put forward a theory to explain questions in quantum mechanics that baffled the likes of Einstein. And it is called Mtheory or multi-verse theory. Basically, string theorists make a pretty compelling mathematical case for there being multiple universes out there. (Alert! Boring science stuff over.)
It just astounds me. Here we are, truly on the cusp of an amazing new understanding of our place and relationship in the cosmos. I mean how could you not fictionalize that?
Other basic sci-fi stuff is rooted in some science (or credible scientific theorization). For example, the space station is powered by helium. Then there is definitely fictionalization like how it is Cassiel can travel between universes … I am prone to déjà vu myself. [Insert wild imagination and ‘ping’ — why, if there were, multiple universes, that would totally explain déjà vu!!] Hence, Cassiel mistakes her ability to travel between dimensions as déjà vu for most of her life.
Soul Mate Publishing mainly releases romance novels, and you’re personally an avid romance reader. How did that play a role in shaping the story of “Sky’s End” and the rest of the series?
100% total honesty here: I wrote what I wanted to read, and I am a romance fan.
It was only after I finished the book, and I started to query ‘romance’ agents and editors, who rejected it because it was futuristic, or it ‘read’ sci-fi or the intern was rushed to hit that Guess sale, did I realize how unique “Sky’s End” is. It is genre novel that is not a genre novel. Ack!
“Sky’s End” is suspense — Cassiel encounters mysterious events while chasing down clues to find her brother and get to the bottom of the mystery of her role in the universe. It’s adventure —there’s a combat test, high-speed chases, and other perilous cat-and-mouse pursuits. It’s sci-fi — the book is set in the future and in outer space during earth’s early exploration days. And finally, “Sky’s End” is romance — with lots of sexual tension between Cassiel and two strong, very different male characters. (And no, it’s not another love triangle, or, at least, not a conventional one.)
The important thing is my editor at Soul Mate Publishing saw something she liked. She stepped outside her wheelhouse for sure.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
They change all the time, but right now I really admire, and reread for inspiration, Charles Portis (for the total package), Karen Marie Moning (for voice), Silvia Plath (for mood), Monica McCarty (for pacing), and Charlaine Harris (for soft, entangled suspense). They are certainly pros for a reason. Also can’t say enough good things about Elizabeth Wein’s “Code Name Verity.”
“Sky’s End” is the first book in a series. What’s next for Cassiel Winters?
Lots of mystery, excitement, adventure, and trials of the heart. I am up-at-night scared and brimming hopeful for her. She’s got to sort out the big mystery she discovers at the end of Book One, and she’s going to need help. The question is who will she turn to, and how will that play out. I don’t want to ruin the fun, but there’s a pretty big surprise in store for her. I can’t wait to experience it!
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