Zenith

Written by Sasha Alsberg, Lindsay Cummings and Nicol Zanzarella

Narrated by Caitlin Davies, Stephen Dexter, Jordan Claire McCraw and 2 more

‘A whirlwind out-of-this-galaxy adventure!’ Sarah J. Maas, bestselling author of A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass.

There is darkness sweeping across the stars.

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness: a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her fearsome glass starship the Marauder, she’s just Andi, their captain and protector.

When a routine mission goes awry, the all-girl crew’s resilience is tested as they find themselves in a most unfamiliar place: at the mercy of a powerful bounty hunter connected to Andi’s past and a harrowing betrayal.

Perfect for fans of Marie Lu, Victoria Aveyard and Sarah J. Maas.

Praise for Zenith:

‘This book is epic beyond measure. I need the next one like I need air.’ Rachael A, Amazon Reviewer

‘I was torn between wanting to read as fast as my eyes could manage and wanting to savour spending time with the characters I grew to love.’ Amazon Reviewer

‘I thought this book was absolutely fantastic and had a great cast of characters.’ Holly Moore, Amazon Reviewer

‘Zenith is an outstanding read and one of my new favourites. Read it. You will not be disappointed.’ Charlotte Burns, Amazon Reviewer

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Jan 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9780008228347

Sasha Alsberg

Sasha Alsberg is a #1 New York Times bestsellingauthor whose work includes the Breaking Time duology and, as co-author, theAndroma Saga. When Sasha is not writing or obsessing over Scotland, she isworking as a Social Media Manager for Joffe Books and taking too many photos ofher dogs, Fraser and Fiona. Sasha lives in London, England.

Reviews for Zenith

[Urooj Fatima · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Disclaimer: all the below points are simply my opinions and not at all a critique of the authors. Anyone else that chooses to read this may disagree with what I said about the pacing, perspectives etc.

Bad points:

The pacing was unusual, it kept changing, sometimes too fast other times too slow. The plot was slow at times, the changing between character perspectives got confusing. It was clear there were different writing styles, although similar you could tell where the author sort of ‘switched’. All of this wound up distracting from the story, however it wasn’t disastrous .

Good points:

I enjoyed the characters, a strong female lead (and a strong female team). The action and plans were good, once they got going. I like the world of the book. Definitely has potential. The overall story was enjoyable and interesting but it could have been executed better.

I did enjoy it enough to decide to begin the next book.

[jessika.c · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Oh boy, this was a pretty boring book. I had heard about this book way back when it was first released but I didn’t know a thing about it. When I got around to reading a summary I thought it might be something I was interested: space pirates? Right up my alley. But sadly, the writing skills of both authors was just not up to par for this ambitious project.I will however, give them credit where credit is due. It’s hard to write a 50,000 word novel and these two ladies were able to crank out a flipping brick. The problem was that there was too much explanation for little things that didn’t need to be explained. I don’t know what their editor was thinking but the transitions were messy and inserted out of nowhere. New characters were introduced awkwardly and by the time I reached the middle of the book I had no idea what the actual story was. Was it a heist? A romance? Who knows? I still don’t.I won’t be continuing with this series simply because the writing didn’t help me become invested in any of the characters. That’s also another problem, the characterization was weird and inconsistent. There are plenty of other reviewers with better examples of this and the other problems that I personally had so I’ll just leave it at that.

[amabilialifestyle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

To all of my previous - naive - thoughts of how this book would just make me feel all giddy inside and allow the torrents of salty tears fall, you were far off. Oh, so far off.Zenith shattered my heart into pieces so tiny, I don't even know where to start. Plot twist after plot twist after shocking ending; it all seemed to muddle together in my mind as I got caught up in weird senses of betrayal and pure, raw, underlying sadness.For starters, this is a YA fantasy-borderline-sci-fi narrative told in various point of views. Little miss boring Androma (better known across the galaxy as the ruthless Bloody Baroness and just Andi to her closest friends), her beloved all-girl crew on the star ship they call the Maurader, Dex whom I will just leave here as half angsty, half beautifully annoying Dex, Valen the son of the ruling General of Arcardius and brother of young girl whom started Androma's troubles, and mother-daughter duo (aka antagonist and enemies to the Unified Systems) Klaren and Nor Solis.Imagine lots of war and plenty of deception/cold-blooded murder singed through with the tiniest threads of the undying bonds of friendship, passion for the right choice, and forgiveness even when hate leisurely passes by. There was absolutely no way I could've prepared myself for my favorite characters getting ripped away. So close and yet so far from my grasp. The ending though, it really messes you up. On to technicalities, the writing was fantastic. Descriptions really well thought out and some so ridiculous I just had to laugh at the comparisons, but nonetheless very touching. Character Arcs were unfinished (this most likely has to do with the fact that there will be more than one book) yet they were realistic regarding the difficulties each character was enduring. The greatest thing I am proud of is the distinction between characters and how each and every one of them had their own unique voice, that was the main factor that allowed me to love this book. Looking back at the actual plot of the book though, it's pretty horrible. Most of it is told through flashbacks and Androma dwelling in the past (which I hated). Now, I know there is a LOT of controversy surrounding this - and the thing is, most of it makes sense. In the beginning, the story felt dragged through and a little bland as each character was introduced and I got used to the other-worldly setting. As the story progressed however... thats when things really started to pick up and I was thrown so close to death with the characters, it felt as if they were right there next to me. You'll go through a journey with them and in return they'll honor you with a great story. I'll always keep this book close for that reason.

[titania86_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Androma Racella is also known as The Bloody Baroness, a ruthless mercenary who travels with her crew of trusted friends. They are the best in the business until Dex, a jilted lover of Androma’s catches and imprisons them. This is as far as I got in the book.A book about space pirates sounds cool, but this one was not. I gave up at the 50 page mark because of many issues. First, Androma is a mercenary, but she committed a senseless murder revealed early on. How is she not a terrible person? Why should I care about her at all? The woman’s only crime was being a powerful man’s mistress, which left a bad taste in my mouth. She had no problem killing a woman presumably because the man in question much more powerful or important. The whole situation is troubling and gross. If your main character is a straight out murderer, they have to be justified or like able in some way. Androma isn’t.Second, her crew members’ entire back story is described with almost no indication of them or their relationship to Androma. They are supposed to be the best of friends, but they acted like acquaintances at best. The crew is suppose to be the very best at what they do, but that isn’t shown either since they are caught so early in the book. Third, the love interest seems like a total tool and of course he’s the only one who could beat Androma at her own game. They have a predictably messy past. All the characters are paper thin and I didn’t care about them at all.The writing irked me. All of the descriptions are flowery yet stilted. I love lyrical and poetic language, but this was not well done. Reading this right after reading a Seanan McGuire book was a mistake since the writing seemed even more amateurish and awkward in comparison. Everything was told to the reader with nothing in the actions of the characters or the plot to support any of it. I struggled to get to page 50 and put it down when I didn’t care at all for the characters, the world, or the story and there were over 400 pages left. I suppose it could have gotten better from there, but it just wasn’t for me.

[beammey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I did like this book and the fact it was such a quick read, I feel like it was a bit hard at first to get into the story. Soon, though, that was remedied and the book took off. The story line is solid, the characters are believable, and I think this book will only get better from here. I feel like, as a writer, the hardest part is introducing people into a new world, so bravo to Lindsay and Sasha for that. A good book and I would recommend it. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[the_literary_jedi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Zenith is clearly a first effort book. The writing is simple with much more telling than showing, character emotions and actions distinctly provided instead of allowing the reader to imagine them via descriptive vocabulary. The book concentrates on a single episode of the plot in detail throwing in an obligatory chapter or two to let the reader know portions of the rest of the plot to come. Even with this, I would consider Zenith a solid start to this series. The characters are interesting and have potential to develop into rounded, sound, actionable heroes the reader can root for. The set-up of the potential romance between Andi and Dex is clear even if perhaps too cliche; unless Andi chooses to remain a strong independent leader. The title throws the reader off because there is nothing mentioned using the word "zenith" in the novel. Hopefully there will be more plot explored in the coming installments rather than single minded concentration on one particular episode as we had here.