File Size: 447 KB (Kindle Edition), 1 MB (PubIt Edition)
Language: English
ASIN: B0060PEA6O
BN ID: 2940013250819
Purchase on: Kindle, Nook, Other E-Readers
Website: www.embklitzke.com

Epsilon: Broken Stars is the first of several books by Erin M. Klitzke in which a young man who served the Alliance named Aaron Taylor – who spends most of the book going by the alias of Wil Terrel – ends up covertly working for a secret Resistance after the disappearance of his significant other while on a mission. An added twist is that Aaron's father and grandfather are known for their allegiance to the Imperium, with whom the Alliance is in conflict.

The book categorizes as "space opera" and that is an accurate summation of its focus. While the reader stays very much aware of the politics going on, the real story is about who the players are and how this war affects each of their lives personally, whether it's Aaron's adventure, or the psychic Resistance lead Dr. Lucas Ross, or fellow resistance leader Sam. That's just some of the players on the canvas, and watching how their personal stories play out is rather fun to follow. Even with many people going by multiple aliases, it wasn't hard to keep them all straight even though a cast list is provided in the beginning.

I will note that I reviewed a Smashwords version of the book that I received during a free promotion in Fall of 2011. There were some points in this version where the dialogue was all left justified and the paragraphs not indented for about a half a page at a time, which did make it hard to follow who was speaking and took a couple reads; I don't know if this is true of all versions. Also, there were a few bits of missing punctuation and typos but those can happen to anyone. Again, I don't know if they are in all versions of the book but needs to be noted for readability.

There are a couple of elements that seem convenient and out of left field, such as the missing girlfriend having an identical twin sister, and some other parts I can't give away because it would spoil the ending. However, since this is more space opera versus hardcore action science fiction I considered it acceptable despite being noticeable. I would gladly go on to read other books in this series because the rich depth of characterization drew me in to everyone's stories and I wanted to know the outcome. Some things are resolved in this book, but there are greater issues that clearly make it worth a series as well.