A Review of Secrets of Lothoria (Starshatter #5)
A novel of soaring heights and unfortunate lows
Swords, hauberks, and space hamsters.
Or better yet: medieval space opera. Such is the name of the game for Secrets of Lothoria, the fifth entry in Black Knight’s sweepingly epic and original Starshatter series. But does this particular book stick the landing like most of its predecessors? Do we get to see how the Starshatter crew can adjust to a new planet, especially one that’s thrust thousands of years in the past?
Well, yes… and no. In truth, reviewing the story in question has been a rather polarizing experience, and I’m sure that some of my opinions will come across as less than agreeable for several readers. In short, there are many things I absolutely adore about this novel. Then again, there are just as many aspects which left me scratching my head in dismay.
First, we should probably start from the beginning. Secrets takes a noticeably different approach to its storyline in comparison to its predecessors. Instead of gigantic space battles or devious heists, we’re mostly treated to life on the primitive planet of Lothoria, as well as just how gruesome life can be. Indeed, the opening feels like it’s skirting along the edge of grimdark at times, which is quite the contrast compared to the series’ roots in noble sci-fi. To some, this may seem a little off-putting; but as for this reviewer, it fell right into place with how evil the villainous factions are in Starshatter.
As was mentioned before, longswords, handaxes, chainmail, and the like replace a lot of the more futuristic elements we’ve come to know and love, at least so far as Lothoria is concerned. For the sci-fi faithful, however, don’t fret; there’s still a lot of lasers and starships to go around as we visit the Taz’arans, along with the devious plans of Lord Omasa. All of this culminates into what is the title of the book. Ancient bunkers and (surprisingly atrocious) horrors abound, as our heroes (and villains) explore the ancient mysteries of this desolate world. Empires such as the Myrran Hegemony are brushed on in part here, not to mention a plethora of unknowns stretching far back into the eons.
I must say that I enjoyed many of the more medieval aspects on display here, and that’s not just my partiality for history speaking, either. Most of the new additions fit right in with what’s already established, chief of which includes the militaristic leht, the all-powerful Mage and his army of Unlife corpses, and finally, the strange remnants of the Myrran race.
All of this really added to my enjoyment, which, as I will mention here shortly, reached a peak in the final act.
However, that doesn’t mean my experience with Secrets of Lothoria was perfect. Far from it, in fact…
First of all, I would like to say that the pacing for this novel was all over the place. Several scenes moved along at a breakneck speed, whilst others slowed down accordingly for a well-earned moment of respite. Yet the majority of chapters I found were far less balanced, as Black Knight tends to delve way too much into worldbuilding and flashbacks, most of which have very little to do with the plot at hand.
This leads directly into how exposition is handled in the book, as well as my own personal distaste for prolonged info dumps. Much of it comes at the expense of setting the scene and painting a picture with words. There is far, far more telling than showing in this story, and I believe it harms the book tremendously for it.
This isn’t helped by the formatting issues I had mentioned in my previous Starshatter reviews. The extremely large and bulky paragraphs are back in full-force, which, coupled with the small font size and thin margins, makes Secrets of Lothoria a surprisingly difficult read.
I also encountered my own fair share of typos and translation errors, although these were relatively minor issues compared to my other gripes. English isn’t Black Knight’s first language, and though that shows every bit here and there, the writing is still simple enough for me to follow what’s being said.
Unfortunately, that’s not the end of my criticisms. My biggest problem with Secrets of Lothoria has to do with tone and how there are many, many genres blended in this book. As excited as I was to experience a more medieval version of Starshatter, there’s a shocking amount of the story that’s dedicated to entirely other genres. Normally, this wouldn’t even be a problem, if it wasn’t for the sheer volume of ideas thrown our way. All of this leads to a narrative which can feel messy and overstuffed a lot of the time, as we deviate between sci-fi/fantasy, space opera, grimdark, military, western, samurai fiction, and, last but not least, cosmic horror.
I believe this dilemma of having too many genres could have been helped by the different perspectives of the crew, much like we’ve seen in the past: Characters like Awesome, Anit’za, Lilly, Brynjar, Cat, etc. However, it seems that the heroes are given much less room to be themselves than in previous entries, and as much as I hate to say it, the story suffers for it.
In the beginning chapters, we’re treated to Lothoria from a peasant girl’s perspective, all before we hop to a group of heroes, then villains, back to the heroes, and so on.
This is mitigated somewhat by the halfway point, as the writing hones in on specific characters for a more focused experience. Yet by that time, it felt like the damage was already done.
Last in my (admittedly) long list of critiques is how the humor is handled; or better yet, the times where it can feel lopsided, jarring, or simply out of place. The most egregious example of this is where Awesome and friends are cracking childish jokes in a desert… up to and including their raid of a child molestation dungeon. In theory, having this beforehand might have given us an important moment of levity, all before the grim subject matter was revealed to us in full. In practice, however, it feels like the kind of humor which depreciates instead of enhances.
I can see the intent behind this, and if Black Knight had given us just a little more gravitas, then I think it would have worked wonders for what is undoubtedly one of the darkest stories told thus far. Just a little more and it would be perfect.
Back on the positive side of things, the last three-to-four chapters pick up a considerable amount of slack. The pacing for each scene is tighter, the action more real, and the stakes are high as we see our heroes facing up against much more powerful enemies.
To say the final act saved the book for me, personally, is perhaps underselling it. These last few scenes made Secrets of Lothoria. To witness such a sudden shift from some of Black Knight’s worst writing to his absolute best was unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome. The following conclusion was just as powerful, with a lot of character and room left open for future stories to follow with the Avern’a.
This leads back to my conflicting feelings overall. So do I recommend Secrets of Lothoria?
Like I said before: yes… and no.
For fans of Starshatter who want to see more of their favorite heroes, I believe this entry gives all of that and then some. Additionally, when the moments of action, drama, and character hit, they are some of the absolute best this series has ever seen.
On the other hand, the prose and exposition are incredibly rough, the pacing slow and inconsistent, and the tone can feel like it’s all over the place. With this in mind, I simply cannot recommend it to a casual reader. Perhaps with a couple more editing passes and a fresh coat of paint, I believe a remaster would be amazing for bringing in new readers to this fascinating series.
If you would like to learn more about Secrets of Lothoria, you can find it along with the rest of Black Knight’s published work on Amazon. He also has a Minds account where he posts incredibly wholesome updates. Last but not least, he has a Substack, with lots of free stories that you can check out.