Spark in the Stars

Reviewed by Sammy for Diverse Reader

For a novella, Spark in the Stars really packed a huge story into a leaner page count. Author Foster Bridget Cassidy offers up an exciting sci-fi story complete with a brand new world, different races of both aliens and humanoids and a romance that plays up how opposites do attract. While the relationship part of this book felt a bit forced there is no denying that the rest of this story was very well done.

Gin has always been somewhat of a disaster when it comes to being around the thing he loves—mechanical objects. From the time he was very young an accident in his father’s shop left Gin with a spark—a jolt of electricity pulsing through his body that often rears its head at the most inopportune times and makes his fingers a conduit for explosive reactions. Touching the rubber bands he always ties back his hair with seems to ground the spark but too often Gin’s sister, Temina, needlessly belittles him and makes him angry which is when he loses focus and trouble often follows. When just such an occasion ends with a minor catastrophe at their mechanic shop, Temina tells Gin he must find another job. Gin is heartbroken and goes to the local bar to nurse his hurt feelings and that is where he meets Captain Lian Hartford.

Lian is looking to recruit a new mechanic for the ship he loves. Temina Oshwald is supposedly the best and he wants him on his crew. Not only does Lian not know Temina is a girl but when he meets Gin he thinks he has met Temina and Gin does not disavow him of that belief. This is Gin’s chance to go off-world and make his mark—now if only he can keep his real identity in the dark and not let the good captain see just how infatuated he is with him.

Spark in the Stars begins with a bang. I was immediately fascinated by the futuristic earth setting and the different alien beings the author introduced so seamlessly into the story. I loved how even those who were essentially humanoid in appearance often had a dual genetic makeup—part human and part alien. Rather than overstate the obvious as so many sic-fi novels are wont to do when they have those of mixed race, Cassidy touches on the subject with great care and compassion and then moves on to create a compelling story that moves swiftly. We know that his genetics affected how Lian saw himself and how others treated him but the idea that he then made up the crew of his ship with similar people who were like him was really a wonderful side plot. I really liked Lian—he was definitely a “by the book” kind of man but slowly Gin’s infectious joy at being on board wears him down.

It was understandable that these two would be attracted to each other but unfortunately the story rather abruptly made that happen. Suddenly Lian put aside all his reservations about dating a crew member and went full in with Gin. My one reservation with this story was actually that very quick capitulation on Lian’s part and then Gin’s immediate acceptance of it. While we had some warning that Gin was smitten and crushing on Lian, there was very little groundwork laid for these two guys to suddenly fall in bed with each other and then move on to declarations of love just a short time later. I think had that part of the story line been better developed this novella would have benefited greatly.

Spark in the Stars most assuredly was a solid sci-fi novella that had all the right elements to make it a success. I enjoyed this story and despite the abrupt introduction to Gin and Lian’s romance this was still a really nice addition to the sci-fi genre.

When Ginnovi deliberately presents himself as his sister, he has one goal in mind. To get away from this place and starting over with more opportunities than he was ever going to get from his sister. But before we judge the sister, we must know that she took over their late father’s garage and raised Ginnovi by herself, that led her to seeing her younger brother as a kid, who has the tendency to blow up electronic devices.

It’s not really his fault. It seems that he’s charged with this static electricity, and in the most inconvenient times, it discharges. He can’t help it, and he can’t control it, no matter what he does.

After their latest fight, sitting in the local pub with the intention of downing his sorrow in alcohol, a chance appears to him in the form of Captain Liam Hartford.

Lian is looking for the very famous mechanic of Tallahassee. Despite the fact that everybody’s telling him that Oshwald is hard to convince, he finds no resistance and whisks the mechanic away in no time. So what if they get the wrong gender in the description. It was probably a bureaucratic mistake.

After their departure, he soon finds out that Gin lied to him, putting their top-secret mission at risk. But there might be a chance that the captain could help Gin with his sparkling problems. Also, it seems to Liam that Gin is more to him than just a brilliant mechanic.
I liked the plot and the romance between our two MCs, but there were minor details that I can’t see happening in real life. And while we know this is sci-fi, things like identification for a top-secret mission shouldn’t be lousy. I can understand some misspelling of the name, but gender? How can you mistake that?

We learn about new species, inter-species relations, and offsprings.