Review: Crash Land on Kurai

Crash Land on Kurai by S.J. Pajonas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Crash Land on Kurai on was my first S.J. Pajonas book, and I admit to having been a wee bit tentative. The synopsis really pulled me in, but there was one piece of knowledge that left me uncertain. The Hikoboshi series is a spinoff of another series by the author – the Nogiku series – and a part of me feared I would be unable to understand the story without having read the author’s other work. Fortunately, this book works perfectly fine as a standalone novel – I was able to truly enjoy it without the prior knowledge associated with reading the author’s other work.

In all honesty, the book is a very strong four-point-five star rating. As I so often say, it is extremely hard to get a five star rating out of me. Due to this, I know many will gladly hand over a five star rating. I have a feeling, with time and more books, I will come to hand out a five star rating to S.J. Pajonas in the future – and trust that I will be reading more of the author’s work, this one book cementing the fact. Not only will I be reading the rest of this series (I’ve been pulled in, and I’m already on the edge of my seat as I eagerly anticipate the next book) but I will also be reading the Nogiku series.

I’m so curious about the Nogiku series after reading this one. I have so many questions, so many things I wish to know more about. There were times when I chastised myself for having not read the other series before reading this one, but the information was provided in such a way that I do not feel as though I was left out of the loop. I simply feel as though this story would have been even stronger in my mind had I read the other series. Not to mention, that damned curiosity that has me wanting to pick up the series.

My desire to read more books by the author just goes to show how powerful a read Crash Land on Kurai is. From the very first page, I was pulled into the story, unable to put it down. I kept reading and reading, ignoring the world around me as I was too invested in the world on the pages to notice what was happening in my surroundings. The world building is wonderful, the characters are amazing, and the storyline is gripping. Every little detail of the story is powerful, with each new element introduced leaving you wanting more.

As powerful as the world building, storytelling, and storyline were, the characters were easily my favourite. The world building blew me away with the unique take on space (I have never read anything in this genre where the Japanese culture is so prominent), the storytelling gripped me through the ease at which it leaves us invested in the story, and the storyline threatened to blow my brain from the many wonderful interconnected elements (I know so much and yet, at the same time, I know so little). The characters, however, buried themselves deep in my heart. It’s such a great cast of characters, and I cannot wait to see more of them in the future books. I liked them from the very start of the story, but the development that takes place throughout left me loving them. We really do have a wonderful cast of characters, each one bringing something different to the story, the interactions between the characters wonderful.

Honestly, this was a brilliant read. There were so many interesting elements in this story and I cannot wait to see where the series heads from here. It is certainly a series I’ll be keeping an eye on!

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