Intense

I was also a beta reader, and judging from the original blurb, it sounded like your run-of-the-mill "get a crew together, however reluctant, and run a Space Heist"

In a way... it is that. In so many other ways... it's not. HOW DO I DESCRIBE THIS BOOK.

It's like if The Martian had a baby with Red Rising and the whole irreverently-gritty, people-are-messy story was put together by Brandon Sanderson's non-LDS twin brother.

It's like if Firefly met with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Mike got merged with River Tam to create ToF's AI character, Leela.

It's like if The Expanse zoomed into the experience of just one small ship of people, and delved deeply into their experience, in the middle of a rich and colonized solar system. With more guns.

I don't know what to say, other than, if you read one book this year, MAKE IT THIS BOOK. PUT THEFT OF FIRE ON YOUR 'TO READ' SHELF!

A down-on-his-luck asteroid miner, a mysterious heiress, an ancient alien race--Devon Eriksen's Theft of Fire weaves these classic elements into a story that feels refreshingly cutting-edge, with prose as lean and no-frills as the hero's hand-rolled spaceship. The physics are so tight it feels like he spent hours plotting out each scene with a slide rule, and the characters so lovingly drawn I believed in them from the first line of dialog--including one of the most convincing post-GPT AIs I've seen in print.

If you're tired of stories that preach at you, insult your intelligence, or feed you member berries like a kid in a zoo, if you're after a book that promises a good old-fashioned hard sci-fi adventure in the spirit of Gregory Benford or James S.A. Corey, *and then delivers so much more*, then this is one you won't want to miss.

This is one hell of a yarn. It has the character development of John Varley, the plot twists of Robert E Taylor, battle scenes that are reminiscent of Jack Campbell, and the dramatic angst of Stephen R. Donaldson. Behind it all lurks an irreverent Nivenesque humor.

This story grabbed me in minutes and called me back whenever I set it down.

I was a beta reader for this book. It grabbed me in the first few paragraphs.

A space ore hauler on tough times, turned pirate, has his bad decisions catch up to him.

He gets shanghaied and extorted by a beautiful woman on the run from her abusive but powerful family, and falls into an adventure that could change the balance of power in the solar system.

If you like TV shows like Firefly and The Expanse, and enjoy novels by authors like John Varley (Red Thunder, 8 Worlds Series) you should check it out when it comes out.

I was a beta reader for this book. I was pulled into this book beginning to end - did not want to put it down!

I love a good sci fi heist, but the main strength of Theft of Fire is in it's characters. Our main characters, a down on his luck turned pirate space miner and beautiful rich girl turned extortionist, head off on a dangerous boondoggle to steal a powerful artifact. The relationship is very antagonistic at first, but as the journey progresses, the characters are able to learn more about each other, and also themselves. Watching these characters grow into who they are at the end of the novel in the face of some very real troubles was a treat! I can't wait for book 2!