Star Splitter (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
Jessica Mathers begrudgingly accepts a post on a ship orbiting a desolate planet, simply there to observe and be closer to her scientist parents. After teleporting, she instead wakes up on the planet, in a lander covered in bloody handprints. And surrounded by fresh graves. Star Splitter had me asking, "What exactly is going on here?" throughout the entire book. Perfect for those who like their science fiction on the spookier side.
ANNA
— From Staff Picks: Young Adult
Jessica Mathers begrudgingly accepts a post on a ship orbiting a desolate planet, simply there to observe and be closer to her scientist parents. After teleporting, she instead wakes up on the planet, in a lander covered in bloody handprints. And surrounded by fresh graves. Star Splitter had me asking, "What exactly is going on here?" throughout the entire book. Perfect for those who like their science fiction on the spookier side.
Anna
— From Anna's Staff Picks!“An intense, read-in-one-sitting kind of ride.″—Kirkus, starred review
“A twisty mystery of partial truths and unexpected reveals.″ —BCCB
“Dual timelines imbued with believable hard science, harrowing action, and strong characterizations permeate Kirby’s breakneck adventure." —Publishers Weekly
2199. Deep-space exploration is a reality and teleportation is routine. But this time something has gone very, very wrong. Seventeen-year-old Jessica Mathers wakes up in a lander that’s crashed onto the surface of Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet fourteen light-years from Earth. The planet she was supposed to be viewing from a ship orbiting far above.
The corridors of the empty lander are covered in bloody hand prints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, there are fresh graves carefully marked with names she doesn’t recognize. Now Jessica must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her—and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger.
“Dual timelines imbued with believable hard science, harrowing action, and strong characterizations permeate Kirby’s breakneck adventure. Questions of personhood are skillfully elevated, explored against an inventive future backdrop in which cloning is the norm and the potential consequences of deceptively simple-sounding procedures come at high costs.” —Publishers Weekly