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The Pearl Wars (Skyship Academy #1)

by Nick James (Goodreads Author)

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 758 ratings · 146 reviews

"A definite must-read "--JAMES DASHNER, New York Times bestselling author of The Maze Runner

A devastated Earth's last hope is found in Pearls: small, mysterious orbs that fall from space and are capable of supplying enough energy to power entire cities. Battling to control the Pearls are the Skyship dwellers--political dissidents who live in massive ships in the Earth's st...more

Paperback, 376 pages

Published September 8th 2011 by Flux (first published September 1st 2011)

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Sep 09, 2011 Phoebe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: loved-it, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, adventure, intergalactic-academy-reviews

Full review at the Intergalactic Academy.

This is a solid action-adventure read with some really sound worldbuilding. Despite the cover, it's not steampunk at all but rather post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Unfortunately, my engagement was hampered by James' unusual choice in point-of-view (alternating between first person, present tense, and third person past), which kept me from really loving it fully until the conclusion--which was awesome. Great climax with some surprising twists. Overall, this felt...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Ravenous Biblioworm rated it 4 of 5 stars

I obviously didn’t know what I was going into when I picked up this book. The plot was very interesting and fun. The pearls … were a pleasant surprise. Skyship is packed with science fiction and dystopia so for those of you who enjoy either genre or both, you should read this book. Skyship‘s world has gone arid and hot. Cities are kept alive under domes powered by pearls that fall from the sky from space. Two factions are almost point and center here, fighting over these pearls. Jesse is a throw...more I obviously didn’t know what I was going into when I picked up this book. The plot was very interesting and fun. The pearls … were a pleasant surprise. Skyship is packed with science fiction and dystopia so for those of you who enjoy either genre or both, you should read this book. Skyship‘s world has gone arid and hot. Cities are kept alive under domes powered by pearls that fall from the sky from space. Two factions are almost point and center here, fighting over these pearls. Jesse is a thrown in the middle of the feud only to discover he has a bigger role to play than he has ever expected.

Honestly, I’m straddling on how I feel about this book. Maybe I’m in a sour mood, but I don’t feel angry. Just restless. I really wanted to really really like – love – this book. I couldn’t. Do not get me wrong. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it (see verdict). It was entertaining. It was fun. The plot was different, refreshing from other YA novels and other science fiction novels. I think it came down to the characters.

Jesse, our protaganist and narrators at certain times (the story alternates between first person, when Jesse is talking, and third person, when exploring Cassius’ perspective), wasn’t completely likable for me, but luckily I liked him enough. He comes off as a defenseless, an almost spineless guy, in the beginning, which I don’t mind… but somewhere in the middle of the book, he just switches personality and becomes headstrong and commanding. Nothing wrong with that, but why the change. What made him change? It wasn’t too clear. I can make assumptions but they aren’t too concrete. (I still don’t really empathize or care for him).

Cassius, the other main guy in the story, is strong (in the self-seeing kind of way). Yet, he harms people almost without a second thought. There’s nothing wrong with this, only, the first time he does harming in a big way, he kind of pushed any feeling aside and preceeded to chase after Jesse. Later, he saves a man’s life (who only came into harm’s way because of him)… because he cared. Basically there were no emotional point A to point B to explain these changes in behavior.

That’s it. Had to sit down and start writing this review to pinpoint out what bothered me. The characters are given light backstory, our main guys that is, and the other characters are just secondary characters. One moment the secondaries are them and the other moment they’re not (vague, I know, but I don’t want to spoil anything). Why? Why the sudden change in attitude? Never was given a reason. There’s no emotional attachment from characters in this story. We almost get it with Avery, almost recieve a reason of some sort, but then the story thread slips and her character’s personality loosens (I made the assumption of love for her reasons why she did the things she did). We get an array of people in the story, but they are given roles and not a life (hopefully you get my metaphor).

But I did like the story. I thought the plot was interesting and intriguing. There were moments where the story was slowed, but it quickly paced up again. I really enjoyed the plot. Don’t know if I can say it enough. When I realized the book was nearing its end, I wanted to read more. I wanted to find out what happens next, but the books ends kind of abruptly. So there’s a second book.

Anyway, the writing is vernacular. Prose is simple and plain. Nothing wrong with that either. James does well in creating his world. I believed the world they lived in and saw and felt its decay (not entirely right word…. morphing? terraforming?)… change from what we know (that’s better… I see I’m in a mood to talk in parenthesis tonight). I didn’t question the world. There were places and names that I knew and yet they were different in my mind because I knew they were different – I accepted the world that was given. It’s frustrating for a book to describe a place and your mind fights with it because it doesn’t match your memory or mind’s visual lenses and understanding. For me, James made his world and my brain cohesive.

Overall, I enjoyed the book becuase of its plot. It’s what drove me to read this book. The interaction between characters were somewhat stiff and expected, but again the interesting storyline made up for it. Hopefully, James does not fail his story’s concept.

Verdict: Not one I would buy, but one to definately read. I’ll be on the lookout for book two.

Visit my book review blog at ravenousbiblioworm.wordpress.com(less)

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Mar 14, 2012 Tabitha the Pabkins rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of Sci Fi YA

Shelves: 1st-in-series, debut, sci-fi-or-futuristic, books-won, autographed, own

Recently, I’ve been reading more science fiction. As soon as I heard of this new YA Sci-Fi book I had to have it! Last month when it released I was lucky enough to win a copy from the Publisher - which is funny considering I had also overnight ordered a copy – which I ended up giving to my sister.

The story takes place in post-apocalyptic America (and in the skies above it). The view points toggle back and forth between the two male teenagers Jesse and Cassius. Jesse is a Skyshipper who grew up i...more Recently, I’ve been reading more science fiction. As soon as I heard of this new YA Sci-Fi book I had to have it! Last month when it released I was lucky enough to win a copy from the Publisher - which is funny considering I had also overnight ordered a copy – which I ended up giving to my sister.

The story takes place in post-apocalyptic America (and in the skies above it). The view points toggle back and forth between the two male teenagers Jesse and Cassius. Jesse is a Skyshipper who grew up in the skies and Cassius is a government goon who was raised in one of the “Chosen Cities” that are spread across what’s left of Northern America. Outside these Chosen Cities people still live and try to survive – though it is a blasted wasteland – they are called Fringers.

The two factions of people Jesse and Cassius belong to are in competition for Peals which fall from the sky. They use them to power their skyships and Chosen Cities. These two kids meet when out in the fringes and fight over a pearl. Now, I really did enjoy this book and I definitely plan on reading the rest of what I hear is planned to be a trilogy. There are are a few things however, that I nit picked at while reading. Mainly in the first few chapters with Jesse he used the word ‘mass’ a lot. I get that it’s a slang word and I even know a few kids that do the same thing – they latch onto that slang word and use it until you want to smack them. That’s how I felt about Jesse for a little while. Of course that wasn’t how it was the whole book, so if you are like me in that easily annoyed respect don’t worry. I thought the first 100 pages was a tad bit low on the action, but I have to admit that might have been because I was expecting that only based on the first chapter. My bad – don’t go in expecting just enjoy the ride. It led you in giving you little tid bits here and there of history and the current state of things in the world, I would definitely have loved to know more, but I’ll just have to wait for the next book.

There is a definite surprise in store for readers at the end of the book, things just hinted at through the second part that just smacked me unawares. I like being taken by surprise. (less)

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May 26, 2013 Blake rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book starts off with a bang and left me with a lot of questions after one chapter. I enjoyed piecing together the information and seeing how my ideas compared with what actually happened. There were twists that I didn't see coming, a few that skimmed my brain as I was reading, but overall I was pleasantly surprised. The Pearl Wars is a great story about friendship, discovering who you are, and determining what is right and wrong when you're suddenly faced with more grey than black and white....more

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Aug 13, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian, kick-assery, lols, megalomaniacs, travel

Oh man.

I started reading this book purely for aesthetic purposes. I just thought: Meh. It looks lame. How good can it possibly be?

And ^that^ statement above, ladies and gentlemen, was the most idiotic thought to ever have crossed my mind.

I was mind-blown, you see. And I guess that's not much, coming from a person whose mind is blown by pretty much all books (except the ones by Ayn Rand!!), but this book surprised me. I've gone through so many books and seen so many characters and plots, so I tho...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the year 2095, the Earth is a parched, blazing hot planet. In order to survive, people are gathered in a few Chosen Cities, surrounded by Bio-Nets to protect and cool them. Power for the cities comes from Pearls -- warm globes of light that fall from space occasionally. Without them, the cities would die, so the search for Pearls is ongoing. Because the Surface Cities are so desperately crowded, political dissidents have established homes in the Skyships -- massive ships in the Earth's strato...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Kristin Lundgren rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, ya-sci-fi, ya-teen, post-apocalypse

Although from a small indie press, this book was better than I originally thought it might be, and better than the first few chapters. It was a good PA SF book, with the earth divided in factions, the Unified party, which has tried to control what is left of the US after some "bombs", red ones, were dropped on the cities, and caused death and major climate change. Blaming it on terrorists, the US bombed out most of the middle east and eastern-europe in retaliation, even though they never claimed...more Although from a small indie press, this book was better than I originally thought it might be, and better than the first few chapters. It was a good PA SF book, with the earth divided in factions, the Unified party, which has tried to control what is left of the US after some "bombs", red ones, were dropped on the cities, and caused death and major climate change. Blaming it on terrorists, the US bombed out most of the middle east and eastern-europe in retaliation, even though they never claimed credit. So what was left wasn't much. Canada managed to build a few cities up in the polar regions as the world became hot to live in easily. And after the bombs, green globes began to fall, called Pearls. They luckily found that these "pearls"could be harnessed as an energy source, and so they became sought after. Many of the original US inhabitants, who didn't like the autocratic ways of the Unified Party, left and established themselves in starships, around the earth in low earth orbit. Called Skyshippers, these people lived and worked up there under a treaty drawn up after a series of mini wars broke out. But they too need pearls and send teams of young trained people down to the surface and retrieve them, hopefully before the Unified Party does. The third main group are the Fringers, those who couldn't or wouldn't pay the environmental tax to live in the "chosen cities", which had a pearl powered bio-net around them that allowed for air and temperature control, and made living nice. These people lived in the hot, dry dusty wastelands, making a living scrounging off the land, and trading. The Unified Party also had people who would go out after the Pearls. The Fringers, if they found the Pearls, would barter with the Skyshippers for food and rations, etc.

At the heart of this story is a misfit named Jesse, who can't seem to excel at the academy where he is being trained for missions. He isn't great at the games, trials, schoolwork, etc. He's a bit of a slacker. But in his first raid to the surface, he meets up with a Unified Party member, a boy about his age. Something extraordinary happens during that encounter that changes the future of both boys, as they rush to figure out what happened and why suddenly they are important to all. A good read, and some nice SF twists that were unexpected. I truly enjoyed it and hope for more in the series.(less)

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Feb 06, 2012 Miranda rated it 2 of 5 stars

The problem about reviewing something a good five months or so after first reading it is that it's no longer fresh in your memory. And while I liked SKYSHIP ACADEMY, I don't really want to reread it, especially not when I have three new books on the waiting list.

But I think how memorable a book is can be a telling factor about its quality, too. After all, I read DIVERGENT and WITHER before SKYSHIP ACADEMY, and I feel like I could still write reviews for either one that did the books justice.

So I...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Ilsa Bick rated it 3 of 5 stars

James takes a by-now familiar trope–a post-apocalyptic, dystopian scenario–and adds a bit of a twist by throwing in some very good world-building and sci-fi into this coming-of-age story of two boys who start out as enemies and wind up . . . well, not exactly as friends but certainly allies. Earth has been devastated by war. The surviving factions–the Skyships, The Fringers and the Unified Party–have their agendas, among which is the acquisition of Pearls: balls of energy that fall to Earth and,...more James takes a by-now familiar trope–a post-apocalyptic, dystopian scenario–and adds a bit of a twist by throwing in some very good world-building and sci-fi into this coming-of-age story of two boys who start out as enemies and wind up . . . well, not exactly as friends but certainly allies. Earth has been devastated by war. The surviving factions–the Skyships, The Fringers and the Unified Party–have their agendas, among which is the acquisition of Pearls: balls of energy that fall to Earth and, once procured, provide much-needed power upon which both the Skyships and UP depend. The story centers on two boys, Cassius (United Party) and Jesse (Skyship), and there’s a fair amount of Machiavellian shenanigans going on, but the gist is that Cassius, who meets Jesse at the very beginning of the book and then changes in some very interesting ways, is sent on a mission to infiltrate Skyship Academy, find Jesse and kill him for reasons that don’t become clear until much later in the book. Much of the rationale is much too involved to summarize here–and would only spoil the read–but suffice to say that each kid has a shadowy past and more in common than they realize. Since this is a novel of discovery, they learn more about themselves, one another and–most importantly–the Pearls. Of the various elements here, I enjoyed finally understanding what the Pearls were and found it the most inventive. I will be honest, too; while the world-building was good, too much of this book was spent telling rather than letting us discover through the read. This slowed the book’s pace quite a bit and I found myself bored for a fair number of pages right off the bat. I kept on because I was curious enough to do so, and of the two main characters, I actually thought that Cassius was better done and much more interesting. Maybe it’s just something I’ve got about bad boys, but I find tortured souls to be far more intriguing than awkward ones; I actually found Jesse a little tedious and predictable. Nevertheless, the book is worth sticking with; the premise of the Pearls was quite unique and a nice surprise.(less)

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Sep 30, 2011 Dorine White rated it 3 of 5 stars

Skyship Academy- The Pearl Wars is a 376 page YA fantasy novel published by Flux and written by Nick James.

The Story- The world has been devastated by wars, now people live in one of three places; above the land in skyships, on the surface in protected cities or out in the wastelands called the fringes.
The only saving grace is the discovery of Pearls, small orbs that fall from the sky and contain enough power to run a city for three months.

The hunt for the Pearls causes friction between the sky...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Candace rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book started out slow for me. There was just so much to soak up because it's such a crazy world. First of all this is a mix of sci-fi and post apocalyptic. It definitely has a pretty strong sci-fi feel though with the Skyship dwellers and crazy technology. But we still got surface time where we see what's happening on earth as well. It was a mix that worked well together but didn't feel like it truly came together until about halfway through.

I love getting a male POV and in this one we get...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Lissibith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, novel

This is a hard one to review - count that as 3.5 stars. It didn't match up to my expectations. I was expecting a sort of sci-fi/steampunk story. What I got was not really that, though to say what it IS would be spoilery.

The good: That said, its a good, fast paced adventure. The world feels suitably ruined, and the two sides are distinct. There's a variety of people, and the story clips along at a great pace. I found myself really enjoying the background characters and the setup of this world. U...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Meghan Shaffer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, 2013

I really enjoyed this book. It was a pleasant surprise.

There were two areas that annoyed me. The story is told by two characters, Jesse and Cassius. I tend to like stories told from different POV's, but this one switched from first person (Jesse) to third person (Cassius). It bugged me. I wonder why the author did that? I don't know of another book that treats different POV's like that...but I'm no expert.

The other area that I didn't love was the world at the end of the story. It confused me....more

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Oct 25, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

While Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars doesn't always fire on all cylinders, "mass" kudos are due Nick James for delivering the goods in this exciting debut novel.

Skyship starts off strong and gives you good reason to keep reading. The story is interesting enough and I liked having the dual protagonists in Jesse and Cassius. Nick James fleshes them out pretty well — I made more of a connection with Jesse than I did Cassius — but I would have liked to learn more about both of them. The ancillary y...more While Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars doesn't always fire on all cylinders, "mass" kudos are due Nick James for delivering the goods in this exciting debut novel.

Skyship starts off strong and gives you good reason to keep reading. The story is interesting enough and I liked having the dual protagonists in Jesse and Cassius. Nick James fleshes them out pretty well — I made more of a connection with Jesse than I did Cassius — but I would have liked to learn more about both of them. The ancillary younger characters were not well developed and two of them — Eva and Avery — seemed to be interchangeable to me and could have just as well been combined into one person. Skandar, Jesse's best friend, is cool enough and provides the occasional comic relief, but doesn't serve much of a purpose otherwise. The adult characters, however, just seemed to be there for the sake of having some adults around to keep the kids from running amok. Madame as the villain comes off a little too "Cruella deVille'ish" for my tastes.

Shifting back to the story, I give points to Nick James for coming up with a pretty original idea. I liked the idea of the pearls as energy, the conflict between the "ship" kids and the "surface" kids, and the post-apocalyptic wasteland in which the tale unfolds. Sure, we've seen elements like these in dystopian novels before, but James' unique voices gives this yarn a spin all its own. I do have to say that the twist at the end — why does everyone have to throw in a twist? — was cringe-worthy. I won't reveal it here, but I will admit I didn't see it coming (I totally should have). Even still, it made me shake my head and say, "this again?" I just finished a book with a similar twist and had the same reaction. It wasn't enough to ruin the book for me, but I was a little disappointed. Nick James more than made up for it, however, when some additional details are stirred into the pot for flavor.

All in all, this is a fun read and an excellent debut by Nick James. I look forward to reading more from him in the future. Part two, Crimson Rising, is coming next year, and I'll definitely pick up a copy to see where James takes the story.
(less)

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Sep 08, 2011 TheBookSmugglers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: notable-reads-of-2011

Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/09/b...

REVIEW

First Impressions:

Ana: I’ve been excited about reading Skyship Academy ever since I first heard about it in the build-up to BEA last May when Thea put it on my radar because it sounded soooo good. But Holy SciFi YA Batman! I was not prepared for how much fun I would have reading it or for how cool and well developed the SciFi elements would be. Add to that a couple of great protagonists, and a HOLY CRAP A WT...more

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Dec 31, 2011 PF rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, kiddielit, science-fiction

An engaging and intriguing read with many surprise plot twists unfolding throughout the book. Lots of action, less on character development, chock full of questions,dangling open-ended gaps for the plot to unfold over the next couple volumes. While dystopian and post-apocalyptic, it isn't as depressing as many books that fall into those categories. Some of the plot twists seem rather artificial, especially the character motivation flips which usually aren't provided with much context or much in...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Skip rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'll leave the more detailed reviews on this book to someone else. Here are some things that I did and didn't like about this book, also known as the list of things that kept it from being either a 2-star or 4-star book.

Dislikes:

- I wasn't looking to start a series when I picked this book up, and it didn't scream "Book 1" as loud as it could have. (Of course, at the time I was only going by the book cover itself, as well as my library's computer, which was about as helpful, and obviously not the...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, teen

Most natural resources are gone. A new power source has been discovered, Pearls, small meteors that fall from the sky and can be converted to energy. Both the people left living on the surface and those who have made their homes in Skyships race to retrieve fallen Pearls. Academies are set up to train agents to retrieve these Pearls, before the other side can get to them. Jesse is an inept Skyship trainee. That all changes the day he and his teammates are sent on a training mission to retrieve a...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Damali rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: pre-teens and teenagers

Shelves: dystopian-pa-zombies-survivalist, young-adult

After the U.S. is bombed by unknown terrorists, disagreement of the government’s response lead to civil war. A group separates itself, and now live in Skyships. The government forces citizens to pay a high tax to live in Chosen cities, and ignores those who can’t afford it, and leaves them to fend for themselves. Environmental changes now have temperatures reaching over 100 degrees. Both the Chosen Cities and the Shippers use Pearls to fuel and cool their cities. Pearls fall from the sky and can...more

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May 30, 2013 Anna-maria Crum rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book of a series and it did a great job of making me want to read the next book. It's told between alternating POVs. The setting is Earth in a dystopian future. Earth has been devastated by an attack, which has caused the temperature to rise. On one side people exist in protected cities or scramble for survival on the fringes. The other side lives in skyships. There is an uneasy truce between both sides while both struggle to secure pearl supplies. Pearls fall from space and ar...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Wendy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads, sci-fi, young-adult, book-clubs, dystopian

2.5 maybe.

Earth is mostly ruined; the few cities left standing on the surface and the skyships in the air depend on mysterious and powerful pearls that fall from the sky. Two boys, Jesse and Cassius, on opposing sides of the political divide, clash over the pearls and eventually find out more is going on than they realize... and that they have a special connection to the pearls.

While I liked the idea for this book, it didn't really work so well for me. The story is told in simple language and di...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Anja Manning rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-dystopias, 2012

DO NOT READ THE BACK OF THE BOOK before reading the book! IT IS ONE HUGE SPOILER. I just read it after finishing the book and am very glad I didn't, since it allowed the story to unfold naturally, without anything being given away. That being said, READ THE BOOK! IT'S AMAZING!

I got this book from the library because I won its sequel in the First Reads Giveaway, and have made the experience that it's usually a good idea to read number 1 first.
This book is amazing. The plot is very well developed,...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Tara rated it 2 of 5 stars

I went into this with fairly high hopes. "STEAMPUNK," thought I, from the cover. Well, it's not at all steampunk, but it's definitely another genre I also enjoy -- post-apocalyptic dystopia! No worries then... except that I wasn't wowed at all. James gets points for an interesting overarching story and decent enough world-building. But I can't count how many times I scoffed at the unbelievability of an event or sequence, or at the way characters reacted in situations. In addition, I found the ma...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Ryan Burt rated it 3 of 5 stars

1) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

2) Genre: Young Adult

3) Synopsis: Pearls are mysterious energy that falls from the skies into a world divided. Skyship vs. Surface. Young Jesse vs. Cassius. Who will control the Pearls and the future?

4) Feelings: I almost quit this book a couple of times. In fact, I think once I did but ended up with some spare time with this book within reach. I liked the idea of unknown energy falling from the skies but other than that, the rest didn’t grab me.

5) Final recommendatio...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Brigi added it

Being a dystopic science fiction novel, it's really not my cup of tea (so much so that probably it's not even tea). However, I thoroughly enjoyed it, mainly for two reasons: I loved the kick-ass female characters, especially Avery, and I had a lot of fun reading Jesse's narration. Maybe the guy's not much use in Bunker Ball, but he can tell a story.
I'm no expert so I have absolutely no idea how this novel ranks on the Grand Scale of Dystopic Fiction, but I had fun reading it and for me that's en...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Gary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This is unlike anything I've ever read. An interesting premise with pretty awesome characters -- the Skyship Academy series is really one to look out for!

"The Pearl Wars" (TPW) is the first book of a series by author Nick James. It was a story about 2 boys, Jesse and Cassius, who belonged to 2 different bodies -- the Skyshippers and the Unified Party respectively. The Skyshippers were a group of separatists who were at odds with the Unified Party's way of doing things. They built their worl...more Wow. This is unlike anything I've ever read. An interesting premise with pretty awesome characters -- the Skyship Academy series is really one to look out for!

"The Pearl Wars" (TPW) is the first book of a series by author Nick James. It was a story about 2 boys, Jesse and Cassius, who belonged to 2 different bodies -- the Skyshippers and the Unified Party respectively. The Skyshippers were a group of separatists who were at odds with the Unified Party's way of doing things. They built their world using huge skyships and reside above the clouds. The Unified Party, on the other hand, built Chosen Cities on the Surface, which is also known as the Earth's surface. However, there were many other people who were left out of the Chosen Cities and they became a group of people known as the Fringers. They scavenge whatever they could find in deserted towns, and often tried to break into the Chosen Cities. But there was one thing that everyone was hunting for -- Pearls. Balls of energy that could power a whole city for months.

Jesse and Cassius were suddenly entwined in a war between the Skyshippers and the Unified Party, because of their newfound powers and abilities. Thrust into a huge turn of events, both boys might just turn from enemies to comrades. Well, you'll have to find it out for yourself how it all went down!

TPW was sort of a combination of dystopia, science fiction and a little of the steampunk genre. I really loved the characterization, namely of Jesse and Cassius; it really illustrated the difference between both of them. But I still rooted for Jesse, since he was the kind of protagonist suited for my taste. He had this natural humour, a little lame at times but not too over the top. The way the author made this Jesse character was really well done. On the other hand, I would actually appreciated if Cassius' point-of-view was a first-person narrative. It didn't make sense for Jesse to be first-person and Cassius to be third-person, since the book was made up of their alternating perspectives.

What was also wonderful about the book was how the story started. It was not some ordinary introduction with the history and such, but it started with an action sequence. So TPW actually drew me in right from the start. The book did not get boring in any way; in fact it was mainly action sequences, suspense, and shocking twists. The final few chapters of the book totally brought the house down. Since TPW was the first book, it actually sets up the series very nicely at the end. Not entirely a cliffhanger, but it did made me anticipate the sequel!

Two words: Read it.(less)

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Apr 28, 2013 gia rated it 2 of 5 stars

TL;DR version: The story got interesting (eventually), but the bland characters leave this novel a little lifeless.

Skyship Academy tells its story from two points of view: first-person narrator Jesse, a bottom-rung student at the titular academy; and a third-person limited narrator detailing the events as seen by Cassius, an agent of the academy's biggest enemy, the Unified Party.

The novel sets up the conflict between these two as a political one against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic Unite...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Krista Stevens rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, young-adult, boys, futuristic-ya-adult

Fresh. Set in 2095 on Earth and in spaceships that orbit Earth, two boys on opposite sides, Jesse and Cassius, find themselves with terrible powers that have something to do with Parls - small, mysterious and sometimes destructive orbs that fall to Earth providing energy to power the cities that remain after the terrible events of earlier decades that have killed millions maybe billions and destroyed much of the earth. Excellent characterization - the kids are portrayed as funny, sarcastic, tale...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

A teen sci-fi adventure about a dystopian society where some of the people live high above the clouds in skyships, some live on the ground governed by the corrupt Surface government in bubble cities to protect them from the raging elements and heat created by some catastrophic event, and some (called Fringers) live out in the heat as best they can.

Our hero, Jesse, starts out a bit annoying in his lack of ability and whiny ways, but he starts to show unusual powers as he tries to figure out who...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

(originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

Recently I haven't had much luck with the popular young adult dystopias that have been released. It really started to get me down since I wanted to read a good YA dystopia. Then I read The Pearl Wars and that was it.

This debut novel from Nick James really has it all. There's wonderful worldbuilding. About one hundred years in the future, America is unrecognizable. The Surface was devastated by war and now run by a corrupt government while their opp...more (originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

Recently I haven't had much luck with the popular young adult dystopias that have been released. It really started to get me down since I wanted to read a good YA dystopia. Then I read The Pearl Wars and that was it.

This debut novel from Nick James really has it all. There's wonderful worldbuilding. About one hundred years in the future, America is unrecognizable. The Surface was devastated by war and now run by a corrupt government while their opposition live in the sky onboard Skyships. Both depend on Pearls, glowing orbs that fall from space and can power a whole city. I mean, doesn't this just sound cool? Not only that, it all makes sense. We find out way more about this future world and where the Pearls come from, which I never saw coming. All the while I was reading this book I just felt like James had thought out and created such a fantastic world that really gave the other dystopias a run for their money.

Other aspects I enjoyed about The Pearl Wars were the main characters. Jesse, a boy attending the Skyship Academy, struggles with self-confidence and his feelings for a girl named Avery. I really liked Jesse even though I thought he was often hard on himself and felt he grew a lot from the beginning to the end of the book. Cassius, on the other hand, has no issue with confidence or self-doubt, but he has his own demons to face. Overall I felt these two were the most fleshed out out of all the characters. In the future books I'd like to see more on Eva, Jesse's kickass friend.

Also, I felt that since this story didn't have such a prominent romance (there's some, but it's not the focus) we really got to experience some great worldbuilding, action and adventure. Not that you can have that along with romance, but it was nice to see a young adult dystopia not entirely focused on a romance.

Really, this is a great new dystopia along with some great science fiction elements. The ending left me wanting more: more about the characters, the world, and what will happen next. For anyone who's wanted a young adult dystopia with more meat on its bones, this is it. I loved it. I hope that a sequel will be coming out in the near future!

Review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.(less)

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About Nick James

I grew up in the small island town of Anacortes, Washington, where an active imagination was often a prerequisite for a good time. No shopping malls, no movie theater, etc, etc. My first brush with publishing was in third grade, where we were encouraged to not only write stories, but to publish, bind and present them. I think the teacher got more than she bargained for because I was soon amassing...more

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The Pearl Wars (Skyship Academy #1)

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