The Heights of Perdition by C.S. Johnson

Review 4 star

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The Heights of Perdition is the first book in a Christian space opera series by C.S. Johnson. While the story takes a little while to get rolling, once it does the intricate world is a delight. The daughter of a prominent general within the URS dictatorship, Aeris St. Cloud is crushed when her dreams of serving the URS dictatorship in the military are denied at graduation. When a rebel starship called the Perdition swoops down in a raid, Aeris is accidentally taken prisoner. Aboard the marvelous starship, Aeris stumbles into one secret after another. Her growing admiration for these freedom-loving people and their way of life tests her loyalty to the URS, but her chemistry with Captain Exton may not survive the truth about her identity. Right and wrong, and true and false, can be very confusing in outer space.  
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I found The Heights of Perdition a thoroughly enjoyable, creative read for younger readers. Echoes of popular franchises like Star Wars make this futuristic saga familiar, but the ideas and characters were entirely unique and C.S. Johnson does a good job blending a number of elements into something new. More serious readers will relish the thought-provoking images of a future world in which a hysterical dictatorship has risen from the ashes of a nuclear disaster, but teen girls will likely pick it up for the romance. Good, clean romance writing, with just enough spark but not too much, should draw girls while the intellectual and political discussions give a solid underpinning to the world and might interest their parents as well. Recommended.