Title: Evolution
Author: Ken
Rating: T
Genre: Sci-Fi/Adventure
Status: Complete
Fandom: Crest of the Stars / Banner of the Stars
Pairings: None
Summary: The Abh Empire faces a mysterious new enemy. Lafiel and Jinto are thrown into a chaotic war where they are unsure whom or what they are really fighting.

Link: Evolution

Evolution is a well written novel length story that captured the essence of the Abh and the nature of Lafiel's and Jinto's relationship. It has a well developed plot that could easily be considered its own arc in the Crest/Banner of the stars series. It just draws you in through all the twists and turns that the story takes. Only problem is that the anime didn't capture a sizable audience so there is very little fanfiction available. I was quite surprised when I found this extraordinary piece of literature.

This could easily be one of the best fanfiction storys I have read to date. 5/5.

Even if you haven't seen the anime or read the novels or manga you should give it a shot. The author did well in hinting and describing past events so you shouldn't be to confused about what is happening.

 

Wow. That was fantastic. I haven't seen Crest or Banner of the Stars, but so long as you've read a few space-based scifi books then most of the setting will click into place fairly quickly. Read the brief plot summary for Crest and the novel summary for Banner to help you understand a couple of the discussions and concerns raised by some of the characters.

This is an adventure story accompanied by a very understated love story between the two protagonists which is evidently built on their friendship through the preceding novels. There's intrigue, politics, war, robots, prisoners, desperate battles, warp gates, and plenty of other scifi staples. The characters are easy to fall in love with. They're all distinct personalities and none of their actions feel forced. When one of the characters switched bodies off-screen I suspected who they really were simply through their words and actions.

Grammar and spelling is excellent.

Several of the major plot twists are quite predictable if you're familiar with the genre, but I won't spoil them here. It's still a fun read.

I think the biggest fault of this fic is the opening chapter. It takes a significant chunk of writing before the plot kicks off. Showing Lafiel and Jinto's downtime in the first chapter was a significant hurdle for me. At several points I was tempted to close the fic, but persisted reading solely because of Issola's recommendation. If you find the beginning to be too slow, just push through it until the main characters board their vessel. It doesn't take too long.

It was a delight to read. 5/5