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Beyond the Hidden Sky (Star Trails Tetralogy Book 1) Kindle Edition

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

WELCOME TO THE STAR TRAILS TETRALOGY

An Off-World Space Opera with Real Science

VOLUME I: BEYOND THE HIDDEN SKY

Moving to another planet is never easy. It’s even harder when you never arrive…

Laren Brightstar knows he's a target since refusing to work for Augustus Troy. Accepting the chief terralogist position on the other side of the galaxy seems like the simplest solution. Getting there, however, isn’t. Not with a teenage daughter like Creena.
She’s Intelligent.
She’s a rebel.
And now she’s missing.
In deep space.
Was it an accident? Or abduction?
Either way he has to find her.
Before Troy does.
And somehow he knows life will never be simple again....

Thus begins the Star Trails Tetralogy, a space-based family saga starring the Brightstar family!

  • Laren is former military and a renowned scientist. Antagonists led by Augustus Troy are creating a despotic galactic empire determined to recruit him by any means necessary.
  • Sharra, Laren's bondling, has led a comfortable life that's about to change dramatically.
  • Dirck, 17, is not happy about leaving their predictable, affluent, and ordered life on Mira III.
  • Creena, 13, is delighted to leave a world that grated against her nature in every possible way, almost as much as her obnoxious older brother.
  • Deven, 5, who loves his family and is happy and optimistic, come what may.


If you enjoyed the movie or TV show
"Lost in Space," you'll love this family saga/space opera for all ages. An added bonus that makes it stand out from similar series set in alien worlds is its STEM (science, technology, engineering , math) content, presented in a way that's integral to the plot. Circumstances constantly remove Laren from the family, leaving Creena and Dirck with life-threatening science and engineering problems to solve. The relevance of such knowledge is apparent and provides painless learning along the way.

Kids already interested in science will especially love these books, written by a physicist author who craved this variety of hard science fiction as a child and raised six children of her own.

Science teachers at the middle and high school level have placed these books in their classrooms as extra credit reading. If you're a teacher or homeschooler, note that "The Star Trails Compendium" (available on StarTrailsSaga.com or in print from Amazon) contains chapter by chapter lesson plans and discussion ideas for the entire series to take full advantage of the science content as well as interpersonal situations such as sibling rivalry.

This page-turning adventure begins here and continues throughout the series.

  • A Dark of Endless Days
  • A Psilent Place Below
  • Refractions of Frozen Time
  • The Terra Debacle: Prisoners at Area 51 (Stand-alone side-story to "A Dark of Endless Days."
  • The Sapphiran Agenda (short story prequel to Beyond the Hidden Sky)
For those who prefer to listen or for that road trip, the entire series is available as audio books narrated by actor, T.W. Ashworth!

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Beyond the Hidden Sky is a science fiction adventure book that will draw in readers of all ages and interests. The story begins at warp speed as space travel and its theory weaves throughout the tale of a family separated by mishap and kept apart by intent. The characters are engaging and relatable with family dynamics that mirror readers' personal experiences. The internal human struggle between reason and instinct creates a storyline that, regardless of the fictional setting, allows readers to connect immediately to this fascinating first book in the Star Trails Terralogy Series.
-Noelle Harrild, School Librarian, Logan, Utah

From the Author

When I first started writing "Beyond the Hidden Sky" I had no idea it would expand into a 4-book series.  Originally inspired by the scene in the original "Star Wars: A New Hope" where C3PO and R2D2 jettison in the escape pod, it soon became apparent that the story was not going to be simple as each character came to life and contributed the what became a very complicated plot.

Yet at its core, this story is really about family dynamics.  Creena and her older brother, Dirck, don't get along, their adversarial feelings toward each other explored throughout the series.  While set on another planet with deadly weather extremes and embellished with all the advanced technologies and scientific theories science fiction fans expect, this soap opera is primarily about a family torn apart by hostile forces and their quest to be reunited again, whatever it takes.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005JQNN2M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kalliope Rising Press; 3rd edition (December 18, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 18, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 744 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 388 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

About the author

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Marcha Fox
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Marcha Fox writes in a variety of genres from cross-cultural thrillers to hard science fiction and astrology. While raising six children she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Utah State University which resulted in a 21+ year career at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. When she retired she turned to writing full-time, which had always been her dream.

Her most recent literary work is the cross-cultural trilogy, "The Dead Horse Canyon Saga," coauthored with Pete Risingsun. A masterful blend of modern day conspiracy thriller with Cheyenne history and cultural practices, the first two books collected a total of ten awards with the grand finale released in January 2025.

Other fiction work includes "The Star Trails Tetralogy," a multi-volume STEM-friendly science fiction series designed for youth with an interest in science. The series is also available as audiobooks narrated by T.W. Ashworth.

Much to the horror of her physics professors, she's a practicing professional astrologer with clients around the globe. She has written two full-length books on that subject, one for beginners and one about eclipses.

She has a passion for feline fur babies and lives in an 1898 farmhouse on three acres in rural New York State, having previously lived in California, Utah, and Texas.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
45 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers enjoyed the story and found it interesting. They appreciated the clever writing style and well-crafted worlds. The characters were well-developed, with a unique supporting cast. Readers enjoyed the smooth flow of the book.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

17 customers mention "Readability"17 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the story interesting and enjoyable, with an original sci-fi premise and a well-developed plot. The author's storytelling style works well for this type of book. Many readers feel the book has potential and that the story could be better.

"...me add that in 'Beyond the Hidden Sky' she has fashioned an excellent adventure story in the classic vein of those earlier writers with the extra..." Read more

"...author took the criticism to heart and did an excellent job of making the book vastly more readable. I really got involved in the story...." Read more

"I enjoyed the plot, although it took quite a while to finally engage me all the way...." Read more

"...First, the universe that this is set in has been described vividly, with the necessary quirks that makes a planet and it's sentient beings unique...." Read more

11 customers mention "Writing quality"11 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's writing quality. They find it cleverly written and well-crafted, with well-developed characters. The descriptions are detailed and accurate, adding greatly to the story. Readers appreciate the author's knowledge and expertise in science.

"...extra added attraction of some very intriguing - and scientifically accurate - explanations of just how space travel actually works...." Read more

"...I really got involved in the story. I found it quite imaginative and entertaining...." Read more

"...Very interesting and well thought out...." Read more

"...The characters' voices were well-created. The descriptions were very detailed, which I guess is extremely important in a sci-fi book...." Read more

7 customers mention "Character development"7 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters and unique supporting cast. They find the book engaging as it switches between the characters and the author's portrayal of a young teenage girl.

"...I felt that the author did a wonderful job of portraying a young teenage girl, full of fire and yet torn in so many directions at once...." Read more

"...but as a book, it was fun to read because it kept switching back and forth between the characters...." Read more

"...Marcha Fox did an excellent job of creating and developing her characters. They are believable and easy to follow...." Read more

"...Creena, in particular, is an extremely interesting character and an excellent portrayal of an intelligent, yet emotional, teenager dealing with the..." Read more

4 customers mention "Pacing"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the story's pacing. They appreciate the author's smooth flow and unique voice.

"...the science parts governing time travel, space travel, and faster-than-light travel. Very interesting and well thought out...." Read more

"...This space opera is fast paced and action packed and will leave you breathless...." Read more

"...I appreciated the author's smooth flow, unique voice, and the creation of her own tech and terminology. Snurkles!..." Read more

"...The story was well-written with great pacing and fascinating details...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2015
    I have been a fan of science fiction dating back to the Eisenhower years when I first read stories by Poul Anderson, Lester Del Rey and other writers of that really remarkable era.
    Marcha Fox is, in my opinion, a worthy successor to those writers who first enthralled me with their tales of other worlds, other times and "others."
    That said, let me add that in 'Beyond the Hidden Sky' she has fashioned an excellent adventure story in the classic vein of those earlier writers with the extra added attraction of some very intriguing - and scientifically accurate - explanations of just how space travel actually works.
    The story is one of both family love and loyalty coupled with a sinister betrayal.
    Laren Brightstar, the father of three and husband to Sharra, is an important figure on his home planet. He is, however, about to fall victim to a plot that he does not fully understand; a political maneuver that will have serious consequences for him and his family. In an effort to do what's right for his wife and children he refuses to go to work for the ominous Augustus Troy and, instead, accepts a government position across the galaxy on a planet that is anything but hospitable.
    If that were the worst of his problems his life would be difficult enough but his daughter Creena, a terrifyingly bright 14-year-old with a mind very much her own, has gone missing in deep space while the family is moving from one planet to another. Laren, acting on instinct, goes in search of her and therein, as the Bard once said, hangs a tale.
    'Beyond the Hidden Sky' is the first in a series of books about the life and times of the Brightstar family and I am eager to read the rest of the saga.
    I highly recommend this book, therefore, to anyone who enjoys a blend of science fact with science fiction.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2015
    My review below was based on the original version of the book. I'll leave it here, as it's a good lesson on use of commas. The author took the criticism to heart and did an excellent job of making the book vastly more readable. I really got involved in the story. I found it quite imaginative and entertaining. I felt that the author did a wonderful job of portraying a young teenage girl, full of fire and yet torn in so many directions at once. I look forward to finding out what happens to her and her family as the saga unfolds.

    ******** Original review below. This is now obsolete.

    Let me start by saying that I think this book has a lot of potential and that the story could be an intriguing one. Unfortunately, I was not able to get very far into the book before a number of obstacles made it too frustrating for me to continue. The good news is that most of these obstacles would be easily fixable by a good editor and hopefully future editions of the book will be more readable.

    I'd like to be specific about the issues that caused trouble for me. While there can always be elements in a book that don't necessarily grab every reader, there are certain elements that act as "roadblocks." By this I mean elements that stop a reader cold in their tracks, taking them out of the story or confusing them. There is one such element in this book that occurs very frequently, sometimes several times on a page. The author has a habit of leaving out commas in very important places.

    Now you might say "Commas? C'mon. Who's that picky about grammar?" But consider the following beginning of a sentence:
    "When we arrived at the store windows..."

    So far, so good? We got to some store windows and then something is going to happen, right? Wrong.

    "When we arrived at the store windows were being shot out."

    What? Back up. This isn't what we thought at all. The sentence is really saying, "When we arrived at the store (pause...), windows were being shot out." The sentence needs to have a comma after the word store to indicate what would be a pause in speech (grammatically, the comma marks the end of a dependent clause.) Without it, your brain misinterprets the meaning half way through and then at the end of the sentence has to go back and figure out what the sentence is really saying. This is a roadblock. It throws the reader right out of the story.

    The author almost never places commas at the end of a dependent clause. In many cases the meaning can still be figured out without too much trouble but the missing "pause" is jarring. In other cases the "jolt" to the reader is worse. By the way, the above example is not from the book. Here is a real one from the very first page:

    "Finding multiple matches with the Captains "watch" list amber..."

    Can you predict the sentence? Here it is:

    "Finding multiple matches with the Captain's "watch" list amber lights reddened..." There needs to be a comma after the word list to show the pause between "Finding multiple matches with the Captain's watch list" and "amber lights reddened..."

    Similarly the author neglects commas before the word "which," where the presence or absence of a comma determines the meaning. In fact, without a comma the preferred word is "that" and with a comma it is "which": "He followed the car that had run over the mail box" versus "He followed the car, which had already turned left." In the first case "that had run over the mail box" defines which car. In the second case "which had already turned left" gives additional information about a certain car.

    Hey, no author can be expected to be perfect with these grammatical issues but every author can hire editor to make sure that grammatical misusage doesn't create roadblocks for readers.

    There were a few other elements that threw me out of the story but they might just be my own quirks. The author creates certain alien words, which she then has to introduce to us. I found most of these introductions to be awkward: "Leaving his naterra, or home world, hadn't been easy." I don't envy the author's task in trying to get us to understand these terms without sounding unnatural. For my particular taste, I'd have preferred that she just said "home world." Ditto for terms like "Merapa" for "father." I'm not sure that the alien words really add anything and they certainly create obstacles for both author and readers. But these are pretty minor points and just my own taste. Everyone else may love going around saying "Merapa" and I applaud the author for experimenting.

    I only made it through about four chapters when I decided I just couldn't go through the next 400 pages, but I did enjoy the characters and the setup of the plot. I'd love to have a chance to read it again when the "roadblocks" have been fixed up.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018
    I enjoyed the plot, although it took quite a while to finally engage me all the way. I was about halfway through before I really felt gripped by the story. But it did happen, so that's good. A lot of the first part seemed repetitive though. The strongest part of this for me was the excellent sci fi premise. I loved the science parts governing time travel, space travel, and faster-than-light travel. Very interesting and well thought out. Since real sci fi with a strong basis in science is not always easy to find, I gave this three stars instead of two.

    There were a lot of typos and word errors, which started to distract me as I went along. I felt also like some of the made up words became distracting, but that might just be me.

    I liked the basic themes used of choice governing action and morality as a basis for choices.

    Overall I think this book has a lot of promise, but I wish it were edited better and trimmed down.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A joy to read. Imaginative hard sci-fi with real-life characters
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2014
    Imagine growing up in a regimented, well-ordered, pristine bubble. Then imagine you burst that bubble accidentally and your new playground suddenly opens up to include the galaxy, but you're on your own, your family is travelling farther and farther away, you're trapped in this escape pod, and there's a virtual nanny telling you what to do. Imagine you're a natural rebel.

    Creena Brightstar is a rebel.

    Dirck is her brother. Dirck is dutiful, compliant, and loves to drive his non-conforming sister crazy. This time he went too far. Now he's with his father and on a mission to find Creena, only the big, bad world outside is nothing like the bubble he's raved about all his life, and his dad has some rapid education to do.

    This is such a fun, fascinating, read. Marcha Fox knows her science, and the Brightstar children rapidly need to learn all this stuff about space travel, warp drive, and time bumps, and so the reader learns right along with them. Anyone who loves hard science will lap this book up. However, that and the wonderful world-building is the bonus.

    The real joy in this story (the start of a bigger, complex, political sci-fi thriller chock-full of mysterious baddies) is Creena and Dirck's development. Adversity tests, tries, and changes their outlook on life. In Marcha Fox's world, never mistake inexperience for incompetence. She expects much from her young characters, and yet intuitively understands and empathises with them.

    Oh, and there's a robot I swear would drive C-3PO insane.

    Overall, I highly recommend this book for both young and old and I will be gradually devouring the rest of this series.
  • Ann Marie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2020
    An unusual plot, skilfully done. Draws you in and keeps you gripped. Highly recommended.

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