Praise
A Big, Weird, Beautiful, Ambitious Family Epic: With a Brain Full of Ideas and a Heart Full of Hope
If you’re the kind of reader who loves when a book goes for it — when it refuses to stay in one lane, when it swings for the fences with both hands and tries to say something real about people — then Where the Morning Star Fell is your jam.
This thing isn’t just a sci-fi novel.
It’s not just a post-apocalypse, pre-utopia story.
It’s not just a family saga.
It’s all of them at once…and somehow it works.
You’ve got AI philosophy and ethical dilemmas.
You’ve got island-building.
You’ve got a Magna Carta deep cut that comes out of nowhere and hits harder than it has any right to.
You’ve got political theory, quantum divergence, and these massive “what does it mean to build a future?” questions…
…and then right when you think it’s about to float off into abstract galaxy brain mode, it brings you right back into quiet, human moments of love, loyalty, sacrifice, legacy, or the simple act of choosing to believe in someone.
That’s the secret sauce here:
No matter how big the ideas get, it’s really about a family. And people becoming new families.
About what we owe each other.
About what we’re willing to carry.
About how we build something new after the world breaks and who we become in the rebuilding.
The book’s scope is huge. Like, Horizon Zero Dawn meets Station Eleven meets The Giver meets The Expanse huge. But it always comes back to its central question:
Who are we when everything falls apart, and what do we choose to become next?
The answer this book provides its reader is earned.
Where the Morning Star Fell is an electrifying and unique entry into the post-apocalyptic sci-fi genre. It ingeniously sets the end of the world not in a burned-out city or the desertified ruins of Earth, but aboard a luxury cruise ship. It follows the Becker family, an ordinary group thrust into extraordinary circumstances. They must navigate the immediate and chaotic aftermath of a nuclear war, turning their vacation liner, the Horizon Dawn, into a survival ark. Author David Boevers blends this high-stakes survivalism with a deeply unsettling sci-fi thriller mystery.
The book first covers the raw, frantic scramble for order among thousands of strangers which includes the introduction of some really compelling characters! This dramatic setup explores the emotional reality of mass tragedy, covering realistic and poignant details like the need for burials at sea and the moral struggle of creating a new society from the ashes of the old.
The second half of the book transitions beautifully as the survivors attempt to build a new, idealized nation on a remote island. Boevers boosts the story with fresh, optimistic concepts for a sustainable future, creating a compelling contrast between the chaos they left behind and the utopian vision they strive for.
The thing that gives this book punch is the sophisticated layer of science fiction that hints at a grander design. The entire journey of the Becker family is seemingly being guided by a mysterious hand, which is only revealed as you progress further into the book.
Where the Morning Star Fell is an excellent read for fans of character-driven survival books like The Road, movies like The Book of Eli, or games like The Last of Us. It asks what we will truly fight to protect when the world comes to an end.
This first novel by David Boevers grabbed my attention with his realistic characters and unique twist on creating a new world. Where good triumphs over evil, and perseverance and ingenuity are everything, this book pulls you in. Warning.. it may make you rethink that family cruise!!
My favorite part of this book was the incorporation of resetting the world without a total destruction of all resources. The author did a great job of then allowing the characters to consider better ways to run a community with better ideas towards useful education, participation of all according to abilities, and long-term sustainability. His ideas are novel, optimistic, and refreshing.
An ambitious, heart felt epic from author David Boevers!
Spoiler-free review: A fascinating concept—stranded on a cruise ship during a nuclear apocalypse in a distant, yet unsettlingly plausible future. A family finds themselves at the center of devastating news as the world they once knew collapses around them.
The scenario is tense and visceral, grounded firmly in the Becker family. Victoria: a leader, a visionary. Alexander: broken, searching for redemption. David: neurodivergent, trying to find his place. Gabby: sharp, forward-thinking, always working toward a brighter future. As the world burns, the Beckers work to fortify a fragile community of survivors aboard the ship, fully aware of the mistakes—both global and personal—that led them here. But was it fate that placed them together, or something more deliberate?
This novel tackles the massive question: what happens when the world is destroyed and you’re left to rebuild it? Politics, survivor’s guilt, and the collapse of modern civilization blend seamlessly into an ambitious narrative. The use of grounded, yet fantastic sci-fi themes truly heightens this novel. From synthetic ship sails, to Ai androids, the future seems possible within the pages of Boevers’ work.
But where the story truly shines is in its characters. Each member of the Becker family is given a thoughtful, evolving arc that deepens the conflict and reinforces a powerful truth—that the challenges we endure may be preparing us for something far greater. This theme carries the novel. Bravo to author David Boevers!