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John-Paul Cleary
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Convergent Space Kindle Edition

by John-Paul Cleary (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.7 out of 5 stars 252 ratings
Earth is a faded galactic power in a violent galaxy.
Blamed for an event 200 years ago that destroyed thousands of worlds and turned the galaxy upside-down, Earth has been shunned by galactic society ever since.
Rone Tintet is a member of Earth’s immense army of spacefaring investigators, dispersed across the galaxy to pursue Earth's obsession with clearing its name. For 200 hundred years they have failed. But Rone discovers an artefact that may finally lead to the truth and resurrect Earth’s fortunes.
Meanwhile in the outer fringes of the galaxy, a powerful new force is emerging from the ashes. Ruthless and unstoppable, this colossal army is approaching with one aim – to cleanse the entire galaxy.
In Convergent Space these two stories - one in the past, one happening right now - intertwine into a dramatic and unexpected finale.
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  1. Book 1 of 3
    Convergent Space
  2. Print length
    479 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    October 4, 2011
  6. File size
    608 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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There are 3 books in this series.
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005SWE452
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sutherland
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 4, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 608 KB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 479 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Book 1 of 3 ‏ : ‎ Convergent Space
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 out of 5 stars 252 ratings

About the author

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John-Paul Cleary

John-Paul Cleary

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John-Paul Cleary lives in the small town of Stonehaven in the North East of Scotland.

His debut novel Convergent Space peaked at number 1 in the Space Opera charts on Amazon UK.

You can contact John-Paul @ConvergentSpace on Twitter

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
252 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers praise the book's expertly woven plot with twists and turns, filled with imaginative concepts, and find it an engaging read with appealing cover art. The writing quality and character depth receive mixed reviews - while some find it well written with deep characters, others note the characters are character light. The pacing is swift, though one customer found it frustrating, and the science content receives negative feedback.

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PlotImaginationEnjoymentArt qualityWriting qualityCharacter depthPacingScience content
14 customers mention "Plot"14 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the plot of the book, praising how the storylines are expertly woven together and filled with twists and turns, making it a great space opera.

"...Great story for lovers of SFF light on the science and might work well for Young Adults though there are some questionable moral dilemma in the..." Read more

"...dedicated to their mission and did so without question... again, well done...." Read more

"All I can say is Wow! That has got to be the best first book by an author that I've read in ages...." Read more

"...story whose cultures, both alien and far-future human, are well developed. The dialog is also well written and the characters' voices are distinct...." Read more

11 customers mention "Imagination"8 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the book's imaginative concepts and good mystery elements, with one customer highlighting its deeply original aliens.

"...In a lot of ways, the creativity and imagination that went into worldbuilding and creating alien species remind me most of Iain Banks...." Read more

"...Overall it's an interesting story whose cultures, both alien and far-future human, are well developed...." Read more

"...most simplistic, inelegant, badly-written, uninspired, repetitive works of science fiction I've read since "Podkayne of Mars"...and I was..." Read more

"...Amazing conglomerate of action, suspense, mystery, and science fiction...." Read more

8 customers mention "Enjoyment"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable and engaging, with one describing it as an exciting piece of science fiction.

"...She is a lot of fun to read about and her scenes are the most riveting...." Read more

"This is an engaging read, full of interesting ideas, all of which contribute to a sense of a large universe that is full of history...." Read more

"...Overall this was an enjoyable but frustrating novel...." Read more

"...I greatly enjoyed reading it and look forward to more from John-Paul." Read more

3 customers mention "Art quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the art quality of the book, with one mentioning the appealing cover design and another noting the fantastic view from the edge.

"To quote from the author himself, "fantastic view from the edge." The characters and plot were very well thought out and written very well also...." Read more

"...Filled with imaginative concepts and imagery, Convergent Space also addresses some lofty questions about right and wrong...." Read more

"...Indeed: the best I can say about this is that found the cover art appealing." Read more

12 customers mention "Writing quality"6 positive6 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book, with some finding it well written, while one customer notes that certain words become annoying.

"...The characterization in this book was so superior that there were even secondary characters that I wanted to spend more time with, like the Phlegars..." Read more

"...Certain words almost become annoying; such as crikey and scupper...." Read more

"...The dialog is also well written and the characters' voices are distinct. One hardly need the speaker attributions to know who is saying what...." Read more

"...novel, missing only a shot of whisky and the sardonic, wry dialogue of film noir." Read more

10 customers mention "Character depth"6 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character depth in the book, with some finding them deep while others describe them as character light.

"...There were some deeply original aliens and alien personalities in this book. The plot of the book is twofold...." Read more

"...This is really science heavy and character light, where for my own preferences it would work out better the other way around...." Read more

"...The dialog is also well written and the characters' voices are distinct. One hardly need the speaker attributions to know who is saying what...." Read more

"...Characters are poorly developed cardboard cutouts who just think: "I'll just destroy a world' then do it...." Read more

8 customers mention "Pacing"4 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it swift and quick, while others describe it as boring.

"...Simply masterful! The pacing in this book is swift, it grabs you by the throat on page one and doesn't let go until the final page at..." Read more

"...end I was sad to find that, while a solid first effort, this novel is a bit of a mess...." Read more

"...in the romance department, the characters are still engaging, the pace is quick, and the stakes are as high as they can be...." Read more

"Truly, one of the most simplistic, inelegant, badly-written, uninspired, repetitive works of science fiction I've read since "Podkayne of..." Read more

5 customers mention "Science content"0 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed views on the science content of the book, with some appreciating its scientific approach while others find it lacking.

"...The science is not hard science, but that's not a problem for me; except that the plot of the story is reliant upon a lot of the science so that..." Read more

"...that the mystery has been summarily unraveled based upon seriously insufficient evidence...." Read more

"Character and story are fine. The science part is lacking, just glossed over as we go. Don't want science to get in the way of story, I guess...." Read more

"...The science repeatedly fails credibility tests, the characters follow no plausible motivation or logic, the "companions" are boring pains-in-..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • icdbeez
    5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Mystery /Sci-Fi Thriller That Makes the Pages Fly By!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2012
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    All I can say is Wow! That has got to be the best first book by an author that I've read in ages. In a lot of ways, the creativity and imagination that went into worldbuilding and creating alien species remind me most of Iain Banks. There were some deeply original aliens and alien personalities in this book. The plot of the book is twofold. The fist part of the plot deals with the Great Wave that happened 200 years ago. The Great Wave left a path of destruction for many tens of light years and nobody knew what caused it - but the Earth got blamed. Since then, all Earth's resources have been put into the Search for the information that will free them from from this terrible claim that they were responsible for the Great Wave. Rone, an Archeosoldier for the Earth has been given a clue that her superiors feel she can't pass up. So, off she goes to uncharted space chasing Phlegars, chasing anything that can shed light on the Search.

    Meanwhile, across the universe a new superpower is coming. It's coming across galaxies. It has a huge warfleet. It has an all encompassing vision. It wants to put this vision into action by taking over every single occupied planet. It has the capability to do it. Can anybody stop it?

    These two storylines twist and turn around each other like strands of DNA as our tale unfolds. In fact, the plot has more twists and turns than a Formula One track. Who would have thought that the tale of a 200 year old mystery and a plan to take over the known universe could be so compelling? But it is. It is not only compelling it is intriguing, edge of your seat exciting, eyes wide open with wonder, pages fly by thrilling. It is now 3:18 AM and I've finished. I couldn't put it down. Definitely not to sleep, it was too bloody good, besides, you simply get lost in the pages. The next thing you know the book is done and it's the middle of the night. There are not enough books like this.

    The characterization in this book was so superior that there were even secondary characters that I wanted to spend more time with, like the Phlegars, Uncle Gil. Each person/species had a full three dimensional personality and each went through personal development especially Rone and Tihn. The characters feel so real, it seems that you could meet them on any street corner or coffee shop (even most of the aliens). Even the secondary and tertiary characters get their moments of development. Nobody is 2D in Mr. Celery's world. The worldbuilding is a character all its own. Each planet, each gas gianet, each home world world has a personality beautifully fleshed out. Each building, technology, topographical feature are all laid out in context with the people who created them,to create a philosophy of a culture that makes vivid sense while painting an artists picture of the world itself. Simply masterful!

    The pacing in this book is swift, it grabs you by the throat on page one and doesn't let go until the final page at the ending. The storylines are so expertly woven together that there are all smooth transitions, and while the POV may hops from character to character there is no confusion whatsoever.

    The ending of the book wraps up these two storylines while keeping open a third that was introduced in the book. I am praying for a sequel to come out very soon, as I would love to get lost in this universe again. I already miss it.

    I would whole heartedly recommend this book to anyony who likes sci-fi, space opera, a good mystery, or simply is a student of human nature. This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a thumping good read of the first order. I can't believe this is the author's first book. It is so, so good! Just buy it! You won't be sorry.
    One person found this helpful
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  • JLD
    4.0 out of 5 stars Science dependent and character light -for my tastes it could have been better the other way around.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Convergent Space by John-Paul Cleary

    I love a novel that entertains me and I don't mind having to suspend my disbelief long enough to do that. This novel delivers in that department and I would love to give it really high honors; but I do have some issues, so while I give it high marks I will feel compelled to air some of the issues. Basically I give it a 4 star and it could be a 5 star, but not with the way things are.

    The novel starts with a great mystery. Earth has devolved to a planet of artifact hunters sort of the Indiana Jones of outer space. This creates for the reader a feeling that the Artifact hunters care more about the hunt then others lives. Enter into this Ronella Tintet who has had some doubts and has retired from being an Archeosoldier. After having been responsible for the loss of many lives she has retired to a place called Renick that belongs to Renaissance space and is governed by her friend Viggo. Rone is working at a post for the Earth Search Archeosoldiers, but is not actively doing much. She has a history we'll hear about later and a good reason for not wanting to be part of the search, but when a dying Archeosoldier shows up with some important leads to the Search to clear the Human's name in regards to the Great Wave that nearly destroyed many worlds and brought the Guild to an end; she has to once more take to space to follow the lead to its end.

    This part is both a good plot and a bit contrived in the sense that it's a solid lead that the Search people should take seriously, but the reader gets the impression they want to press Rone into doing it because they can't spare anyone else. It might be that they mean to force her back into action, but it still seems a bit thin here and either it is a good lead or it isn't and 'the' Rone, that everyone gets to know in the development stage, is not really the person they want on something as important as this seems to be.

    Also the race that Viggo belongs to seems to be a mystery. It could be he's human too; but it's not likely, though he must be humanoid because we never gets much description. There are a lot of alien races in the story and most seem humanoid, which I can live with though it seems a bit Star Trekish. The annoying thing is that they all talk like people who come out of some dialect in or around Great Britain.

    Certain words almost become annoying; such as crikey and scupper. Scupper might have more than one meaning-I don't know- but it didn't fit in this context at least not while trying to unravel what the plot was calling for. The larger problems in grammar are the construction of sentences that seem a bit unwieldy and difficult to unravel the intended meaning.

    The science is not hard science, but that's not a problem for me; except that the plot of the story is reliant upon a lot of the science so that makes it difficult for the reader to digest it all. What I mean by that is the scope of the Great Wave of destruction, as to a later explanation of the device that causes it, makes it difficult to grasp how it manages to do such widespread damage. The real plot of the story seems more centered on an older notion of opening the Pandora's box in this case the search seems to, at each step, open the box more and more until we reveal something that no one really wants. More than that though the Great Wave itself is a mystery that is just as much a Pandora's box. So this is really not a hard science story, which is a relief because the science is not all that well explained or examined. But it is unfortunate that it does dominate the story.

    The story itself becomes a sort of quest for the key story, where each step leads to more information about the next step. First we have to catch an impossibly fast ship that might have the key in the form of a pictorial history, a Phlegar artifact; The Wits of Forlihn. Aboard the burn ship she gains a crew-member along with the Wits. And each step they seem to gain things like this-crew members and clues. At one point they run across an invasion force, which ends up being a plot device that looks like the cart before the horse. But a lot of the plot is driven this way, which gives the feel of Deus ex Machina that smacks of a DejaVu feeling. By that I mean that in this case the invasion fleet could have been a good reason for Rone to decide to start on the quest, but since she didn't know about it until later it becomes a reason to continue on the quest. Still even then it's not that clear cut to the reader for quite a while how important it is since Rone keeps trying to ignore it.

    The characters in the story are not the strongest of characters. They all have some major flaws and that can be good in many ways. The problem I had with it is when it came time for the big decision it was very difficult to sort out from the development that they were ready to make the decision that they made. And this is a big Pandora box thing and it really is a determinant factory in the whole plot.

    But a lot of this can be considered my own subjective opinion and a person really needs to read this to get a real understanding of what I'm saying here.

    This is really science heavy and character light, where for my own preferences it would work out better the other way around. Not to mention that the Science is more simple than simon pure.

    Great story for lovers of SFF light on the science and might work well for Young Adults though there are some questionable moral dilemma in the story that bear some scrutiny for the younger end of that scale.

    J.L. Dobias
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  • MFormichelli
    3.0 out of 5 stars Overall a Fun Read
    Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2012
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Convergent Space is a sweeping sci-fi epic set in the future of our little corner of the galaxy. It centers around Rone, a reluctant heroine on a quest to clear humanity's name of the largest catastrophe in galactic history.

    Overall it's an interesting story whose cultures, both alien and far-future human, are well developed. The dialog is also well written and the characters' voices are distinct. One hardly need the speaker attributions to know who is saying what. One can tell that Mr. Cleary put a lot of time into getting the dialog right and it certainly paid off. However, there are a few critical issues that prevented me from giving the work a higher rating.

    There is a lot of exposition. Characters seem to lapse into long historical narratives at the drop of a hat and go on for pages before the story returns to the scene. There is also a lot of point of view jumping that disrupts the flow of the scenes. Finally, the main antagonists are a bit too classic for me to really be interested in them. They seem to giggle and wink at the thought of genocide with melodramatic glee. It is disappointing, because if not for this one-dimensionality they would have been truly horrifying antagonists.

    Rone on the other hand, is a very interesting and complex character. She is a lot of fun to read about and her scenes are the most riveting. Her interactions with her mechanical companion, Necessity, kept me turning pages for the length of the story, and she makes the whole trip through Mr. Cleary's world worthwhile.

    An earlier reviewer mentioned this, and I agree. Fans of science fiction like Star Trek will very much enjoy Convergent Space.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Sandra Wallace
    3.0 out of 5 stars Convergent Space
    Reviewed in Australia on February 17, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    A story of futility, curiosity, the basic uselessness of war! Endless searching being all that there is! A good read, looking forward to second book in series.
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  • RobM
    5.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, but only that it's over!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2012
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I started reading Convergent Space without realising that it was going to be part of an ongoing series - I was just looking for something 'simple' and 'escapist' that would allow me to while away some of the time I spend commuting around London. I didn't expect to find myself drawn into the story, and I wasn't looking for anything that would leave a lasting impression, I just wanted something that would get me through a couple of hours a day for a while.

    20 pages from the end I found myself genuinely gutted that it was coming to an end and hunting around trying to find out whether the follow-on book had been published or not (it hasn't, but don't let that stop you reading this one - you won't regret going for it now!).

    Convergent Space is easy to approach because it's not littered with deeply technical and overly complicated explanations. It's got good pace, a writing style that flows, and some refreshingly new spins on old plot devices (love the 'Companion' spin on the traditional 'sidekick' idea for example). The picture John-Pauls paints of the ruined worlds, the Herneses, and the nomadic Phlegar, help to build the reader's connection with the story and its protaganists.

    The characters, whilst fun and interesting, don't feel fully developed but that's fine - we've only just met them so wouldn't expect to know everything there is to know about them. You do learn just enough to know that if you invest the time in following along with their stories in the future you won't be disappointed, and will almost certainly find characters that you can empathise with and grow to love (this is especially true of Rone and Viggo).

    Sure, there are a couple of times where you might ask yourself 'really?' when you think deeply about the science involved - you know what though, it doesn't matter! If you're the sort of person that's THAT bothered by the minutia of the technical detail then you're probably better off with something by 'Haynes'. However, if you're someone like me that just wants a good story that you can lose yourself in and which leaves you asking for more .... then Convergent Space is for you!

    For what this costs (at time of writing £1.99) I can't think of a reason not to buy, read, and enjoy, Convergent Space.
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  • Kwajimu
    4.0 out of 5 stars A promising start
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2012
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Took a little while to get in to, but once you do it is worth it. Some interesting ideas and concepts.
    I found myself looking forward to the next chapter wanting to know where it was going next. Necessity and the Wits are a great idea and add a perfect level of humour.

    A few things stop it getting 5 stars such as there were quite a few things unexplained like how they manage to travel round space so easily and quickly amongst a few other things. Maybe just me but I like to get these sorts of details. Also in a few places it almost feels like the author was about to explain the background to something but then gets sidetracked by other parts of the story and important things are left unexplained.

    All in all though a great first book and I'm certainly looking forward to the next one.
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  • Bob
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not brilliant but not bad either - despite the odd slip
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2012
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Convergent Space keeps you interested despite the odd blooper. So gigantic and powerful colony ships under constant acceleration have a weightless environment once you are on board. Despite seeming to be in relativistic space these ships seemingly out-pace the FTL ships of the local civilisations, thus allowing explorers from the latter to discover the burn ships have arrived there first. Appreciating it is science fiction and none of this is yet possible, perhaps the author could fudge the issues like everyone else. This matters because part of the story concerns how a protagonist with a standard interstellar ship is going to match real speeds with the burn ship.

    But those things apart, Cleary has created a decent galaxy to read about. A vast disaster wiped out two thirds of the galactic population some centuries previously and Earth is blamed for it. The resulting excommunication by the established civilisations has led to a resource eating and decades long search for evidence to clear humanities name. Humans are fixated and observed at a cultural level with finding the real cause and have devoted the planets wealth and population to the quest.

    The plot concerns a lead discovered by a jaded archesoldier and her reluctant return to involvement in the search. It reads quite nicely with a pace that is belied by the odd double spacing on Kindle. The races encountered are interesting and the scenarios are decently written.
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  • Dr JCT
    5.0 out of 5 stars An easy pleasant read, that keeps you wanting more.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2012
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    As the authors first book, Convergent space was a welcome find. It isn't a difficult book but has some nice characters and ideas with some humor coming in from the likes of the Wits and Neccessity. Only having a few key players the book was an easy read and required little brain power to understand.
    Overall a welcome trip into a different universe that kept my interest throughout and i want to know how the Galaxy will be shaped following the events of Convergent space. I am looking forward to the second book
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