Fresh Start
By Johnny Worthen
- Fresh Start
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Author: Johnny Worthen
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Publisher: Flame Tree Press
- ISBN: 9781787589643
- Published: June 2026
- Pages: 336
- Format reviewed: Hardback
- Review date: 15/06/2026
- Language: English
Science Fiction and Westerns have a long history, many stories are your classic stranger coming to a new town, but instead of carrying a six-shooter, they carry a Ray Gun. Fresh Start by Johnny Worthen is the latest and this is one strange stranger. Is Qays Mendoza a monk or a marine? Is his mission one of redemption or one of revenge? Qays is all of these things and his landing on the prison planet Fresh Hope will make him live them all.
Fresh Start is at the very end of the Empire, a prison planet where they send the worst offenders to live out their lives and five generations of children before they can return. As the Empire is in retreat no one has visited in years until Qays arrives on an advanced ship, holding an advanced gun. A gun that could change the power dynamics of the entire planet. All Qays wants to do is find his old Captain and ask her some questions, but there is a whole planet between him and his goal.
Fresh has a very Star Wars feel to it, almost like Worthen wanted to work with that IP, but put his own spin on things. A planet full of scoundrels, a religious protagonist who struggles with their faith. In fairness, out of all the most famous science fiction IPs, Star Wars owes most to classic Western and Samuri tropes. The fact that Fresh feels like Star Wars is as much about their shared origins.
The key to Fresh working is the character of Qays, he is enigmatic and nomadic, quick with a quip, skilled with a gun, but also prone to mercy. This is a complex set of characteristics, and we learn why this is as the book progresses through a series of flashbacks, but also with his relationship with a local called Patience.
The main thrust of the story is Qays obsession with finding his old Captain, for a long time we never understand why this is, and I am not sure that Qays actually knows. Like a good Western, it is not this motivation that becomes the actual crux of the story. In Fresh Start, Qays finds a planet that needs his help. It has plenty of good people, but some of the worst scum in the universe. Will he turn a blind eye to the horrors on this planet or do something about it?
There is an interesting conflict in the story because of Qays’ religion and his background. We learn that he comes from money, joined the Marines and for some reason then became a monk like figure for the official Empire religion. There are conversations about peace and religion between Qays and Patience, but as the story progresses, we start to see that turning the other cheek will not always lead to the greater good. The escaped convicts from the maximum prison on the planet are not good people. At this point the book almost gets too violent, but it does add a great tension to the story.
When I say that Fresh Start reminded me of Star Wars, I mean that as a compliment. Fresh is like the best that IP has to offer, a dusty, gritty adventure about a far-flung planet where the law is no longer present. If you enjoy a Western in space, then this is one of the most enjoyable I have read in years, a real adventure with a central character you can enjoy learning about as the story progresses.
Written on 15th June 2026 by Sam Tyler .
Topics and themes
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