The Scourge Between Stars

I remember coming across the announcement for this novella early this year, and knew I HAD to read it, because I???m a fan of things like Event Horizon and Dead Space, where horror intersects with scifi. (Though tbh I had to watch the former in broad daylight with the volume on low, and I haven???t played the latter because it scares me too much. Yes I???m a scaredy-cat why do you ask?)

As it turned out, this novella is more Alien than Event Horizon, which was not what I was hoping for, but it???s still an amazing read regardless! The prose reads very cinematic, and the novella format makes it feel like you???re more watching a fast-faced scifi thriller film than reading a story. I did find myself wishing that there???d been a bit more time devoted to developing some of the other characters, like Jolie and Michiko (especially Michiko, who seems like a total badass), as well as exploring the sociopolitical dynamics of the people onboard the ship, but I understand that there???s just not enough room for that sort of storytelling and development in the novella. If this???d been a novel though...

Regardless, the way the novella developed Jack and especially Watson over the course of the story hit a nice sweet spot for the format: enough that they felt fleshed-out, but without eating up too much of the action and the thrills of the plot???s main events. To be honest I found the circumstances around Watson???s creation and its (their?) relationship with Otto Watson a lot creepier and freakier than all the intruder on the ship, but then again isn???t that usually the case? Unknown intruder, you can kill, but there???s just something entirely terrifying about what goes on in other people???s heads - and how they enact what goes on in there. 

So overall, this was definitely a fun, quick read that made for a good break between the historical romantic fluffiness of my ongoing Pink Carnation reread. I find myself wishing that there???d been more to it, that some aspects of it had been explored a bit more, but that???s mostly just me wanting more of this fabulousness. I hope Ness Brown puts out something longer soon; I like the way they tell a story, and I like the stories they tell. 

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown is well written science fiction horror that surprises the reader by being more than just a spooky story with monsters lurking in the dark but also thought provoking hard science fiction. Within the first ten pages psychological horror is successfully harnessed to unsettle the reader with the relatively mundane. The true horror in this book is during the first 50 pages before the monsters lurking in the dark are known to exist, before any blood has been spilled and nothing horrible has actually happened. It's not the uncanny robots or thumps in the night that are truly terrifying but the unknown. Like with most things, once the protagonist and reader finally became aware of the monsters in the dark, that they are real, the story stopped being science fiction horror and became hard science fiction with a bit of action.

Other than the main plot involving monsters lurking in the dark, the story had various subplots ranging from the uncanniness of sentient artificial intelligence to the terrible psychological burden that comes with leadership done well. This is as much a story about morality and what it is to be human, as it is about monsters in the night. A daughters relationship with parents in a time of prolonged crisis, a first officers relationship with their ships captain, and the moment a junior is forced into the position of leadership because there are no other options. The realization that humanity dispite crossing the stars was still barely a type 1 civilization on the Kardashev-scale and while out in the wider universe runs the real risk of being accidentally stepped on by godlike advanced civilizations who don't even realize we are in the stellar neighborhood crawling around at their feet.

Do I recommend this book? Yes I do. I suggest anyone who enjoys science fiction and has the opportunity to grab a copy, do so.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley

This is not the right genre for me. I suspected this going in, but still wanted to give it a try.

A sci-fi horror that took a little bit for me to get into. I mostly enjoyed it, especially the android character, and will keep my eye out for more books from this author.

I was looking forward to this one but unfortunately it was just not good. Boring clinical writing style, goofy plot twists, dull characters. The ending did not feel earned to me. The aliens were kind of cool though.

So, a tough woman fights killer alien monsters in a spaceship, accompanied by an android... Nope, never heard of anything like that before! To be honest, the similarity to that other big sci-fi franchise is what drew me to this in the first place. Even if it was the supermarket own-brand version.

I know a novella is never going to be a deep, packed read but this felt very thin. Maybe it was a ‘proof of concept' of a more involved sequel/re-write.

Not particularly scary or memorable, but it passed the time.

Scourge Between Stars is quick to jump into the action and sprints right to the end. The tension was great especially after the 3rd act turn and also really loved how delightfully casually queer it is!

Excellent story. The story builds an ominous atmosphere as our main character deals with issues on the generational ship traveling between star systems. While she, as the first mate, attempts to deal with one issue after another from riots to ship damage and failure, her father, the captain, has locked himself in his cabin. When a murder is discovered but not by anyone of the crew the mood and fear really accelerates. This is an excellent story and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This novella was absolutely fine. It is just...Alien, but with murderbot, kinda? Nothing about it was bad, and I enjoyed my time with it...but it really needed something to make it stick out more. As it is, it's just too similiar to Alien.