The Scourge Between Stars

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