Blog Tour Review & Giveaway – STARS AND BONES by Gareth L. Powell

I’m thrilled to be one of the first stops on the blog tour for Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell! I had so much fun with this fast-paced space opera, and you can read my review below. Even better? You have the chance to win a copy of the book! Titan Books is kindly offering finished copies to two winners (US/UK/Canada), and you can enter my giveaway at the end of this post.

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Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell
Published by Titan Books on March 1 2022
352 pages

Seventy-five years from today, the human race has been cast from a dying Earth to wander the stars in a vast fleet of arks—each shaped by its inhabitants into a diverse and fascinating new environment, with its own rules and eccentricities.

When her sister disappears while responding to a mysterious alien distress call, Eryn insists on being part of the crew sent to look for her. What she discovers on Candidate-623 is both terrifying and deadly. When the threat follows her back to the fleet and people start dying, she is tasked with seeking out a legendary recluse who may just hold the key to humanity’s survival.

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My review:

The nitty-gritty: Stellar worldbuilding and an exciting plot make Stars and Bones a must read space opera.

At first glance, Stars and Bones may look like your typical space opera, but Powell’s worldbuilding surprised me in so many ways. Combined with an exciting story and interesting characters, science fiction fans should not miss this book!

The story takes place seventy-five years after an alien entity called the Angel of Benevolence has forced humanity to leave Earth. Rather than let humans destroy themselves and the planet, which they are about to do when the story opens, the “angel” created a thousand arks, huge vessels that ferry the entire population of Earth through space. Eryn was born and raised on the ark called the Damask Rose, and now she pilots a scout ship called the Furious Ocelot, which travels through space via the substrate, a conduit that allows light speed travel between arks. Eryn has the unique ability to “dreamlink” with the Ocelot and steer it through the substrate, and her bond with the ship is one that can never be broken.

But when another scout ship goes missing, Eryn is thrust into a dangerous adventure. The ship is found crashed on the remote planet of Candidate-623, and when the Ocelot goes to investigate, they witness the horrific demise of those on board. An alien entity has infiltrated the Couch Surfer and literally torn the crew to pieces. Among the dead is Eryn’s sister Shay, but before Eryn has a chance to mourn her, the entity begins to spread like a virus through the fleet, killing everyone in its path and rebuilding the dead into walking, talking monstrosities. 

Eryn and the Ocelot are determined to stop it, and they think the Angel of Benevolence might be able to help. Their only hope might be a reclusive man named Frank Tucker, the only person alive who has ever had contact with the angel. But no one knows where Frank is hiding out, so Eryn’s mission seems nearly impossible. With the help of the Ocelot’s envoy, her crewmate Li and a talking cat named Sam, Eryn sets out to save the fleet—and avenge her sister’s death.

The story is told from multiple perspectives, although most of the chapters are from Eryn’s point of view. Other characters only play small roles in the story, like a journalist who wants to document the entity’s destructive exploits, and a detective who ends up helping Eryn, but their POVs added a nice touch to the narrative. Powell also jumps back in time to the defining event that forced humans onto the arks, as we meet Haruki Kamisaka, the richest man on Earth, who explains the life changing events and how humans reacted to being uprooted from their lives. I really enjoyed these chapters and I liked Haruki’s perspective, especially later in the story when you find out what he’s doing in the present day.

The plot itself is mostly fast-paced and thrilling. I loved the danger of the entity and not knowing what it would do next. Some of the scenes border on horror—the description of the bodies and the way the entity literally pulls them apart and arranges their bones into piles was horrifying, to say the least. The Angel of the Benevolence is also quite scary at times. It manifests as a storm and has the ability to destroy whatever is in its path. But it’s also a rational, intelligent being who sees promise in humans, which is why it decides to intervene just as they are about to destroy themselves. 

Powell’s characters are interesting as well. My favorite was probably Sam the cat, who is snarky and talks exactly like you would expect a cat to talk, if it could. In this future, special collars and implants allow cats’ and dogs’ thoughts to be translated into sound, how cool is that? I also loved the Ocelot. All ships have their own envoy, a human-like, blue-skinned creature who is the physical manifestation of the ship’s AI. Eryn and the Ocelot are bonded because of Eryn’s abilities to navigate the substrate, and I loved their close friendship. Some characters weren’t as developed as others, like Madison, Eryn’s niece, and Li, Eryn’s crewmate and love interest, but there were so many cool things going on in the story that it didn’t really affect my enjoyment.

But the worldbuilding is what made Stars and Bones really special, in my opinion. I loved the idea of fifteen billion people having to live on arks. Their entire lives are spent zooming through space, but while that might seem restrictive at first, you soon learn that technology allows people to visit any ark they want by jumping through wormhole-like portals called flick stations. And because each ark is unique and has developed over the years according to the people who live there, all sorts of cultures, ethnicities, and religions have shaped their arks into places that resemble their original homes. Step into a flick portal, and you’re immediately transported to an ark that looks and feels like the plains of Africa, or an ark with oceans and beaches, or one of my favorites, the Alexandria, which is the hub of ancient culture and contains all of Earth’s most precious artifacts. With all these worlds at your fingertips, it seems like life on an ark would never be boring!

The angel—which really isn’t an angel at all, you may have figured out by now—was fascinating, and I liked the way Powell never fully explains it, but gives the readers glimpses of what it’s capable of without taking away all its mysteries.

The last quarter of the story was a thrilling race to stop the entity, but the author also adds some nice emotional moments, as well as a warning to humanity about our destructive ways. As far as I know, Stars and Bones is a standalone story, but I can see the potential for more stories set in this world. This was a fun one, folks! Don’t miss it.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

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About the Author:

GARETH L. POWELL was born and raised in Bristol, and his early mentors included Diana Wynne Jones and Helen Dunmore. His novels have twice won the BSFA Award, and been finalists for both the Locus Award in the US and the Seiun Award in Japan. He is probably best known for his acclaimed Embers of War space opera series, which includes the novels Embers of War, Fleet of Knives, and Light of Impossible Stars. He is a popular guest and speaker at conventions and literary events, and can often be found on Twitter @garethlpowell giving free advice to aspiring authors.

Author & Book Links: Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Twitter

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And now for the giveaway! Two entrants will be randomly selected to win a copy of Stars and Bones. Contest is open to residents of the U.S./UK/Canada only. Please fill out the form below to enter. Prizes provided by Titan Books. The winners will be selected and announced on March 1st. Good luck!