I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty Series: The Midsolar Murders #1
Published by Ace Books on October 4 2022
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: Crazy connections, cool aliens and plenty of mystery make this series starter a fun but convoluted romp through space.
“There are many, many things at play. You will never understand every single one.”
That quote pretty much sums up this book. I’m not sure I’ve ever used the phrase “cuckoo bananas” in a book review, but there’s a first for everything! Station Eternity is cuckoo bananas, and I mean that in a good way. I’ll admit it took me a good half of the book to get into the story—there are multiple characters’ perspectives and timelines and overall a lot going on—but once I got into the rhythm, it was hard to put the book down. Station Eternity isn’t anything like Lafferty’s previous novel, Six Wakes, so do adjust your expectations if you’re a fan of that book (like I am).
Mallory Viridian thinks of herself as a “murder magnet.” Over the years, she has found herself right in the middle of various murders, which seem to happen whenever she’s in the vicinity. She’s also become quite adept at solving these murders, although on the flip side she’s often a suspect herself because of her proximity to the murder scene. All this stress has forced her off planet Earth and into space—which might seem like a radicle move, but for Mallory it’s been a lifesaver for her mental health. With only two other humans on Station Eternity—a sentient space station populated by five different species of aliens—Mallory thinks she has finally found a place to relax.
Until she gets word that there’s a shuttle full of humans on the way from Earth. Which means it’s only a matter of time before someone dies.
So let’s start with the good, and there’s a lot of it. Station Eternity has the feel of a cozy mystery for the most part. The overall tone of the story is light and humorous. Yes, there are murders and death and violence, but it’s all very low key. The story takes place on a living space station and revolves around a large cast of characters, most of whom are aliens of one type or another. Each character, no matter how small, is given an interesting backstory. At times I wasn’t sure why the author was going into so much detail, but later in the story as all the different threads come together, it begins to make sense. Sprinkled in among the murder mystery is plenty of humor, some dark and some silly, but I ended up enjoying the lighter tone.
And for a story with lots of characters, I was pleased that I found some to love. I liked Mallory a lot. She’s such a quirky person and her situation is almost comical—believing she’s a catalyst for murder. She’s taken her strange experiences and turned them into autobiographical fiction, writing a series of murder mysteries called the Charlotte Queen mysteries. Her life on Station Eternity is interesting too. She’s made a deal with an alien species called the Sundry, wasp-like creatures who pay Mallory in exchange for studying her physiology. Then there’s Xan Morgan, who is hiding on Station Eternity to avoid—you guessed it—being charged for murder, after being in the wrong place at the wrong time at a party (of course Mallory was there as well!). Xan has an awesome backstory, which involves his time in the military, where he met one of my very favorite characters, Calliope Oh, a feisty, no nonsense Korean girl who could easily star in her own novel.
As luck would have it, Calliope is one of the humans on the shuttle, having been recruited by the military to bring Xan back home. Other humans on board include Xan’s brother Phineas, a famous rap star, Mallory’s Aunt Kathy, a horrible, manipulative woman, and Mrs. Brown and her granddaughter Lovely, a talented violin player who lost a finger in a fight and fears she’ll never play her instrument again. As disparate as all these characters seem, Lafferty connects them in surprising ways, and those connections are what make this intricate plot so fascinating.
We also meet several aliens on the space station, like Stephanie, a giant rock-like creature called a Gneiss. The Gneiss were my favorite alien species, but I won’t tell you why because it’s a big spoiler. Let’s just say their species has the ability to evolve into something else, and it was pretty cool. In fact, many of the world building elements were fresh and exciting. It was interesting to see a colony where most of the residents are aliens, and humans are the minority. Mallory and Xan have to fit themselves into Station Eternity’s world, learning to eat food that isn’t made for humans or trying to sit in Gneiss-sized furniture. Most of these scenes are done for laughs, though, as the author doesn’t seem to take herself too seriously.
But although I had a lot of fun with Station Eternity, the story is often a jumble of characters and action sequences that don’t always mesh together. Lafferty has some great ideas, but it felt like she threw every single one of them into this story, making it chaotic and confusing at times. There’s also a lot of set-up, and as I mentioned before, it took me a while to figure out who all the players were, why they knew each other, and what they were doing on Station Eternity.
Still, by the time the story ramps up to the thrilling finale, I was fully invested. Not everyone survives to the end, although the author throws in some very cool twists that made me feel better about those deaths. This is the first in the series, and although I’m not sure what Lafferty has in store for her characters in the next book, I’m definitely on board to find out.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Cuckoo bananas hahaha I already love this book. I’ve been saying all year that I’m getting back into science fiction but I always get distracted by other books. I do love the sound of this one though and I think the cover is really cool!
This would be a fun one if you like mysteries too:-)
Wow, this sounds like a wild ride! It’s a shame it gets a bit jumbled up along the way, but I do love the premise.
It was a chaotic mess, but still a lot of fun:-)
This novel has received some mixed reviews, so far, and I was on the fence about it, but since our reading tastes are on the same wavelength more often than not, I might give this one a chance. And since Six Wakes is still sitting unread on my TBR (shame on me!!! I know… I know…) at least I will not have to deal with expectations…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE, by Riley Sager
Read Six Wakes first!
Station Eternity sounds like a very interesting ride! Too bad it didn’t fully work out but it’s cool when a writer is trying something new.
It was so different from Six Wakes, and I also appreciate her trying something new.
OK, it looks like I missed a lot! I appreciate you saying that you didn’t fully get into the book until about halfway through it. I gave up at 40%, and it sounds like I missed some cool characters (like Calliope, and now I’m curious about her). I did love the Gneiss and the Sundry, though — but it felt like such a mess of elements that I couldn’t keep going. I do think she’s a really talented writer, so I hate to entirely give up. Your review makes me think that I should go back and try again, maybe after a few other books, and see if I can convince myself to see it through. Great review!
Exactly, it was sort of a mess at times. Calliope doesn’t come in until about halfway through, which is a shame. She was awesome:-)
It’s nice she’s able to write something very different from her previous work and yet still create something very entertaining. I’m absolutely looking forward to one day trying one of her books.
I really loved Six Wakes, start with that one:-)
I like this review. (Well, all your reviews are good!) You pushed the good points but explained the things that might niggle readers.
Thanks Priscilla:-)
Excellent review! I really enjoyed it too and definitely on board for the series.
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…Series on Saturday: Reaper Edition
I’m curious about where she’ll take it next:-)
I am to the point where I kind of want to keep going and I kind of don’t so might do a soft dnf as in try again later…lol. I am just not in the mood for it’s weirdness. 🙂
Stormi recently posted…Week in Review #4
Ha ha totally get it!
A cuckoo bananas cozy mystery set in space?! Even with the chaotic and confusing bits this does sound a bit appealing 😀
It was a lot of fun, and actually pretty clever:-)
I don’t usually mind a healthy does of cuckoo bananas but I would hesitate with this one and I’m finding myself less forgiving these days if a book takes over 50% to grab my interest.
Lynn 😀
Valid point. Sometimes it’s hard to keep going when it just isn’t working for you.
I’ve been seeing some lukewarm reviews for this one, so yours helped me feel a little bit more positive! I think as long as I go in knowing it’s nothing like Six Wakes, I’ll be fine!
It took a while to click for me, but them I really enjoyed it:-)
I shouldn’t have gone into expecting a second Six Wakes, but ahh well… Glad you liked it better than I did!!
I totally understand your issues, Will:-)
Hmm, sounds like one I might give up on, although sounds like it could be a good movie or tv series maybe! Great review!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Blog Tour Review: Architecture and Artistry (Green Valley Library #11) by Nora Everly