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.
The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown Published by Tor Nightfire on April 4 2023
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 176
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: The Scourge Between Stars had plenty of thrilling action, but the story itself was too big for the short format.
Horror in space is one of my favorite tropes, and Ness Brown’s story of a generation ship being attacked by a hidden predator was extremely tense and scary. I also thought it was too short to pull off all of the author’s big ideas and themes, unfortunately. The Scourge Between Stars had a lot of potential, but perhaps the novella length wasn’t quite right for it.
We meet the crew of the Calypso, a six-thousand passenger generation ship which left Earth to colonize a planet called Proxima b hundreds of years ago. The colonization failed, however, and the fleet of ships decided to call it quits and head back to Earth. Jacklyn is the daughter of the current ship’s Captain, and when the story opens, the ship is in dire straits. Food supplies are running low, and the Calypso is encountering odd pockets in space that create the effect of being caught in a terrible storm or in the grip of a monstrous entity. Engagements, as the crew calls this phenomenon, rattle the ship and cause destruction and even death. To make matters worse, the Captain has been holed up in his quarters and hasn’t come out for a week. Jacklyn is worried about her father, of course, but she’s also angry that she has to cover for him. Jack has done the calculations, and she knows they don’t have enough food to make it back to Earth, and she needs her father to step up and figure out what to do.
And then an android named Watson starts leaving cryptic messages for Jack, telling her “Don’t open the door.” And when the first body turns up, eviscerated beyond recognition, Jack knows something is on board the ship, something that seems to be picking off the crew, one by one.
I thought the scenes involving the alien monster were so well done. Brown creates tension right from the beginning, starting with Watson’s creepy messages that don’t make much sense at first, but become chilling in hindsight. There’s definitely some Alien in these sections—the dark corridors of the ship, a terrifying scratching noise coming from behind the bulkhead walls, and of course, the sudden appearance of what’s been hiding from the crew and some very tense chase scenes. Brown uses tried and true space tropes to tell their story, and they worked.
Unfortunately, the other story elements weren’t as successful. The author’s ideas are epic in scope, way too epic for a less than 200 page novella. Themes like colonization, generation ships (and not just one, a fleet of generation ships), alien creatures, mutiny, global warming and the necessity of leaving Earth in order to survive—all of these are incorporated into the story, but none of them are satisfactorily developed. Luckily, the focus of the story is the alien invasion threat, and I did like the “locked room mystery” plot and the increasing feeling of danger as the crew tries to avoid the threat and then eliminate it.
However, I just had too many questions that were never answered. If the fleet is in so much trouble and worried about making it back to Earth, why are there still so many people on board? I understand the need to keep the generations going, but at some point wouldn’t someone try to control the ship’s population? I was mostly puzzled by the ending, however. The author sets up this huge story at the beginning and then tries to resolve everything in the last ten pages or so. There were several rapid fire events that seemed way too convenient to be believable, as well as some confusing action that left me wondering wtf had just happened.
As for the characters, I did like Jack and her dedication to trying to take her father’s place when he goes AWOL. I didn’t like Otto, the crew member who is responsible for creating and programming Watson. Otto has a weird “relationship” with Watson (I hesitate to even use that word) that made me uncomfortable. It felt very predatory, and Watson isn’t in the position to do anything about it. And then there’s the Captain, who is absent for most of the story and only makes an appearance at the end. Because we never get to know him in the first place, the reveal didn’t make much sense.
The Scourge Between Stars had so much potential, but unfortunately it ended up being way too ambitious for its length. Still, Ness Brown’s writing is really good, and despite my reservations about this book, I’d love to see what they come up with next.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
The ALIEN vibes in the synopsis for this book were one of the major element that made me pay attention the first time I saw this title mentioned, and the theme of the colony ships is one I always enjoy in SF, so it saddens me to learn that this book missed a lot of opportunities due to its short length…
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, by Grady Hendrix
It is working for a lot of readers, so you never know:-)
“but the story itself was too big for the short format”: that’s often my critique for short stories
Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…The top 8 books to read in April 2023
It’s tough to get shorter stories and novellas right.
Resolving a huge sounding story like this in the last ten pages would also probably disappoint me a little. That’s just not enough time. Despite all of that it does sound like a great story, because three stars is still good to me, but clearly it needed to be longer than just a novella from what I can tell from your review. Maybe the author’s next book will have a star or two more!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Embers of Mercy by Brynn Ford
The ending was rushed for sure. And yes, it was good and there were parts that I loved.
That does sound like a lot for a novella. I have it up next in the to be reviewed stack so it’s good to know this going in!
Laurie @ Bark’s Books recently posted…It Doesn’t Go Away by Wendy Dalrymple | Book Review
I’m curious to hear what you think! Lots of readers love it.
Seem like it could work as a space opera size book instead of a novella.
Snapdragon recently posted…Spellfall by Katherine Roberts
Exactly. There’s plenty of content for a novel.
Sounds like a story that could definitely done with being a lot longer as there was so much going on. I do like the idea that it’s a bit like Alien though 😀
The scary parts were really well done:-)
Yes! I still don’t fully understand WHY it wasn’t a full-length novel? Like- it makes so much more sense, but alas. I did really enjoy it, but I wanted MORE. That is frustrating! Great review!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Reviews in a Minute: April 4th Releases
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I did too, but like you said, there just wasn’t enough info!
Novellas are a perfect length for some stories, but not so much for others. Sorry to hear this one didn’t fit within the format, which is really too bad given the potential you saw.
Agreed. It’s tricky to make novellas work. I’m always in awe of authors that can make that length work.
I might try this, although it might frustrate me by the end since it left you with unanswered questions. It kinda remind me of that Netflix show 1899.
I haven’t seen that show, but now I’m curious:-)
It’s very interesting. On Netflix. But they cancelled the show after one season and apparently it ends on a cliffhanger. I haven’t completed it since hearing that since I’ll certainly be pissed to make it to the end and not be able to know what happens after the cliffhanger.
The premise does sound promising, too bad it didn’t live up to that! Thanks for sharing your review!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Book Blitz with Giveaway: Undertaking Love by Megan Montgomery