The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
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Web ID: 16835991A Decent Sci-Horror with Alien Creatures
“Don’t open the door.” I actually have not had the best luck with Sci-fi, Horror books. I keep on picking them up in the hopes that I will one day find a 5 star one. This story follows this woman named Jacklyn who is captain of the starship Calypso. She is only captain because her father, the real captain, has locked himself in his room and won’t come out no matter what. The Calypso is trying to make it to Earth with the last of humanity, but along the way their ship gets invaded by alien creatures and it could be the end of them and the future of humanity. I did think this was pretty decent as far as a space horror. I did think the horror elements were pretty well done. There is a lot of gore and death, and I do think those moments were handled well. I also enjoyed the work that went into building the alien creatures that show up towards the middle of the story and by making us, the readers, not see them for a while, instead choosing to let us see their destruction and murder, was effective and built that unsettling and nervous feeling. It reminded me of the same thing Mira Grant, Seanan McGuire, did in "Into the Drowning Deep", which I loved. There is also this awesome conversation about AI’s and how we as humans treat it. There is this AI robot named Watson and Watson feels like a sentient being who has thoughts and opinions, but Watson’s creator, Otto, does some questionable things. I love when Sci-fi deals with the topic of AI and I kind of wish we would have gotten more of that, but I do understand that this is a Horror and it was more important to build those elements of the story. Now, I didn’t love Jacklyn if I’m being honest. She’s not a terrible character by any means, but she just held her team back in certain instances and there were times where I wish they would have left her back. The first time she wasn’t as useful as I felt she should have been, I chalked it up as nerves and let it go. However, it constantly happens until the end when she gets a bit braver I guess. I was kind of over it by that point though. I also wish this did a better job of building tension. There were these brief, and brief they were, where we would get that tension and dread, but the author didn’t hold on to that feeling enough. I definitely see the potential here so I will pick up more from this author and overall, I do recommend this for anyone looking for a Sci-Horror. CW for suicide, blood, gore, and death.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Intriguing
This was a wonderful debut novel. With suspense, an old space ship, scifi horror and so much more.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Sapphic scifi horror!
This is such a solid debut! I love a good scifi horror story and this one delivered. I think The Scourge Between Stars would actually be a great first scifi horror story for those intrigued by the idea but who might feel intimidated. It's a novella, so it's not a big commitment, but it is absolutely worth reading! The Scourge Between Stars is a good novella, but I'll admit I think it would've been an even better novel. I really liked the main character Jacklyn and the world-building was really intriguing. I would have happily read a longer version of this with more backstory about the characters and what happened to their ancestors. Nonetheless, I loved The Scourge Between Stars and will definitely be keeping an eye out for future work by Ness Brown! If a sapphic scifi horror is up your alley, add this one to your TBR!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
An excellent debut
TL;DR The Scourge Between the Stars by Ness Brown is a fun, imaginative debut novella. This story is filled with a down-but-not-out captain, an abused robot, and one hell of an atmospheric setting. The Scourge Between the Stars marks the arrival of an excellent new talent on the SFF/Horror scene. Recommended. Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone. Review: The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown As I grow older, I’m enjoying Science Fiction Horror more than ever. The mashup of the two genres is rife with possibilities about the human condition and just an excellent way to push characters to the limit. In The Scourge Between Stars, Ness Brown drives their characters to extremes, and the results are lovely. This novella takes place on a generation ship and features an interesting concept that I haven’t encountered yet: survivors from a failed colony heading back to Earth. Most science fiction authors kill off their colonies to indicate failure. But in The Scourge Between the Stars by Ness Brown, the colonists packed up their colony and headed back to Earth. Now, their descendants are trying to survive in the desert between stars when it seems as if the entire universe is out to end their journey. Jacklyn Albright, or Jack to the crew, is the acting captain of a generation ship as it heads from Alpha Centauri back to Earth. Jack is the acting captain because her father, the real captain, refuses to leave his cabin. Jack and the crew aren’t even sure he’s alive in there. And they need his help. The ship faces many problems. Supplies are running low and they’re not even halfway to Earth. The various Wards of the ships are threatening to riot if they don’t get supplies. The ship can’t structurally handle many more faster than light jumps. Their trip home takes them through an interstellar battlefield between forces unknown to the crew. They’ve lost contact with the other ships in their convoy, and crew members are being ripped apart by what seems like large animals. Jack tries to hold everything together, but it’s all falling apart. She’s just one person, and without help, she can’t protect the ship. As she begins to investigate the deaths of her crew members, Jack finds that the ship has a stowaway on board. The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown is a third person novella. It’s a fast paced, fun adventure with a bleak atmosphere. Brown excels at creating a mood in their settings. Quickly, I began to feel as overwhelmed as Jack did. The character of Jack was well done, sympathetic, and compelling. A Rich, Stressful Setting I found this novella claustrophobic in the best way. Brown portrayed crises on an older generation ship very well. Supplies are often hand waved away in science fiction because, well, logistics isn’t terribly exciting. Yet, Brown uses that to their advantage here. Because logistics aren’t exciting if things are fine but are terrifying if things are going bad. Humans, generally, like to eat, and being unable to feed them has historically been bad for leadership. The same will be true on generation ships. In the event of low supplies, someone will have to make hard decisions, and those decisions will likely lead to increased reactionary individuals. It’s a cascading problem that hasn’t worked out well here on Earth and will be a nightmare in the desert of space. Where amongst the stars will Jack get enough food to feed the crew? In addition, the crew are terrified of Engagements. Yes, the capital E is required. The ship is traversing an interstellar battlefield or maybe minefield. Who knows? The ship randomly is damaged by forces beyond the ship and its crews comprehension. Using data from sensors, a robot aboard the ship may be the key to plotting a safe route home. Brown did an okay job portraying the confusion the crew had from these Engagements. I would have liked more information about them as they’re a fascinating part of Brown’s world building. Jack is doing the best she can while she’s grieving her mother’s suicide. She grieves the death of her sister, and she misses her father. Jack needs help from her father the captain. Brown captures Jack’s internal turmoil well. I really felt for Jack, and it seemed like she didn’t have the time she needed to grieve. These threats simmer the reader until Brown turns up the heat by placing an unknown threat on board the ship. The long term threats take a backseat to the short term threat that is killing crew members. By this point, Brown has the reader on edge, and the unknown threat tips us over. Brown paces out the action scenes and makes them as atmospheric as the rest of the novel. Overall The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown is a promising debut. It balances action, horror, internal and external threats, pacing, and character development in a tight concise story. Tor Nightfire says this is around 170 pages. It took me about half the time to finish it that I had planned to read it . I didn’t want to put it down. Brown created a setting, a universe, and characters that intrigue. The ending to the short term threat was very satisfying, but the overall ending was a bit of a let down. It was a deus ex machina ending. That, by itself, isn’t a negative. No, the ending just reminded me that we didn’t learn anything about the deus, itself. The deus ex machina wasn’t set up. We were given hints about the powers outside the ship, but at no point was it setup that the ending that happened was possible. Conclusion Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between the Stars is an excellent debut, and it showcases a talent worth watching in the SFF field. While the ending didn’t work for me, I still loved the setting. I hope Brown returns to it, and that readers get more information about the Engagements and their causes. The Scourge Between Stars is worth reading to experience Brown’s ability to set a scene. This imaginative debut will make you a fan of Ness Brown. Recommended.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great book! Excellent debut!
What a great read! The Scoutge Between Stars is a claustrophobic thrill ride that takes place in a failed colony ship that had to leave the Centauri system and return home. Conditions are deteriorating, and supplies seem to be dwindling for unknown reasons. Unbeknownst to all on board, there is an unwanted stowaway, identity unknown. This is one of the best SF books I’ve read in a good while. While there are elements from the first Alien film, the author makes the story all her own. The plotting is superb, the tension well ratcheted, the characters well drawn, all making this a book that just kept me riveted to the page. Highly recommended.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Sci-fi thriller that's a quick and easy read
This novella is more of a sci-fi thriller than true sci-fi horror. The sci-fi isn't heavy-handed at all, so casual readers can pick it up without becoming too bogged down by scientific details. It's a quick read too, filled with the usual sci-fi tropes. Starting off with what I liked, the MC, Jack, has a take-charge, no-nonsense attitude and while it came off as abrasive in the beginning, it worked out well for the action-filled second half of the story. I liked that she didn't give up in the face of defeat. Even when everyone was in danger, she was willing to sacrifice herself without a moment's hesitation. I liked the relationship development between Jack's character and the android, Watson. At first, she was very suspicious and skeptical. But learning about the relationship between Watson and its creator, Otto, led Jack to be more open and trusting of the android. Without going into any spoilers, the woman/female-coded android solidarity was a pretty cool development. The action when the entire ship goes into lockdown was excellent, although tropey. But it kept me on the edge of my seat and I wanted to find out what would happen next. You can feel the sense of urgency and danger as Jack and the security team go deeper into the ship and encounter the aliens. Other than that, I really wish that this was a fully fleshed-out novel. I wanted to care more about the secondary characters, but they were mostly there to move along the plot. Secondly, it's very hard to believe that the crew would leave Jack's father in his quarters for a week straight without doing some sort of wellness check early on since he wasn't responding at all. I know that would defeat the big reveal, but it could throw another wrench in the many problems that Jack and the crew have to face. It'd make more logical sense to confront him before all of these events happen. <spoiler>The reveal at the end with Jack's father was... Eh. I wish it was much better explained, other than he pretty much lost his mind. It felt too simplistic and a cop-out.</spoiler> Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for this arc.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Fantastic Sci-fi/horror read!
The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown was an interesting read for sure. I’ve always loved sci-fi/fantasy novels, but haven’t read much horror. In spite of that, I gobbled up this novella within a few hours. I adored Brown’s main character, Jacklyn. I could feel her personality like my own, her anger, her fears, & the heavy obligation she carried with her throughout the story. I wish her secondary characters were stronger in their development, but in an action-filled short story, I could forgive their weaker characterization. The plot was fast-paced & snagged my attention immediately. Never once did I feel bored while reading. The setting & world-building fantastic; I love it when I’m so immersed in a book that I don’t feel like I’m reading it so much as I’m living it. The relationships between characters were easy to follow, some of them developed more strongly than others, but still enjoyable. The familial growth between the two main characters was perfect, even in such a short amount of time. There were very few things I found myself annoyed by, but those details were intentional, given how they were written. The horror aspect wasn’t all that terrifying, but I did find myself on edge throughout the majority of the book. I definitely recommend short story this for all sci-fi/horror readers. Strong plot, lovable characters, & just a little bit of horror to make you question if space-travel is really all that necessary. 4.5/5 stars. I received an ARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com