A richly imagined and immersive starship tale.
A starship’s crew responds to a curious distress signal coming from unknown space in this third installment of an SF series.
Lt. Naiche Decker of the Lovelace is used to serving on the same starship as her father, but now her boyfriend, Lt. Cmdr. Talako Jacoway, is aboard as well. There are plenty of upsides to having Tal around, but it’s also led Decker to think seriously about the sort of future she wants after her service in the Uniterrae Defense Corps ends. Before she has time to come to any decisions, the Lovelace receives a very peculiar distress call from the generational starship Valiant. What’s so strange? The entire crew of the Valiant is known to have perished in an accident 200 years earlier, for one. For another, the technology transmitting the call is far beyond anything humans are aware of. For a third, the call doesn’t appear to have been meant for human ears. “Well, that does pose a question, Captain,” voices one of the ship’s officers. “Do we make the prudent move of heading directly home…or go chasing after this…ghost?” Wary of a trap but excited by the opportunity to make contact with a new alien species, the captain and crew of the Lovelace proceed to the source of the transmission. They head to the previously unknown moon of Tolu, where they find, among other things, the survivors and descendants of the Valiant crew—very out of touch with the situation in the rest of the galaxy—and a species of ship-sized, acid-spewing birds. The stranded humans share the moon with several groups of unfriendly aliens, but the real mystery is the so-called Lignatians: an advanced species that has provided the survivors of the Valiant with its technology. The fate of those survivors—and now the Lovelace crew—may rest in Lignatian hands.
Watson’s prose is filled with vivid worldbuilding details while still managing to feel urgent and punchy: “Decker nearly started to laugh, on the edge of hysteria, when at that moment, Lindstrom attempted to hail them. She ignored her comm-link and put a protective hand on Con’s unconscious body. Naiche used her most menacing tone to warn, ‘I am taking my friend to our ship. If you try to stop me—I will kill you all. I swear I will.’ ” Though the book is preceded by two others, the story is self-contained enough for those new to the series to hit the ground running. Decker is a matter-of-fact protagonist: an adrenaline junky, she’s easily bored, quick to jump into action, and loyal to her friends. The crew of the Lovelace is large and filled with colorful, complementary personalities, including a dog, Corpsman Kayatennae, whose barks sometimes scare away alien beasts. The tale is thoroughly in the tradition of Star Trek, both in its tone and its value, and fans of that franchise will enjoy Watson’s Roddenberrian world. Despite the premise, the novel never gets too dark or too mysterious—to the disappointment, perhaps, of some readers—but the plot is propulsive and well paced. The result is pure space opera, nothing more or less.
A richly imagined and immersive starship tale.Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-941072-89-9
Page Count: 236
Publisher: D. X. Varos, Ltd.
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A captivating world, a tragic tale, and a dangerous future. This story must go on.
A young Ghanaian girl is forever changed when a delicate artifact falls from the sky and finds its way to her family’s shea tree farm.
The story begins with Sankofa, a young traveler who's feared by many—she is said to be the adopted daughter of death. Sankofa’s touch will kill, and she can wipe out an entire town with a single glance, but she was not always this way. Until the day the meteors fell and she gained this power to take life, she was Fatima, an ordinary and ever curious girl. After she loses everything, including her own name, she begins the journey to understand herself and the powers beyond her control. Aside from her furry companion, a fox named Movenpick, Sankofa must travel alone to reclaim the artifact given to her by the stars. Rich with West African culture and history, including the magical healing powers of shea butter, this book reads more like a folktale than science fiction, though it does include questions about the advancement of surveillance technology, the ever growing presence of American pharmaceutical giants, and the ways they might be connected. With this new novel, Okorafor’s career continues in the same vein as her previous Nebula– and Hugo Award–winning Binti novella trilogy; she has a rare ability to open the reader's mind to various futures while creating complex characters and communities. Though Sankofa's story is short, it's gripping, and readers will likely find themselves rooting for her to find peace.
A captivating world, a tragic tale, and a dangerous future. This story must go on.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77280-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A satisfying, sexy, and fast-paced alien romance.
A human woman is kidnapped by an alien who believes she's his mate.
Liz has had a pretty bad week—she was stolen from her Oklahoma farm by little green aliens and transported millions of miles from Earth. After something goes wrong on the ship, the green aliens abandon Liz and the rest of the human women on a cold ice planet with two distant suns. The planet’s local inhabitants, the sa-khui, are a small tribe of large blue aliens that have developed a symbiotic relationship with the khui, a glowing space worm that helps their bodies withstand the bitter climate. The tribe has suffered devastating population losses from hunting accidents and sickness, leaving them fewer than 30 members, only 4 of whom are women. Raahosh is a hunter who resigned himself to a life of loneliness, but when his khui resonates for Liz, he knows she is his mate. Rather than chance being separated from her, he spirits her away to his hidden cave, hoping to prove himself worthy of her. Liz is furious at being kidnapped again and is determined to make as many choices as she can for herself. She demands to hunt with Raahosh, making her own bow and arrows to prove her worth. Raahosh and Liz have explosive chemistry and learn to respect each other’s strengths. Liz is an especially appealing character: feisty, brave, and stubborn. She’s the perfect match for the taciturn Raahosh, who wants to be loved for who he is and valued as an equal partner. In the background of their romance, Dixon shows how the sa-khui and humans are beginning the hard work of building a new culture together.
A satisfying, sexy, and fast-paced alien romance.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-54603-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
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