Disavowed

In this SF novel, a mistaken order sends a starship to attack an innocent planet—leading to a massive retaliation—and a lone human survivor must grapple with the hostile alien world.

Stith concocts a future “Web of Worlds” affiliation of space-traveling civilizations, superficially resembling Star Trek’s Federation, but lacking Gene Roddenberry-style ethics and responsibility. The vessel Star Storm, manned by humans and aliens alike, is sent to lightly strafe a distant, rogue planet to make its bellicose denizens behave. By mistake, the order sends the Star Storm to the wrong place, a planet called Aretta, outside the Web of Worlds. There, the unexpected bombardment causes casualties among the advanced, insular natives—a four-footed race called the Reffen, who resemble canines. The enraged Reffen respond with weapons deadlier than anticipated, destroying the Star Storm. A human survivor is a medic, Lt. Nick Sparrow, a nice guy running from his past. Nick’s evacuation pod lands on the Earthlike Aretta, where he strives to evade capture by Reffen patrols, in what he assumes will be only a few days before a rescue ship arrives. But there is no rescue ship; the elites who sent the attack order are covering up the affair. Meanwhile, first-person narrator Nick manages to earn the trust of two young Reffen, Pemmy and Glot, who are in, er, puppy love. What starts out as a harrowing SF Robinson Crusoe survival tale, of which Andy Weir’s The Martian(2014) is preeminent, turns into a, well, shaggy-dog yarn of problem-solving capers, the weight of which falls surprisingly on the lighthearted side. Plot twists end up being dictated by not one, but two deus ex machina devices. First, Nick has an implanted artificial intelligence in his head called Natalie, a wisecracking (“Pretty clever for a human”) entity who acts as universal translator, troubleshooter, and sidekick. Second, Aretta holds a fantastic ancient infrastructure from a long-gone, amphibious alien race that the water-averse Reffen have largely left alone. This still-functioning technology is just waiting around to furnish the protagonists with most of the solutions they need in their travails. The result is a lively, engaging space jaunt with elements of justice and payback in the end. But the story is a little too reliant on contrivances in getting there. 

A dark, forceful opening yields to a lighter, fun-filled SF escapade.