Review – The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Length: 163 pages
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Release Date: April 4, 2023
ASIN: B09XL6N6DJ
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed ebook from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“As acting captain of the starship Calypso, Jacklyn Albright is responsible for keeping the last of humanity alive as they limp back to Earth from their forebears’ failed colony on a distant planet.
Faced with constant threats of starvation and destruction in the treacherous minefield of interstellar space, Jacklyn’s crew has reached their breaking point. As unrest begins to spread throughout the ship’s Wards, a new threat emerges, picking off crew members in grim, bloody fashion.
Jacklyn and her team must hunt down the ship’s unknown intruder if they have any hope of making it back to their solar system alive.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed a copy of this on ebook through my library.
Thoughts: I had been in the mood for a sci-fi read but wanted something quick when I ran into this book on my wishlist (I know, my wishlist is huge so sometimes I peruse it and see things on there I had forgotten about). This was a decently done sci-fi horror, it was just really predictable and felt like a horror alien movie that we all know about (Alien).
I enjoyed our main protagonist, Jacklyn (Jack), she’s been put in an awful position. Her father, the captain, has locked himself in his cabin, her mother went insane and committed suicide, and her sister was recently killed in one of the periodic attacks that keep hitting their starship from an unknown source. Jack is trying to get everyone back home to Earth, a nearly hopeless effort when she starts hearing things in the walls of the starship, supplies start missing, and the android on board starts complaining of “anomalies”.
I enjoyed the characters and writing style here. This book moves at a fast pace and there is a ton of action. This is very readable and engaging as well. The android, Watson, was a high point of the novel for me. I loved this character and this was a creative and intriguing addition to the story.
Where this went flat for me is how this is a story that’s been told many times before. There just wasn’t a lot of creativity here. I agree with other reviewers who have mentioned how similar this is to the movie Alien. Everything about this story went exactly how I expected. I even felt like some of the scenes were lifted almost directly from the Alien movie.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this was a decent sci-fi horror that is basically a retelling (or exact telling) of classic sci-fi horror that already exists. I did enjoy Brown’s characters and writing style so I will keep an eye out for Brown’s future works. I just hope that Brown’s future works are unique and creative.
