Early Review – Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Humor
Length: 407 pages
Publisher:‎ Bindery Books
Release Date: June 3, 2025
ASIN: B0DDJC6CDJ
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.

To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.

The queer love child of pulp horror and classic sci-fi, Of Monsters and Mainframes is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this as an ebook for review from NetGalley.

Thoughts: I absolutely loved this story. It was engaging and interesting, unique, and really kept my attention. That’s really saying something considering I was reading this during a week when I quit my job, my son graduated from high school, and we moved to a new house (yes, it was a week).

Demeter’s passengers are dead and, as far as she can determine, a vampire is responsible. However, no one believes her. She gets shut down and then restarted, and again, bad events happen. People (and other AIs) are calling her a ghost ship. Demeter will have to join forces with the monsters if she doesn’t want to be decommissioned for good.

The story starts with the ships governing AI Demeter, but we also hear from some humans, from an AI forced into a human body, and from the medical bay AI. The way these different POVs are used to deliver the story is masterfully done. At first, the things happening seemed very improbable and a bit random, but the way the story came together towards the end was amazingly well thought out, yet still surprising and unpredictable. I love all the classic monster references in here as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between AIs and also enjoyed how the different AIs interacted with humans (and non-humans). There is a ton of action which makes this so much fun, but it is also simultaneously very thought-provoking. Each AI has its strength and weakness, not unlike their human counterparts.

This was incredibly well written, engaging, and practically read itself, which was the type of story I really needed at the time I read this. It’s one of those books that is hard to explain but definitely worth reading. It’s very creative and different from anything else I have read. There is also a lot of humor in here, which I enjoyed.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this. This was so much fun, action-packed, thought-provoking, and just a very well done and creative mash-up of paranormal tropes in a sci-fi world. It was a very engaging story on so many levels and practically read itself. I would highly recommend this book, especially if a quirky sci-fi story involving AI and paranormal creatures sounds intriguing to you.