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.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
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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.
From the Publisher
Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between Stars is a tense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror blend set aboard a doomed generation ship harboring something terrible within its walls.
“A perfect scare to swallow up in one sitting.” —Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
“Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, STARRED review
A LibraryReads Pick!
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.
Review: The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
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.
The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown is available from Tor Nightfire now.
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