Scourge Between Stars

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Just once,” Otto admitted. “That’s all I had time for after the briefing. That’s why I had Watson escort you here.” Each of the ships in the fleet is named after goddesses and I liked the references. The characters also had distinct personalities and were fleshed out nicely, even for ones with limited appearances. The real spotlight however is in the story and intense atmosphere throughout the book. It perfectly captured the claustrophobia of being trapped in a hostile environment with nowhere to go. A perfect blend of science fiction and horror…Short, fast, engaging, wildly entertaining, and unexpectedly gory, it almost demands to be devoured in one sitting.”— Locus

There are many things to love about The Scourge Between Stars. What really pushed me over the fence to read this book was when I saw that not only was it a sci-fi thriller but that it was a short one at that! It seems hard to find bite sized sci-fi in today’s world with all the space operas coming out. (Not that I don’t enjoy a good space opera!) However, having a manageable story for all types of readers was certainly a plus. Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between Stars, a tense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror blend in the vein of Alien and Event Horizon, will be published by Nightfire in April 2023!Are you afraid of generation ships? And outer space? And dying airless, stranded in nothing? Then keep your eyes out for The Scourge Between Stars , which crosses The Expanse with Pandorum by way of Event Horizon and emerges darkly victorious.”— Gemma Files

It's books like this that remind me why I love space horror so damn much. This was an excellent debut novella from author Ness Brown--who, by the way, studied astrophysics as a graduate student and was actually an astronomy instructor! (Badass!)The department was a honeycomb of blinking consoles and constant readouts, each techie’s hexagon crowded with terminals. Wires stretched hazardously across aisles; extra screens hung precariously from jury-rigged mounts. Despite Ventilation’s best efforts, even though every surface was practically oozing heat-sink paste, it was oppressively hot. While Brown does a nice job of building the world and the ship, this is one of those that I'd say falls under 'sci-fi' light as it doesn't get too far into the mechanics and details of the technology. There's enough to give us the parameters for the set-up. That's okay; I didn't need Aurora level technical details, but some might want more. I, for instance, found myself wondering more about the crisis that launched multiple giant colony ships without better resources. I seriously hope this is like a prequel novella or something to a larger series. I would love more with these characters and within this SF-world.