#THE SCOURGE BETWEEN STARS BY NESS BROWN

[betterbooksandthings]

"Do you want to read something bite-sized and impossible to put down? If so, may I offer you a list of 11 Queer books under 250 pages to solve your plight? It is wonderful to be able to pick a book up and finish it in a sitting or two. These books do just that and they are queer. What more can you ask for?

With Pride month in full swing, many readers opt to celebrate by adding more queer books to their reading lives. However, June is a busy month full of work, travel, Pride celebrations, and summertime ennui. Sometimes you want something small that you can take on a trip, or something short to read in your downtime. In case you have a busy month or need a short book as a break, this list of queer books under 250 pages is here to help you out. Ideally, it will let you accomplish your queer reading goals and still make it to all the events on your calendar."

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Author: Ness BrownPublisher: Tor NightfireReleased: April 4, 2023Received: NetGalley Book Summary: Jacklyn Albright shouldn’t be in the position to be the acting captain of the Calypso, yet here we are. The Calypso is one of several ships limping home to Earth – where they hope to find a better home than what they left. The trip has been long (literally centuries) and challenging. Starvation…

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

so i'm 41 pages into THE SCOURGE BETWEEN STARS and my two (2) potential solutions to the problems plaguing jack and her crew are as follows, in the order they occurred to me:

1. throw gideon nav on board with her sword or

2. send murderbot and art

[raydrawsdaly]

The Scourge Between Stars" by Ness Brown

I've had such a fun time reading this claustrophobic sci-fi/horror. Tune in as the Calypso crew is plucked off one-by-one by an alien hiding within the walls... ⚠️

[hasmoneanbulbasaur]

I recently finished read The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown.

A great sci-fi horror experience, that is short, sweet, (well, bloody), and to the point! Not only is it filled with thrills and chills, but also a hope for humanity. My review.

[haveyoureadthispoll]

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.

[snipsbird]

the scourge between stars by ness brown

aliens, lesbians, robots, oh my

[haveyoureadthisscifibook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[tinynavajoreads]

Currently Reading: The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Acting captain of the Calypso, Jack needs to figure what is causing issues with the rations as well as the anomalies in the walls, while trying to figure out which direction to take the Calypso, forward away from Proxima b, or back towards Proxima b. Either way is death. And with death in the walls, there not much else Jack can do.

Space horror, aliens on a ship, wanting to eat and eat and eat, darkness all around. What other horror can reach the cosmos and the deepest, darkest parts of human life?

[tigger8900]

The Scourge Between Stars, by Ness Brown

⭐⭐⭐⭐

After the captain locks himself away in his quarters, Jacklin finds herself acting commander of a failed colony mission. Limping back toward Earth with what remains of their supplies, ships have been dropping out of the fleet one by one, their communication channels going dark. As supply shortages loom and the crew inches toward its breaking point, a bloody discovery thrusts the ship into immediate danger, its crew fighting for their very survival.

Let's be clear: this is basically Alien, but I'm not mad about it. Personally I found the horror to be well done, eerie and claustrophobic at times while shifting into the all-out chaos of a firefight at other times. The pace was perfect for the novella's length — my copy came in at a snappy 163 pages — and, while I admit I didn't devour it in one sitting, I did read it in one day. And really, I only stopped because my lunch break is, unfortunately, finite. If I'd had the choice I would have gone straight through, because I was desperate to find out how Jacklin was going to survive.

Another thing I loved about this book was the way the robot character was handled. Initially, Jacklin reacts with disdain, referring to the droid with "it" pronouns. We're conditioned in our media to read this as a character being somewhere between a luddite and a bigot, depending on how intelligent the robots in question are, and the subversion that took place here was fascinating to me. By the end of the story, I completely agreed with Jacklin in regard to gendering the robot — or not, as the case may be — and the cause of the rest of her discomfort was revealed over the course of the narrative.

Something that didn't quite work for me was the resolution for the matter of the attacks coming from outside the ship. I'm normally a fan of that particular trope, but it didn't quite sit right with me this time. Maybe it's because the story framed it like it was a solvable mystery. Intellectually I liked it, but emotionally I found it unsatisfying, if that makes sense? So that horror didn't really pay off, but fortunately the overwhelming focus was on the monster plot, so the book still packed plenty of thrills even if the ending is a little bit "hmm, okay." I did like how some threads were left loose at the end, and would for sure pick up a sequel that elaborates on what might come next for the mission!

[rosepetals1984]

Review: The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Quick review for a quick read. I’m backtracking a little bit because I originally read this Tor Nightfire novella back in June of 2023. I adored this short, sci-fi horror thriller from the perspective of a Black woman trying to navigate her ship back to Earth with limited resources, a irritated crew, and a mysterious threat looming over them. Jacklyn Albright has plenty of secrets as she’s the –…

[kamreadsandrecs]

Title: The Scourge Between Stars Author: Ness Brown Genre/s: science fiction, thriller Content/Trigger Warnings: murder, gore, death, sexual assault (implied) Summary (from publisher’s website): 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. Buy Here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-scourge-between-stars/18835221 Spoiler-Free Review: I remember coming across the announcement for this novella early this year, and knew I HAD to read it, because I’m a fan of things like Event Horizon and Dead Space, where horror intersects with scifi. (Though tbh I had to watch the former in broad daylight with the volume on low, and I haven’t played the latter because it scares me too much. Yes I’m a scaredy-cat why do you ask?) As it turned out, this novella is more Alien than Event Horizon, which was not what I was hoping for, but it’s still an amazing read regardless! The prose reads very cinematic, and the novella format makes it feel like you’re more watching a fast-faced scifi thriller film than reading a story. I did find myself wishing that there’d been a bit more time devoted to developing some of the other characters, like Jolie and Michiko (especially Michiko, who seems like a total badass), as well as exploring the sociopolitical dynamics of the people onboard the ship, but I understand that there’s just not enough room for that sort of storytelling and development in the novella. If this’d been a novel though... Regardless, the way the novella developed Jack and especially Watson over the course of the story hit a nice sweet spot for the format: enough that they felt fleshed-out, but without eating up too much of the action and the thrills of the plot’s main events. To be honest I found the circumstances around Watson’s creation and its (their?) relationship with Otto Watson a lot creepier and freakier than all the intruder on the ship, but then again isn’t that usually the case? Unknown intruder, you can kill, but there’s just something entirely terrifying about what goes on in other people’s heads - and how they enact what goes on in there. So overall, this was definitely a fun, quick read that made for a good break between the historical romantic fluffiness of my ongoing Pink Carnation reread. I find myself wishing that there’d been more to it, that some aspects of it had been explored a bit more, but that’s mostly just me wanting more of this fabulousness. I hope Ness Brown puts out something longer soon; I like the way they tell a story, and I like the stories they tell. Rating: four and a half knocks on the hull

[bekah-reading]

109/120

4/5

This is a short novella horror sci-fi. I gave this 4 starts because it was quick, fun, and what I needed at the time.

The characters were meh, the plot and everything was very much like a bunch of the Alien movies mashed together. It felt almost reminiscent of Mass Effect as well, especially if you played the Omega DLC of ME:3.

This didn’t make any lasting impressions, but I will say if you wanted something quick and fun and good for spooky season this is a good solid pick. I’d recommend trying to an e-copy and not a physical book. This is less than 200 pages.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: THE SCOURGE BETWEEN STARS by Ness Brown.

Devoured this in one intense sitting last night! It gets right into the "fucked up shit happens in space" (as I was promised it would!), and I liked that you could see the author's astrophysics background peeking through without derailing the tension.

(And, for real: Don't Open The FUCKING Door, holy shit.)

[libertyreads]

Book Review #104 of 2023--

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown. Rating: 3.5 stars.

Read on August 19th.

Let's just start with me explaining the synopsis so we can all be on the same page for this weird review. The Scourge Between Stars is a novella about a group of humans who are living in a flotilla of generational ships that were originally used to settle a colony on what was supposed to be a habitable planet following humanity's devastation of Earth. However, when the ships arrived they found the planet was just as inhospitable as Earth and voted to attempt the return to Earth with what supplies and fuel they had left. It's generations after those humans stepped back onto their ships and Jacklyn is trying to hide the fact that her father--the captain--has stopped reporting for work and has holed himself up in his bunk. But being the acting Captain gets dicey when they discover they're in an even worse situation than they thought.

I am a HUGE Scifi/Horror lover. (Which is a little weird since I read a Mystery/Horror as well this week and didn't like the Horror aspect.) Just something about being stuck in space with limited supplies and only your wits about you to save your life hits all the right buttons for me. And on that note the author did a great job. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire novella.

However, my common complaint will also fit for this one as well, find it copied and pasted here: the story wasn't long enough for me. I didn't have a chance to really connect with any of our characters. Even our main character fell flat for me which is a shame because I feel like she could be a favorite if she was just fleshed out more. I love the situation she's found herself stuck in and the struggle that she goes through in the novel to maintain control while also absolutely losing her shit about the situations she finds herself in. I just had no real connection to her and didn't really care what happened to her. That's not exactly the feeling you want readers to come away with. I'm realizing that for a story to really impact me I have to have a connection to the characters emotionally. I don't have to like the characters per se, but I need to feel something for them anyway.

Overall, I think this story is a good time and recommend it for other fans of the Scifi/Horror mashup. If you're mainly a character focused reader, I think this one just leans a little too heavily on the plot for you to come away feeling good about your experience reading it.

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: black science fiction

As february and black history month nears its end, if you're a reader let's not forget to read and appreciate books by black authors the rest of the year as well! If you're a sci-fi fan like me, perhaps this list can help find some good books to sink your teeth into.

Bleak dystopias, high tech space adventures, alien monsters, alternate dimensions, mash-ups of sci-fi and fantasy - this list features a little bit of everything for genre fiction fans!

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

Something massive and alien crashes into the ocean off the coast of Nigeria. Three people, a marine biologist, a rapper, and a soldier, find themselves at the center of this presence, attempting to shepherd an alien ambassador as chaos spreads in the city. A strange novel that mixes the supernatural with the alien, shifts between many different POVs, and gives a one of a kind look at a possible first contact.

Nubia: The Awakening (Nubia series) by Omar Epps & Clarence A. Hayes

Young adult. Three teens living in the slums of an enviromentally ravaged New York find that something powerful is awakening within them. They’re all children of refugees of Nubia, a utopian African island nation that sank as the climate worsened, and realize now that their parents have been hiding aspects of their heritage from them. But as they come into their own, someone seeks to use their abilities to his own ends, against their own people.

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Novella. After having failed at establishing a new colony, starship Calypso fights to make it back to Earth. Acting captain Jacklyn Albright is already struggling against the threats of interstellar space and impending starvation when the ship throws her a new danger: something is hiding on the ship, picking off her crew one by one in bloody, gruesome ways. A quick, excellent read if you want some good Alien vibes.

Dawn (Xenogenesis trilogy) by Octavia E. Butler*

After a devestating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Includes darker examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson*

Utterly unique in world-building, story, and prose, Midnight Robber follows young Tan-Tan and her father, inhabitants of the Carribean-colonized planet of Toussaint. When her father commits a terrible crime, he’s exiled to a parallel version of the same planet, home to strange aliens and other human exiles. Tan-Tan, not wanting to lose her father, follows with him. Trapped on this new planet, he becomes her worst nightmare. Enter this book with caution, as it contains graphic child sexual abuse.

Rosewater (The Wormwood trilogy) by Tade Thompson

In Nigeria lies Rosewater, a city bordering on a strange, alien biodome. Its motives are unknown, but it’s having an undeniable effect on the surrounding life. Kaaro, former criminal and current psychic agent for the government, is one of the people changed by it. When other psychics like him begin getting killed, Kaaro must take it upon himself to find out the truth about the biodome and its intentions.

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

Young adult. A century ago, an astronomer discovered a possibly Earth-like planet. Now, a team of veteran astronauts and carefully chosen teenagers are preparing to embark on a twenty-three year trip to get there. But space is dangerous, and the team has no one to rely on but each other if - or when - something goes wrong. An introspective slowburn of a story, this focuses more on character work than action.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

After the planet Sadira is left uninhabitable, its few survivors are forced to move to a new world. On Cygnus Beta, they work to rebuild their society alongside their distant relatives of the planet, while trying to preserve what remains of their culture. Focused less on hard science or action, The Best of All Possible Worlds is more about culture, romance and the ethics and practicalities of telepathy.

Mirage (Mirage duology) by Somaiya Daud

Young adult. Eighteen-year-old Amani lives on an isolated moon under the oppressive occupation of the Valthek empire. When Amani is abducted, she finds herself someplace wholly unexpected: the royal palace. As it turns out, she's nearly identical to the half-Valthek, and widely hated, princess Maram, who is in need of a body double. If Amani ever wants to make it back home or see her people freed from oppression, she will have to play her role as princess perfectly. While sci-fi, this one more has the vibe of a fantasy.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Life on the lower decks of the generation ship HSS Matilda is hard for Aster, an outcast even among outcasts, trying to survive in a system not dissimilar to the old antebellum South. The ship’s leaders have imposed harsh restrictions on their darker skinned people, using them as an oppressed work force as they travel toward their supposed Promised Land. But as Aster finds a link between the death of the ship’s sovereign and the suicide of her own mother, she realizes there may be a way off the ship.

Where It Rains in Color by Denise Crittendon

The planet Swazembi is a utopia of color and beauty, the most beautiful of all its citizens being the Rare Indigo. Lileala was just named Rare Indigo, but her strict yet pampered life gets upended when her beautiful skin is struck by a mysterious sickness, leaving it covered in scars and scabs. Meanwhile, voices start to whisper in Lileala's mind, bringing to the surface a past long forgotten involving her entire society.

Eacaping Exodus (Escaping Exodus duology) by Nicky Drayden

Seske is the heir to the leader of a clan living inside a gigantic, spacefaring beast, of which they frequently need to catch a new one to reside in as their presence slowly kills the beast from the inside. While I found the ending rushed with regards to plot and character, the worldbuilding is very fresh and the overall plot of survival and class struggle an interesting one. It’s also sapphic!

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah*

In a near future America, inmates on death row or with life sentences in private prisons can choose to participate in death matches for entertainment. If they survive long enough - a rare case indeed - they regain their freedom. Among these prisoners are Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker, partners behind the scenes and close to the deadline of a possible release - if only they can survive for long enough. As the game continues to be stacked against them and protests mount outside, two women fight for love, freedom, and their own humanity. Chain-Gang All-Stars is bleak and unflinching as well as genuinely hopeful in its portrayal of a dark but all to real possible future.

Parable of the Sower (Earthseed duology) by Octavia E. Butler*

In a bleak future, Lauren Olamina lives with her family in a gated community, one of few still safe places in a time of chaos. When her community falls, Lauren is forced on the run. As she makes her way toward possible safety, she picks up a following of other refugees, and sows the seeds of a new ideology which may one day be the saviour of mankind. Very bleak and scarily realistic, Parable of the Sower will make you both fear for mankind and regain your hope for humanity.

Binti (Binti trilogy) by Nnedi Okorafor

Young adult novella. Binti is the first of the Himba people to be accepted into the prestigious Oomza University, the finest place of higher learning in all the galaxy. But as she embarks on her interstellar journey, the unthinkable happens: her ship is attacked by the terrifying Meduse, an alien race at war with Oomza University.

War Girls (War Girls duology) by Tochi Onyebuchi

In an enviromentally fraught future, the Nigerian civil war has flared back up, utilizing cybernetics and mechs to enhance its soldiers. Two sisters, by bond if not by blood, are separated and end up on differing sides of the struggle. Brutal and dark, with themes of dehumanization of soldiers through cybernetics that turn them into weapons, and the effect and trauma this has on them.

The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds duology) by Micaiah Johnson

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s a catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying. As such she has a very special job in traveling to these worlds, hoping to keep her position long enough to gain citizenship in the walled-off Wiley City, away from the wastes where she grew up. But her job is dangerous, especially when she gets on the tracks of a secret that threatens the entire multiverse. Really cool worldbuilding and characters, also featuring a sapphic lead!

The Fifth Season (The Broken Eart trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin*

In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We get to follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her missing daughter. While mostly fantasy in genre, this series does have some sci-fi flavor, and is genuinely some of the best books I've ever read, please read them.

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings*

In an alternate version of our present, the witch hunt never ended. Women are constantly watched and expected to marry young so their husbands can keep an eye on them. When she was fourteen, Josephine's mother disappeared, leveling suspicions at both mother and daughter of possible witchcraft. Now, nearly a decade and a half later, Jo, in trying to finally accept her missing mother as dead, decides to follow up on a set of seemingly nonsensical instructions left in her will. Features a bisexual lead!

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

South African-set scifi featuring gods ancient and new, robots finding sentience, dik-diks, and a gay teen with mind control abilities. An ancient goddess seeks to return to her true power no matter how many humans she has to sacrifice to get there. A little bit all over the place but very creative and fresh.

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson*

Young adult. Young artist June Costa lives in Palmares Tres, a beautiful, matriarchal city relying heavily on tradition, one of which is the Summer King. The most recent Summer King is Enki, a bold boy and fellow artist. With him at her side, June seeks to finally find fame and recognition through her art, breaking through the generational divide of her home. But growing close to Enki is dangerous, because he, like all Summer Kings, is destined to die.

The Blood Trials (The Blood Gifted duology) by N.E. Davenport

After Ikenna's grandfather is assasinated, she is convinced that only a member of the Praetorian guard, elite soldiers, could’ve killed him. Seeking to uncover his killer, Ikenna enrolls in a dangerous trial to join the Praetorians which only a quarter of applicants survive. For Ikenna, the stakes are even higher, as she's hiding forbidden blood magic which could cost her her life. Mix of fantasy and sci-fi. While I didn’t super vibe with this one, I suspect fans of action packed romantasy will enjoy it.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

1960s classic. Rydra Wong is a space captain, linguist and poet who is set on learning to understand Babel-17, a language which is humanity's only clue at the enemy in an interstaller war. But Babel-17 is more than just a language, and studying it may change Rydra forever.

Pet (Pet duology) by Akwaeke Emezi

Young adult novella. Jam lives in a utopian future that has been freed of monsters and the systems which created and upheld them. But then she meets Pet, a dangerous creature claiming to be hunting a monster still among them, prepared to stop at nothing to find them. While I personally found the word-building in Pet lacking, it deftly handles dark subjects of what makes a human a monster.

Bonus AKA I haven’t read these yet but they seem really cool

Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes

Alternate history in which Africans colonized South America while vikings colonized the North. The vikings sell abducted Celts and Franks as slaves to the South, one of which is eleven-years-old Irish boy Aidan O'Dere, who was just bought by a Southern plantation owner.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Young adult dystopia. Ellie lives in a future where humanity is under the control of the alien Ilori. All art is forbidden, but Ellie keeps a secret library; when one of her books disappears, she fears discovery and execution. M0Rr1S, born in a lab and raised to be emotionless, finds her library, and though he should deliver her for execution, he finds himself obsessed with human music. Together the two embark on a roadtrip which may save humanity.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Lelah lives in future Botswana, but despite money and fame she finds herself in an unhappy marriage, her body controlled via microchip by her husband. After burying the body of an accidental hit and run, Lelah's life gets worse when the ghost of her victim returns to enact bloody vengeance.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Young adult. Fen de la Guerre, living in a quarantined Gulf Coast left devestated by storms and sickness, is forced on the run with a newborn after her tribe is attacked. Hoping to get the child to safety, Fen seeks to get to the other side of the wall, she teams up with a scientist from the outside the quarantine zone.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

A neo-victorian alternate history, in which a part of Congo was kept safe from colonisation, becoming Everfair, a safe haven for both the people of Congo and former slaves returning from America. Here they must struggle to keep this home safe for them all.

The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Space opera. Enitan just wants to live a quiet life in the aftermath of a failed war of conquest, but when her lover is killed and her sister kidnapped, she's forced to leave her plans behind to save her sister.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The City We Became (Great Cities duology) by N.K. Jemisin, The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull, The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole