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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Space and mystery maybe even a little betrayal!
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Shit happens. Sometimes even to you."
I liked the beginning, but then it was revealed that the MC could see ghosts, unnecessary romance happened, and who did it was so predictable that I rolled my eyes. I'm also bothered by how the characters, who are supposed to be living 100+ years from now, behave like they are from our time. And why did all of them act like they had never heard of mental disorders? 2.5 stars.
"And in the end, I suppose that's what it comes down to. What you can live with or what you're willing to die for."
I liked the beginning, but then it was revealed that the MC could see ghosts, unnecessary romance happened, and who did it was so predictable that I rolled my eyes. I'm also bothered by how the characters, who are supposed to be living 100+ years from now, behave like they are from our time. And why did all of them act like they had never heard of mental disorders? 2.5 stars.
"And in the end, I suppose that's what it comes down to. What you can live with or what you're willing to die for."
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Pacing was off for me, but some very interesting plot points and characters
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I do really like sci fi horror though I haven't been able to (or if I were to be honest with myself, wanted to) explore it in book form. It's been a very long process of maturing into being comfortable watching movies and TV shows and playing videogames to get comfortable with sci fi horror. I still won't touch regular horror.
But as a result, I am a huge fan of movies like Event Horizon, Pandorum, Alien, and Underwater, and Netflix's The Silent Sea, and any other movie or TV show that has a group of people trapped in a station or spaceship and something is hunting them. In videogames, I was able to make it through the original Dead Space and I now realize that the opening mission of Kotor II was very Event Horizon-like. No wonder I liked it so much even though other people found it too long. Alan Wake could also perhaps be counted.
Book-wise, the only exposure to horror/sci fi thriller I've had are three books: the Star Wars Death Troopers duology (though I don't remember much of those books) and Annihilation. Annihilation was excellent and in fact is a trilogy I am looking forward to continuing. It is, however, more of a slow creepy mystery thriller. This particular book and its subtitle caught my eye specifically because it seemed like a combination of Event Horizon and Dead Space (one of the reviewers in the front pages even mentions Event Horizon as a direct influence). This was sci fi horror.
I haven't gotten that much sleep in the last two days and I've had to keep all the lights on in the apartment while I've dozed. But the quote on the front cover, that this book is unputdownable, is so true if you are a fan of sci fi horror. I felt like I had to keep reading just so the nightmare can end.
It's a standard setup for any fan of this stuff: a small crew gets a distress call from a derelict ship, they go check it out, and the terrors take them. It's exactly what I was expecting and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I may need to check my future horror reading as I have a particularly active imagination that, while obviously useful for reading most books, made this experience a bit more visceral and mentally stressful than I thought it would be, thus the lights at night.
If there are any nitpicks about this book, I'd say that the reason behind the horror happening is a little underwhelming. I won't post actual spoilers here, but I can say that balancing out supposed supernatural stuff against supposed hard science explanation stuff can be tricky. This book pulled it off convincingly and logically, it was just a little underwhelming of a reason after essentially 270 pages of spooky death and horror.
A cautiously very high recommend to anybody who is okay with horror and sci fi horror in general. If you're a fan of any of the properties I mentioned at the beginning of this review, this book will fit right into your sci fi horror diet.
But as a result, I am a huge fan of movies like Event Horizon, Pandorum, Alien, and Underwater, and Netflix's The Silent Sea, and any other movie or TV show that has a group of people trapped in a station or spaceship and something is hunting them. In videogames, I was able to make it through the original Dead Space and I now realize that the opening mission of Kotor II was very Event Horizon-like. No wonder I liked it so much even though other people found it too long. Alan Wake could also perhaps be counted.
Book-wise, the only exposure to horror/sci fi thriller I've had are three books: the Star Wars Death Troopers duology (though I don't remember much of those books) and Annihilation. Annihilation was excellent and in fact is a trilogy I am looking forward to continuing. It is, however, more of a slow creepy mystery thriller. This particular book and its subtitle caught my eye specifically because it seemed like a combination of Event Horizon and Dead Space (one of the reviewers in the front pages even mentions Event Horizon as a direct influence). This was sci fi horror.
I haven't gotten that much sleep in the last two days and I've had to keep all the lights on in the apartment while I've dozed. But the quote on the front cover, that this book is unputdownable, is so true if you are a fan of sci fi horror. I felt like I had to keep reading just so the nightmare can end.
It's a standard setup for any fan of this stuff: a small crew gets a distress call from a derelict ship, they go check it out, and the terrors take them. It's exactly what I was expecting and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I may need to check my future horror reading as I have a particularly active imagination that, while obviously useful for reading most books, made this experience a bit more visceral and mentally stressful than I thought it would be, thus the lights at night.
If there are any nitpicks about this book, I'd say that the reason behind the horror happening is a little underwhelming. I won't post actual spoilers here, but I can say that balancing out supposed supernatural stuff against supposed hard science explanation stuff can be tricky. This book pulled it off convincingly and logically, it was just a little underwhelming of a reason after essentially 270 pages of spooky death and horror.
A cautiously very high recommend to anybody who is okay with horror and sci fi horror in general. If you're a fan of any of the properties I mentioned at the beginning of this review, this book will fit right into your sci fi horror diet.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
1/3 of the way through the book, I realized that had already read this book. Abandoned space ship horror done well. One of my favourite tropes. Well worth the re-read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
3.5 stars
Not really the scary sci-fi horror story I was expecting. More of a mystery ghost story that happens to take place on a derelict space ship. The plot itself seems derivative from a number of other sci-fi works (Event Horizon, Aliens, etc.), but Claire's unique perspective, in that she already sees things that aren't there, made it interesting for me. The ending is satisfactory, although the ultimate revelation of the cause of the phenomena was a bit of a let down, IMO.
Not really the scary sci-fi horror story I was expecting. More of a mystery ghost story that happens to take place on a derelict space ship. The plot itself seems derivative from a number of other sci-fi works (Event Horizon, Aliens, etc.), but Claire's unique perspective, in that she already sees things that aren't there, made it interesting for me. The ending is satisfactory, although the ultimate revelation of the cause of the phenomena was a bit of a let down, IMO.
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Aaa this book had such potential but I was honestly really disappointed by the end.
The pacing of the book was alright. There's two different stories in this book. The events that happened on the Aurora with Claire's initial team and then the revisiting of the Aurora. The initial storyline was much better than the latter but both suffer a similar issue. The events ramp up extremely quickly and seemingly out of nowhere.
Like imagine a roller coaster, you're going up and looking at the top of the roller coaster excited to go on a ride down. All of a sudden, you're going down and while the drop is exciting, it would've been better further up.
I also have so many questions still haven't been answered. This may be another case where I just missed it but doesClaire's hallucinations ever get explained? The mystery of the Aurora gets written out pretty plainly (which wasn't my favorite). The reveal just lacked a lot for me.
Everything after the mystery gets explained is just...lackluster and a bit leading up to it too.
I don't think the book is bad but it's just not as good as I was hoping it would be. Please give me more unreliable narrator. Please give me hallucination induced paranoia. Please give me more tortured pasts. Ah well, it is what it is.
The pacing of the book was alright. There's two different stories in this book. The events that happened on the Aurora with Claire's initial team and then the revisiting of the Aurora. The initial storyline was much better than the latter but both suffer a similar issue. The events ramp up extremely quickly and seemingly out of nowhere.
Like imagine a roller coaster, you're going up and looking at the top of the roller coaster excited to go on a ride down. All of a sudden, you're going down and while the drop is exciting, it would've been better further up.
I also have so many questions still haven't been answered. This may be another case where I just missed it but does
Everything after the mystery gets explained is just...lackluster and a bit leading up to it too.
I don't think the book is bad but it's just not as good as I was hoping it would be. Please give me more unreliable narrator. Please give me hallucination induced paranoia. Please give me more tortured pasts. Ah well, it is what it is.