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jnicweb's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I really didn’t like this book. I usually like books about future space travel but this one dragged on and on and was barely about space at all. I didn’t like the writing style of the author or how she characterized Helt. He randomly falls in love with Elena for no reason and weirdly talks about her nipples?? I legitimately thought this book was written by a man for a while because it was so weird. The last 25 pages were where it really picked up but I couldn’t follow what was happening. I still don’t really know what’s up with Helts eye.
spiraldots's review
4.0
Review originally written for my blog
I received this as an ARC as I’m a big fan of generation ship stories and just had to read it. When I saw that this was one right before it launched, I was incredibly interested as most stories in this theme are either building it or way after the launch when a lot of information has been forgotten.
This book starts not long before the ship is due to depart, however a man has just been found dead and one hour of security camera footage is missing around the time that he died. What follows is a fantastic murder mystery in a sci-fi setting.
As it’s a murder mystery, I’m going to avoid discussing the plot at all because well half the fun of the novel was trying to figure out what was happening along with the main character, Helt, and so I don’t want to give away any spoilers either intentionally or unintentionally.
The worldbuilding of this novel is fantastic, as Helt moves around the ship interviewing potential suspects and those that knew the deceased, we learn more about the ship itself and what caused it to be built. Most of this is just mentioned as background information but it really helps flesh out the novel. The ship itself, Kybele, is also described brilliantly and I loved reading about how it was built and all the planning that has gone into it.
Helt is a great character, he’s been tasked with investigating the case and he’s on a strict deadline as the ship will be departing soon and so they want to find the murderer in time to send him off the ship on the final shuttle.
I would highly recommend this novel, it was a thrilling adventure and I highly enjoyed the mystery which kept me engrossed right up until the end. It’s great for both sci-fi fans and for those that are fans of murder mysteries.
I received this as an ARC as I’m a big fan of generation ship stories and just had to read it. When I saw that this was one right before it launched, I was incredibly interested as most stories in this theme are either building it or way after the launch when a lot of information has been forgotten.
This book starts not long before the ship is due to depart, however a man has just been found dead and one hour of security camera footage is missing around the time that he died. What follows is a fantastic murder mystery in a sci-fi setting.
As it’s a murder mystery, I’m going to avoid discussing the plot at all because well half the fun of the novel was trying to figure out what was happening along with the main character, Helt, and so I don’t want to give away any spoilers either intentionally or unintentionally.
The worldbuilding of this novel is fantastic, as Helt moves around the ship interviewing potential suspects and those that knew the deceased, we learn more about the ship itself and what caused it to be built. Most of this is just mentioned as background information but it really helps flesh out the novel. The ship itself, Kybele, is also described brilliantly and I loved reading about how it was built and all the planning that has gone into it.
Helt is a great character, he’s been tasked with investigating the case and he’s on a strict deadline as the ship will be departing soon and so they want to find the murderer in time to send him off the ship on the final shuttle.
I would highly recommend this novel, it was a thrilling adventure and I highly enjoyed the mystery which kept me engrossed right up until the end. It’s great for both sci-fi fans and for those that are fans of murder mysteries.
jameseckman's review
2.0
A heavy duty, non-violent and somewhat slow paced police procedural set in a generation ship about to launch. Decent characters with a bit of light romance thrown in lighten the reading. The philosophy of governing a generation ship is covered as part of the plot and this is a bit novel. If you like SF and police procedurals, you will probably enjoy this book, I like my mysteries a bit more hard-boiled.
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