Review by Booklist Review
Jacklyn "Jack" Albright reluctantly stepped into the Captain's role on board the Calypso, a starship embarking on a doomed mission to return to Earth, fleeing a failed attempt to establish a colony elsewhere. Jack is barely holding things together in between "engagements," sudden attacks that threaten to rip the ship apart, and increasing tension erupting into violence between different ship factions. She gets through each day hoping that the next will be when her father, the rightful Captain, steps back up. Unfortunately, something evil is lurking inside the ship's walls, and Jack's father is holed up in his cabin, unreachable and unresponsive. Jack must form quick and unlikely alliances with others on the ship to fully realize the threat coming after the entire crew. That includes Watson, an android with an impressive amount of knowledge, more complex than initially meets the eye, which adds a surprisingly poignant twist to the story. Brown's debut novella progresses at lightning speed, making it a quick one-shot read. Nothing is missing from Brown's masterful storytelling.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Brown's eerie debut takes readers aboard a doomed generation ship. The Calypso is part of a struggling fleet trying to return to Earth from the failed colony on Proxima Centauri b. With the ship already badly damaged by mysterious forces, perilously low on stores, cut off from the rest of the fleet, and dealing with persistent unrest on board, the last thing acting captain Jacklyn Albright needs is another problem. While helping with repairs from the latest catastrophe, however, Jacklyn hears scraping and banging noises inside the ship's bulkheads and soon thereafter, what precious stores the ship has left are going missing and crew members are turning up eviscerated. Fragments of panicked, despairing messages from the rest of the fleet reveal that the Centauri ships have been harbouring something terrible that lives in the walls and is very fast, very clever, and very hungry. Now someone on Jacklyn's ship has just let it out. The claustrophobic, locked-in environment of a generation ship makes an ideal setting for this tense, gory, and genuinely creepy novella. Brown handles the astronomy and exobiology equally as competently as the interpersonal dynamics and trauma. The result is a sci-fi horror mash-up that holds its own with the classics of the genre. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Jacklyn "Jack" Albright unexpectedly finds herself acting as captain of the ship Calypso in Brown's debut science-fiction novella. Earth has long been uninhabitable, owing to climate disasters. Centuries ago, its people unsuccessfully relocated to a distant planet and are now heading back, hoping to start anew. Jack's father, the ship's original captain, is locked in his chambers, completely uncommunicative, ever since an unknown force killed Jack's mother. Now Jack must deal with infighting among the ship's different factions, drastic rationing of supplies, and bizarre, violent attacks from an unknown being that lives somewhere inside the vessel and is devouring people, one at a time. Characterization is sacrificed for the plot-driven story, which is clearly inspired by Ridley Scott's Alien films. Bahni Turpin is, as always, a fantastic narrator, perfectly conveying Jack's mounting panic, despair, and anger toward her father and her circumstances. VERDICT An exciting listen with a dramatic ending that will leave audiences breathlessly awaiting a sequel. Share with those who prefer their science fiction with a tinge of horror.--B. Allison Gray
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