A fun and action-packed standalone space opera that’s more than a little creepy, from Gareth L. Powell.

I really enjoyed Gareth L. Powell’s Embers of War trilogy with its fantastic characters, sentient spaceships, and nightmarish aliens. Stars and Bones may be set in a completely different world, but it has all the hallmarks from Gareth’s previous trilogy. Plus a snarky talking cat! What’s not to love?

Blurb

Seventy-five years from today, the human race has been cast from a dying Earth to wander the stars in a vast fleet of arks―each shaped by its inhabitants into a diverse and fascinating new environment, with its own rules and eccentricities.

When her sister disappears while responding to a mysterious alien distress call, Eryn insists on being part of the crew sent to look for her. What she discovers on Candidate-623 is both terrifying and deadly. When the threat follows her back to the fleet and people start dying, she is tasked with seeking out a legendary recluse who may just hold the key to humanity’s survival.

Review

Stars and Bones was a real rollercoaster ride. Right from the start it drops you into the action with a terrifying, grotesque prologue, and doesn’t stop. The pacing is fantastic, and it really kept me on my toes. The book definitely leans more towards sci-fi horror in quite a few aspects, and it deals with a lot of dark stuff, but there’s plenty of light-heartedness and banter to balance it out. I was strongly reminded of the videogame, Dead Space for some sequences. It never marinates in the horror, though, and there’s plenty of fun adventure to be had. The plot took turns I didn’t expect, especially around the mid-section of the book, which became more like a detective story. The ending was odd, and parts of it felt a tad rushed. I’m not sure how satisfied I am with it. It made sense, but it was certainly unexpected.

The worldbuilding and history of the Continuance was great. I loved the whole concept of the Benevolence, and the way humanity came to wander the galaxy in the arks was very interesting. I liked how Gareth managed to give us a high-tech, futuristic space opera with all the crazy far-off tech we’d expect, while setting it in the relatively near future. Only seventy-five years? In any other setting it would seem implausible, but for the intervention of the Benevolence. Cleverly managed worldbuilding. The arks themselves were a real treat, with each one we visit in the story being vastly different from the other. Gareth is great at writing sentient starships and giving them each unique personalities. I loved the hammerhead shark envoy!

Characters—what can I say? They were excellent. I would’ve liked to have seen more development with Li in particular, but overall, the whole cast is just as engaging as in Gareth’s other work. The talking cat was a great addition, especially the way he was always underestimated. Eryn and the Ocelot make a great team. I do feel like some of the character deaths could have done with a bit more weight, though.

Overall I very much enjoyed my first dip into the universe of the Continuance. I’ll absolutely be checking out Descendant Machine, another standalone story set within this fascinating backdrop of a wandering humanity.