Tim Pratt

Philip K. Dick Award Finalist: A ragtag space crew discovers alien technology that could change the fate of humanity—or awaken an ancient evil that could destroy all life in the galaxy The shady crew of the White Raven run freight and salvage at the fringes of our solar system. They discover the wreck of a centuries-old exploration vessel floating light years away from its intended destination and revive its sole occupant, who wakes with news of First Alien Contact. When the crew informs her that humanity has alien allies already, she reveals that these are very different extra-terrestrials—and the gifts they bestowed on her could kill all humanity, or take it out to the most distant stars. “Ridiculously fun with a well-thought-out space opera setting and lots of fancy reveals.” —Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky “Through his wit, dialogue, and vast, diverse world, Tim Pratt has created a space opera for today—one filled with diverse characters and cultures that feel nuanced enough to be real—while still delivering the sense of wonder that made you love the genre in the first place.” —Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

The Wrong Stars

Darice de Cuba

My third space opera book after The Wayfarer series. It is set in a more recent and darker future than the Wayfarers timeline. It takes place centuries after climate change (although not stated implicitly) has damaged Earth considerably before it bounced back.

For a sci-fi newbie like me, it was easy to follow. Not hardcore sci-fi but a bit more than Wayfarers. I especially liked that the captain is a woman and the human characters are more advanced. Gender, sexism, and sexuality aren't an issue. 

Plotwise, the White Raven ship with Captain Callie Machedo at the helm find themselves in the middle of a galaxy genocide conspiracy after scavenging a centuries-old wreck with one human, Elena, aboard. Thus starts the fast-paced story that kept me reading non-stop.

Janice Hopper

A decent space opera with mysterious aliens, a conspiracy of silence, metal brain crabs, and mysterious FTL travel. And a little bit of pirates.

Writing was pleasant, with some little shout-outs to SF fans here and there. There was a romance that I found a bit intrusive and annoying, seeming like it was shoved in so the author could have a romance and romantic tension. It seemed to me it just got in the way of the story. But I'm a notoriously unromantic person, so YMMV.

It was fine.

The shady crew of the White Raven run freight and salvage at the fringes of our solar system. They discover the wreck of a centuries-old exploration vessel floating light years away from its intended destination and revive its sole occupant, who wakes with news of First Alien Contact. When the crew break it to her that humanity has alien allies already, she reveals that these are very different extra-terrestrials… and the gifts they bestowed on her could kill all humanity, or take it out to the most distant stars. File Under: Science Fiction

Bryan Alexander

The Wrong Stars is an entertaining space opera. It's based on a small group of heroes who travel through space, discover great secrets, battle overpowered foes, and crack wise.

At first I enjoyed the book. I'm a lifelong space opera fan, and Pratt delivered the goods: interplanetary intrigue, human evolution, aliens, robots, and spaceships. I liked the idea of the Liars, an alien species.

Yet as I raced further in things got... lighter, sillier, less plausible. Yes, the novel kept going with plot devices and interesting reveals. But there was little there there. Few ideas were on the table. A big galactic thing, (view spoiler)[the might and mystery of the Axiom (hide spoiler)], became flimsy as (view spoiler)[their vaunted power was easily hacked, defanged, and avoided (hide spoiler)]. Some interesting social and emotional points fell away, like one character's temporal dislocation and the build up of trauma for other folks. Ah, I realized: this is a romp, a confection for folks who lament that nobody actually watched Firefly.

About this time I realized that there's actually little prose in the text. Most of the thing is dialog. On the plus side there's some fun repartee, with a Warren Ellis flavor. It would make for a good radio play or podcast. On the negative, we don't see much of the world. Most objects get quick, perfunctory descriptions. The prose doesn't attempt any stylistic effects, say along the lines of Delaney or LeGuin. There isn't even any transformed language, an sf staple.

My reading slid from racing along to wading. The worldbuilding began to irk me. For taking place centuries from now, the universe hadn't changed much. Characters fire guns (a fact lampshaded by one character) and use flashbang grenades, both currently used today and with some historical pedigrees. In one scene a character shouts to another to watch her 10 o'clock (269); would analog timepiece language really last that long? Prosthetics are the kinds we're exploring now. Aliens are in the mix, and they have some magic gifts which the book doesn't really explain, not even with a "we can't show you the math" handwave. So it's popcorn.

I did enjoy some of the dialog, which is more sarcastic than revelatory. “Drake always thinks the glass is half full. Me, I think the glass is half full of poison." (p. 160). 

“Sorry. Ashok is composed largely of enthusiasm.” 
“I like him. He must be good for morale.” 
“Insofar as he gives the rest of us a single person to focus our annoyance on, he absolutely is.” (p. 153).  
Some readers may appreciate the book's progressive politics, which are inclined towards gender, sex, and race. Most of the leading characters are women. There are some trans and gender fluid folks. Some are dark skinned. There are bad people who enslaved other beings. Alas, too typical for today's American liberals, there isn't really anything on class or economic injustice.

Sigh. I want more from my sf now. I have less and less patience for fluffy popcorn. Please, someone, commend me to some excellent and recent space opera that repays the reading!

Robert Leubner

The crew of the White Raven returns to save the galaxy, in this brilliant space opera sequel to The Wrong Stars Ancient aliens, the Axiom, will kill us all - when they wake up. In deep space, a swarm of nanoparticles threatens the colonies, transforming everything it meets into computronium - including the colonists. The crew of the White Raven investigate, and discover an Axiom facility filled with aliens hibernating while their minds roam a vast virtual reality. Sebastien wakes up, claiming his altered brain architecture can help the crew deactivate the swarm - from inside the Axiom simulation. To protect humanity, Callie must trust him, but if Sebastien still plans to dominate the universe using Axiom tech, they could be in a whole lot of trouble... File Under: Science Fiction

The Wrong Stars

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