The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown – Review

Published: April 4, 2023

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Series: N/A

Genre: Science Fiction, Horror

Pages: 176 (Paperback)

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between Stars is a tense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror blend set aboard a doomed generation ship harboring something terrible within its walls.

As acting captain of the starship Calypso, Jacklyn Albright is responsible for keeping the last of humanity alive as they limp back to Earth from their forebears’ failed colony on a distant planet.

Faced with constant threats of starvation and destruction in the treacherous minefield of interstellar space, Jacklyn’s crew has reached their breaking point. As unrest begins to spread throughout the ship’s Wards, a new threat emerges, picking off crew members in grim, bloody fashion.

Jacklyn and her team must hunt down the ship’s unknown intruder if they have any hope of making it back to their solar system alive.

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Occasionally a novella will catch my eye on NetGalley, despite my preference for full length novels. The Scourge Between Stars is basically a bite sized delight of one of my favorite sci-fi plot devices – locked room horror onboard a spaceship.

Jacklyn Albright is the acting captain of the Calypso, a failed colony ship that has turned around in an attempt to return to Earth. The systems are failing due to an unknown destructive force they periodically encounter in deep space, and Jacklyn’s father, the captain, is refusing to leave his rooms. He doesn’t answer any of their communications, so she’s running things in his stead. When she begins to hear strange knocking on the hull and someone is eviscerated, it becomes clear that Jacklyn’s mother’s crazed ranting was actually true – something followed them from the planet they were on. What proceeds is a disturbing and gore-filled fight for survival against a super predator that stowed away on board the Calypso. 

This was a gripping read that I had to break up into two sittings because it was a bit too scary to read right before bed. While the people munching monsters were terrifying, I thought the AI in it’s little human form that Jacklyn had to deal with was far creepier. I kept assuming it was going to go full Chucky mode, but alas, the alien stowaways were the only enemies here. This was a solid novella that quickly set up some basic, interesting world building and nicely wrapped up the story.