It’s Michelle Campion’s first mission, accompanying a transport ship to the colony planet Bloodroot. She’ll be asleep for most of it, and the ship’s AI will take care of everything. She’s there just in case something goes wrong, even though AI’s never fail… Yet when she awakes ten years later, the AI is down and some of her passengers are missing.

Far From the Light of Heaven is a fantastic addition to the something bad happened while we were in statis sub-genre. At its core is a murder mystery, with thirty-one passengers dead while everyone was asleep and the ship’s AI out of action. She discovers the gory remains of some of them, unsure if the killer is still onboard.

Is Ragtime itself the killer? If personhood can be contemplated, why not malfunctioning personhood? Humans have killed each other from the start. Uncomfortable thought, though. A murdership reduces the probability of survival considerably.

When Shell calls down to Bloodroot for support, they send up Rasheed Fin, a repatriator currently on suspension. He doesn’t do space but it’s his chance to get his job back after a past mission went bad. His job is one unique to Bloodroot, and the context is revealed throughout the story.

Across the vastness of space, the Lagos space station gets wind that the Ragtime hasn’t reported its arrival at Bloodroot. An old family friend sets off to assist Shell, with his daughter in tow, together with Fin’s Artificial assistant, this makes up the investigative team on the Ragtime. Soon even more things start to go wrong, and they are in a race against time to save themselves, and the hundreds of souls still asleep in their pods.

It was nice to see a colony planet that has decided to learn from Earth’s mistakes, especially in contrast to the backstory which involves a quintillionaire in space and the human exploitation that got him there. Even now, the technology we have all come to rely on is sourced from precious metals mined from the Earth in countries with poor human rights records. What if those elements were so toxic that your job was a death sentence and exile all rolled into one?

I liked that this wasn’t a too far-fetched vision of space travel. It takes ten years for the Ragtime to reach Bloodroot form Earth, and Shell can’t just leap out of stasis without ill effects. Space is an ever present deadly spectre, if you don’t fix things quick, you die.

I guess murders in space are kind of a trend right now, but this one’s definitely worth adding to your TBR. And yes the wolf on the cover is relevant.

've been trying to read more SF, so I was happy to get my hands on a copy of Far From the Light of Heaven, especially as the premise of it sounded interesting. Unfortunately, for me the book didn't quite stick the landing, of which more later.

The main character is Shell, daughter of an astronaut who leaves NASA and signs on to be co-pilot to an AI in order to log some space hours. This is a mission taking people out into deep space, with the use of cryo-sleep for both Shell and the passengers, but when Shell wakes up orbiting a planet that's on the way, she makes a grisly discovery. A number of the passengers have been murdered and the AI which is in charge of the ship has been stripped of its personality, so she's forced to take over as captain after all. An investigator is sent up from the planet, especially as one of the victims appears to be a disgraced billionaire who's responsible for much of the technology that runs the ship.

So far, so good. Shell herself was a bit two-dimensional as a character but the writer did a better job with the investigator (Fin) and his AI sidekick, but for me things began to unravel as what had actually happened began to be revealed and other characters started arriving or emerging. Some stylistic issues for me too, which meant the plot jumped at times and I just wasn't quite as engaged with it in the last third of the book. Then it did the thing I hate most, perhaps in preparation for a possible sequel(?), in that it just seemed to stop and I'm suddenly reading the author's notes with a minor feeling of whiplash.

Anyway, enjoyable enough for most of the book, so I'm happy to have read it, if a little disappointed it didn't quite work for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

I'm very picky about the sci-fi I read. My reading percentage for the year is currently 80% fantasy and 6% sci-fi. But my sci-fi average rating is a bit higher because I am so picky about what I read that I usually pick books that align closer to my tastes.

What drew me to FAR FROM THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN was the mystery in a current-technology-a-little-projected world. There's a way to travel long distances faster than simply using engines and an effective long term sleep-state, but that's pretty much the only tech we don't have. Everything else is just an enhancement of existing tech.

As a physicist by day, I like my sci-fi generally to be quite scientifically rigourous, with clear, consistency in where the laws have been altered. I like to have the rules I know well to be followed (I am notorious for yelling "but gravity!" when watching movies) and for there to be a solid framework the story works in so there isn't a deus ex machina of tech. Plus, there's so much potential for danger in actual space that you can up the tension so easily by simply letting gravity or pressure differentials exist.

Personally, I think anything set on a spaceship that's got a killer onboard and/or is malfunctioning intrinsically has a dash of horror. It's that knowledge that space <em>is</em> out to kill you, and the killer could easily help it along by damaging the ship. Loss of pressure. Malfunctioning equipment leading to suffocation or dehydration. Meteor strike. The tension of knowing something is probably going to happen to make survival physically tough and distract - but not knowing what.

FAR FROM THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN uses that certain uncertainty about structural and operational functionality to great affect. It really helps to ratchet up the tension by causing another threat to life and distracting the characters from the mystery - thus making you fear they will get away with it.

As for a mystery, space is the perfect lock-in for murder because there's no way for the murderer to get off. So you know there's somewhere - but not who or why. And the lack of anyone else around makes it hard to work those out - which are the key to working it out.

This was my first Tade Thompson book, and I'll certainly be checking more out!

Shell Campion is the first mate on the starship Ragtime, and she expects an easy ride; she’ll be in deep sleep for most of her ten-year stint travelling to the new settlement of Bloodroot, and even when she’s awake, the AI captain will actually be in charge. However, when Shell is awakened abruptly from stasis, she realises something has gone terribly wrong; the AI has been compromised, and robots have killed a number of her sleeping passengers. Shell’s story intersects with that of a number of other characters, most hailing either from Bloodroot or from the space station Lagos, as she tries to find out what is going on and save her ship.

This gripping space-opera-cum-crime-thriller reminded me at times of James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes, especially in its touches of horror as vegetable contagion creeps through the spaceship, and in its use of multiple points-of-view. There’s also some hints of China Miéville in Tade Thompson’s genre-mixing. I found Far From The Light of Heaven more compelling than the only other novel I’ve read by Thompson, Rosewater, which failed to emotionally engage me with its protagonist. Nevertheless, it does still have a few of the same issues as Rosewater – in short, it sometimes spreads itself too thin. Thompson has a habit of suddenly lurching into chunks of backstory in the middle of the narrative, which feel out of place, especially in a novel as fast-paced as this one, and could have been introduced more originally. There are rather too many points-of-view broken up into very small chunks, which adds to the reader’s disorientation. And while this isn’t billed as the first book in a series, it feels very much like it’s setting up for something bigger, especially in its introduction of the race of mysterious Lambers, which is wonderfully imaginative but feels like a distraction from the main goings-on in this book. Nevertheless, Thompson continues to impress me with his originality, and I’d certainly like to read more set in this world. 3.5 stars.

I have broadly enjoyed this book. It's billed as a murder mystery in space, but viewed as such, it disappoints. The author informs us in the afterword that it's most definitely not a space opera, but viewed as such, it actually delights.

Shell Campion is on her first interstellar voyage as first mate. This is supposed to be a sinecure, for all interstellar ships are piloted by advanced AI, and these never fail. Of course, things don't quite go as expected.

The plot is intricate and moves briskly, but it ends with a whimper rather than a bang. At times, it feels like the author throws in too many concepts and ideas, and by the end, there are quite a few loose threads. Perhaps it's all setup for a sequel, which I would personally welcome.

The characters are great. Shell, Fin, and Lawrence (Action Governor!) are multifaceted and have interesting backgrounds. Joké is absolutely delightful. The story is told using POVs, which is unfortunate, because some chapters introduce single-use characters just to advance the plot.

I'm glad I read this, and will now look forward to reading more of Tade Thompson's work.

This is an exciting and compelling twist on the murder mystery story. Set in space, most of the action takes place on a passenger space craft. Original and clever with memorable character,s this is a brilliant, sometimes gory, sci-fi novel. I look forward to reading more from this author.

If you need a book to get your heart thumping, grab a copy of "Far from the Light of Heaven". It's been described as a "locked room murder mystery in space", but it is so much more than that. There are definite horror elements, and probably isn't for the squeamish! I thought this was absolutely brilliant and I loved it. Tade Thompson is definitely someone to watch out for.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

The synopsis of a murder mystery in space from the author of The Murders of Molly Southbourne, which I adored, grabbed my attention and got me excited. Unfortunately, the experience of reading didn’t live up to the hype. The world building is inventive and thoughtful. The issue I had was with emotional investment. The characters are not well fleshed out and remain fairly one dimensional throughout the story. Getting invested in their individual journeys or dynamics with other characters was a struggle as nothing about the way they were written (aside from maybe Shell) was all that intriguing. The ending was also quite abrupt and felt unfinished.

I’d definitely read more from Tade Thompson due to my love of some of his other work but Far from the Light of Heaven was not an engaging piece of work for me personally.

Summary: Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson is a locked room murder mystery on a failing ship in an Africanfuturist setting. Strong characters, compelling mysteries and a breakneck plot make this book one to look out for.

Recommended for fans of tense character focused action
Not recommended if you’re looking for an expansive space opera
Recommended for fans of mystery box shows like Lost
Recommended even if you weren’t a fan of Rosewater
A crippled ai and thirty dead passengers on a colony ship in orbit around a planet with minimal resources pose a serious issue for First Mate Shell Campion, the only living crew on the Ragtime. Fin, an investigator from the aforementioned planet, along with an android companion are sent up from the aforementioned to figure out what’s going on before they collect the remaining sleeping passengers. They are later joined by an unexpected figure from Shell’s past. Together they must figure out what’s going on, and how to stop it, before the ship falls apart and potentially dooms all the passengers, including them.

What struck me immediately about this book was how compelling the characters are. Specifically the two leads, Fin and Shell (although most other characters get their due). Shell is fresh out of training, on an assignment that was supposed to be routine but was anything but. It was always her dream to go to space, and she handles ever situation with an astronaut’s stoacism, despite the weirdness that starts to occur. Fin is unstable, sent on the mission because he’s expendable – pulled off a suspension now a year long after a traumatic event that has clearly rattled him. Despite that he’s good at what he does, even if he’s possibly more paranoid than he should be. Both of them butt heads as Shell is trying to focus on keeping the ship in orbit, whilst Fin is fixated on what seems to be the murder of thirty passengers, refusing to remove Shell from suspicion.

And I think the comparison to Lost here (at least the earlier seasons) is warranted – this tension between mystery and survival is palpable, and the mystery elements themselves are bizzare until explained. Instead of a Polar bear on a tropical island, we have a wolf on a spaceship. The ai of the ship is suspiciously non-functional in different subtle ways, and the robots supposed to perform routine operations on the ship are now murderous. Coupled with the fact that spaceships are just dangerous to be in, it makes for a claustrophobic and suspenseful setting. I’ll talk more about the resolution to the mysteries (spoiler free) in a couple of paragraphs.

The wider setting is pretty interesting too, with lots of little details that make me want to see more from the world. There are multidimensional aliens, for example. Certain events at the end of the novel create a situation that would be fascinating to see a story (or series of stories) in too.

The pacing hits like a freight train. Problem after problem are thrown at the ragtag crew of the Ragtime, and boy did it keep me hooked. There are enough quieter moments, and quick flashbacks that keep things from getting exhausting.

When we do finally get some answers to the mysteries, they are satisfying enough, although somewhat clumsily delivered through a couple of extended flashback sequences that didn’t quite manage to get me invested in the situation involved. It’s not a Lost level of mystery bungling, but I felt like it could be better. There’s a bit of loss of momentum in the last section that felt a little jarring too, after coming off so much pace. The resolution of the character arcs were pretty good though, so I’m mixed on the ending.

While it stumbled a little towards the end, For From the Light of Heaven more than makes up for it in the first two acts, delivering a fantastic setting, great characters, and a plot that keeps you coming back for more. I recommend this book to any sci-fi fan, even those who might have bounced of Thompson’s Wormwood trilogy as I did.

Rating: 8.75/10

This is a fantastic story and I really would like to know what happens but I just can't finish it, I'm afraid I'm going to have to DNF. I'm struggling with keeping up with where people are and who's doing what. I feel that it could be fixable with editing. I may pick it up again in the future and try again. I'm going to give it 3 stars but I feel it could be a 4, even a 5. I will be keeping an eye of Tade Thompson's work as I would like to read more.

I have loved Tade Thompson’s writing and the interesting things that happened in those books. This one also did not disappoint. Imagine you are finally a captain to a spaceship, you are already nervous about it but you have been reassured by the company because the main captain is really the AI and you would literally fly through without any worries. Yeah, we all know how that’s gonna go.

Michelle ‘Shell’ Campion is a young captain who’s going out to proper space for the maiden journey as a captain. Everything seemed to be routine as the journey actually begins however she’s suddenly woken up near the end of the journey and to her horror, she finds that there’s been a murder on board and the AI is no longer answering and has possibly been wiped off. The AI she does have is a vastly reduced version of the original. On the other side of the story is a colony planet (Bloodroot) of people who are not quite on par with Earth anymore on any level, not by ethics or morals but also as a community.

There’s tons of side characters that truly work so well but the detective and AI duo is the one I truly stan if I am being honest. His story is pretty haunting, I am not gonna lie. The characters including Shell serve the purpose of moving the story along and with little flashback moments, we get more and more context of each character and it’s so well done. I will say that this story is not character focused so I am not gonna talk a lot about the characters.

The story itself is like a space opera version of the locked room mystery and a little bit of the movie Passengers blended with Murders on the Rue Morgue? If I am referencing the things correctly. The pacing is great, the tension is so well built throughout that I couldn’t stop reading the book. The mystery part is so good, the tiny bots turning on the humans on the ship was such a good trope and so well used too! The way characters behave under pressure and how each one is differently built was so obvious and well done. The parts about realistic space travel and how human bodies will be reacting to such things is also another plus factor. Since Thompson is a medical doctor himself, he could really bring that out in this book.

Another thing that I liked along with the realistic space travel was the way author established the stressors worked in Shell’s case as far as space travel and a murder mystery with a real threat surrounding her happened. I loved the way he showed how a brilliant young person when faced with something for the first time in a completely out of the box scenario could react and how it could affect people in general. I think I really enjoyed that a lot more than I thought I did while I was reading.

Overall, if you like fast paced thrillers with space travel thrown in with quite a few themes being explored at the same time as the events are unfolding then this is the book for you. There is nothing I enjoy more than a satisfying read and how this one revealed the political as well as the murder mystery really worked for me.

Headlines:
Murder on board
AI...
Clever, intricate plot

Far From The Light of Heaven was a superb sci-fi thriller. It had early sinister feels and that sense pervaded the whole book. I was on tenterhooks throughout and I was so glad this was encapsuated in a standalone.

The story revolves around a locked room murder and takes some inspiration from Poe (read the very informative afterword when you're done). Shell Campion, the captain in name only, had to really step up to the plate in this story. She was a formidable character, one I respected and admired. This becomes a small cast of characters over time and I particularly loved Francis, Salvo and Larry. Dare I say, I spent a lot of time pinning hopes on Ragtime.

The plot was complex but not too complex, with clever intricacies that I really appreciated. My friend and I buddy read this and we agreed that if there were moments of confusion, it did get ironed out. This perspective of a further earth and future human race alongside other species and synthetic beings was engaging, belieavable and entertaining. I appreciated Thompson's ability to represent an Afro-culture space-side; it was tangible.

How the plot culminated, the person behind the events was mind-blowing, unexpected and excellent. Again, I'm going to say that I loved Francis, the cover and that element however side plot it was. Here, I also want to mention a little TW for bugs, if like me you are particularly grossed out by bugs (it was one section and not prolonged).

I need to now retreat and try Tade Thompson's other series as I'm fascinated by his writing and any world he can create.

"Do not come to heaven, mortals, says God, and tries without success to kick them back to the surface of the plant."

Thank you to Orbit Books for the early review copy.

Michelle Campion is off on what should be a milk-run, accompanying a thousand-odd passengers to the colony Bloodroot. All will be in Dreamstate, with the ship's AI, Ragtime, piloting. This has never, in the history of spaceflight, gone wrong. Immediate cue of expected disaster and, of course, before we get to the end of the first chapter, so it goes.

Shell wakes up to find more than 30 people murdered, bodies eviscerated, and a possible wolf on the loose. This last impossibility makes her doubt her sanity, but she follows procedure and issues a mayday to Bloodroot. Disgraced (and therefore expendable) investigator Fin, and his AI, Salvo, arrive to assess the situation, which deteriorates even further. They are joined at a later stage by Lagos's governor, Lawrence, who was a friend of Shell's father, and his half-human daughter, Joké.

I have to say, I had an inkling of part of the solution from the outset, but like all good detective authors, Thompson takes your assumptions and turn them on their heads, so unravelling all the layers of the mystery was great fun. Not only was the locked-room murder mystery element very satisfying, but Thompson's nascent colony politics, and the economics practised by the elite back on Earth, were very well drawn, and a good warning to us as we watch our super-rich put shuttles into space. His language was, as usual, straightforward, with no embellishments, yet still never dull or lacklustre. The male characters suffer somewhat from this simplicity, but Shell is a character we can identify with - we've all had that job where we want to impress.

Whilst Far from the light of heaven is technically a simpler book than any of the Rosewater trilogy, it has many important things to say, not least about what we are doing to our planet and its people, and the chances that we will repeat those mistakes once we routinely go into space. And while it is not quite a fully-fledged space opera, this book is about humanity's in-between toe-holds in space - the near future when we will begin to populate far-away planets, and how fragile the beginnings of these lonely colonies must perforce be. Far from the light of heaven is, like all good sci-fi, saying important things, wrapped up in a damn good story.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, Tade Thompson is a treasure, looking forward to the next installment!

This was an absolute page-turner.

Tade Thompson's writing is so descriptive that you'll find yourself unable to forget this for a very long time. This is a very thrilling mystery that kept me at the edge of my seat while I was reading it. I was arrested by the book, unable to put it down. You should definitely read it.

My review is also available on my gooodreads, 'yaalni, professional reader and crier':

A murder in a spaceship while everyone is asleep in cyro. Very enjoyable but through the lens of the sci-fi, the actual crime mystery often ends up taking a back seat - which I found worked very well.

A couple of really interested concepts and I’d be quite interested in reading more around the Lamber (especially following that bit at the airlock!)

Really well paced, characters are fleshed out nicely and there is enough in the world building to pique my interest.

This is standalone book, at least nothing on the cover or in the blurbs suggests more but if Tade Thompson were to revisit this universe, I’d be quite happily onboard

He disfrutado inmensamente de la lectura de esta obra de Tade Thompson, que toca todos mis puntos débiles. ¿Misterio en habitación cerrada?, ¿en el espacio?, ¿especies alienígenas?, ¿conspiraciones?, ¿robots? Póngame dos de todo, por favor.


La novela comienza muy en la línea de Six Wakes de Mur Lafferty (otra obra hiper recomendable), con la humana «supervisora» de una nave colonizadora despertándose en espera del final de un viaje plácido y encontrándose un IA desmadrada, una cuarentena y varios huecos en las cápsulas donde viajaban los pasajeros colonizadores. Nada bueno para una astronauta primeriza hija de una leyenda de los viajes espaciales.

Se hace necesario por tanto la presencia de un investigador de la colonia y su compañero artificial, para intentar esclarecer los hechos y conseguir que aterrice la nave, cuyos recursos y personal se esperan con impaciencia en la colonia.

La situación de partida es irresistible, pero es que además el autor consigue barajar estos y otros elementos para dar lugar a una obra tremendamente original y absorbente. Si habéis leído alguna de sus obras anteriores, como Rosewater, sabréis que Thompson es un autor de ideas capaz de combinar temas muy variopintos de forma homogénea. Pues en Far from the Light of Heaven sigue esa tendencia e incluso me atrevería a decir que la supera. Ya sabíamos que su prosa se bebe como el agua, pero en esta ocasión también añade muchas referencias a la vida en el espacio integradas de forma casi orgánica en la trama, consiguiendo que esté leyendo gran parte de su labor de documentación sin darte cuenta.

Los personajes están tratados de una forma muy humana, pero además, aprovechando las diferencias de clases, Thompson nos da una lección sobre desigualdad social y sus consecuencias, un Eat the rich en todo regla que complementa perfectamente el mensaje del libro.

¿Os he comentado lo del toquecillo gore de hacer puzles con miembros humanos? ¿O la posibilidad de abordajes en el espacio? ¿Y qué os parecería la creación y utilización de animales robóticos ultra avanzados para que sean guardaespaldas?

Creo que el entusiasmo que me ha provocado esta lectura ha quedado claro en la reseña, pero por si teníais alguna duda, echadle el guante en cuanto podáis, que no os arrepentiréis.

Tade Thompson burst onto the science fiction scene with his eye-opening Wormwood trilogy (Rosewater, The Rosewater Insurrection and The Rosewater Redemption). Those books, which involved slow and weird alien invasion, showed a deft capacity to juggle high concept, character development and page-turning action. Thompson latest book Far from the Light of Heaven, feels on its opening to be a little more down the line, but not long into the narrative, readers will find the same unique perspective and story telling style that made the Wormwood books so engaging.
Michelle ‘Shell’ Campion is preparing to be first mate aboard the colony ship Ragtime, with 1000 colonists heading to the planet Bloodroot. Everything she does is backup as the whole voyage will be run by a sophisticated artificial intelligence. Only when she is awoken on arrival at Bloodroot she finds the artificial intelligence in backup mode and thirty-one of her passengers dead and dismembered. The Bloodroot authorities send Rasheed Fin, an investigator, and his robot assistant Salvo, to determine what the issue is. They find Shell barely holding things together as the danger mounts, including a swarm murderous robots. The three are soon joined by Lawrence Biz, governor of Lagos, the nearest space station and friend of Shell’s father, and his part alien daughter Joké. And then the situation really deteriorates.
Far from the Light of Heaven is for most of its length a locked room mystery. Shell and her companions are trying to solve the mystery of the dead crew and rogue AI while also trying to stay alive. This aspect of the book is full of the weird happenings, organic horror and character beats that characterise much of Thompson’s work. A lengthy exposition unravels the mystery but then sets up the even more action-oriented final third of the book. Around this plot is the wider political situation being played out on Bloodroot and the waystation Lagos, and the broader mystery of the alien Lambers.
Despite all of the dirty corporate dealings revealed, Thompson’s interstellar future, at least when the book opens, is fairly utopian. While it does not quite get to that point in this book, Thompson explores the impact of ongoing Earth-based conflicts being exported to those other, still peaceful systems. While this feels like a standalone novel, there is plenty of room to explore the repercussions of the events of this book.
Tade Thompson’s Wormwood trilogy was a calling card for unique, African-inspired science fiction. In Far from the Light of Heaven he takes some of his own tropes and ideas and projects them into a different milieu, one no less well imagined and researched. He debates in an Afterword as to whether this is space opera, and concludes that “current wisdom is that the book isn’t space opera”. Which is probably true, and may even be important for those looking for labels, otherwise the question is irrelevant. What it is in another unique, mind-expanding, piece of science fiction and that should be enough for any fan of the wider genre.

Shell is the captain of a colony ship, when she wakes from dreamstate she finds that a number of passengers have been murdered. A space locked room mystery inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s Murders on the Rue Morgue. Really enjoyed this, it has a good plot, tension and characters that are easy to like. It was also nice to have positive alien representation. I’ve not read Thompsons other works but I am eager to give them a try having enjoyed this one.

Received ARC for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley & Little Brown Book Group

A sci-fi thriller about a murder aboard a space vessel! Interestingly, this was quite different from what I was expecting…

This story follows Captain Michelle Campion of the space vessel Bloodroot, who is piloting a vessel to a distant colony. But when she wakes up, she finds a bunch of her crew members murdered, a haywire AI, and a mysterious wolf which she thinks she may be hallucinating! To top it all off, detective Rasheed Finn has been sent in tow with his own AI to figure out exactly what happened…

I didn't have too high a expectations- mainly because these enclosed spaces who-dun-nits have been a hit or miss for me in the past. However, seeing as this is set in space, I was quite literally on board with where this book would take me.
It definitely starts off strong. We jump POVs between a whole cast of characters- from Captain Shell, to detective Finn and even some characters back at the space station which has lost communication with our floating murder ship. In spite of this, we get a lot of information about the world this story is set in. There are aliens known as Lambers, AI's are very common, humans have spread in and around space, creating colonies on distant moons, and all is well. The world-building was by far my favourite part of this book- it's so unique and interesting, and I just wanted to know more and be immersed into it.

I liked the characters well enough. There was sufficient background and flashbacks to make them more real and fleshed out, but ultimately, there wasn't any main characters that really stuck out to me. They all had individual qualities that I appreciated, but ultimately they fell a little flat. I wanted more from Captain Shell, but it was Finn who had a really intriguing past that had me hooked at the start of the story. This quickly fell flat after new guests arrive on board. I won't say too much, since the plot twist is pretty damn cool, but lets just say the villain was my favourite in the whole book!

The writing was great. This was my first book by Tade Thompson, and I'm 100% sure I'll be reading more by him! The prose was beautiful and the plot was quite fast-paced too. It made for a pretty quick read, and by the end I was pretty satisfied with how all the threads came together.

The author himself said he didn't want to write a classic 'space-opera', but more of a character-driven sci-fi thriller. I definitely got that while reading this, so the author really got that message across well! Overall, this was an enjoyable read with a lot of interesting elements and a very unique plot-twist. I would recommend this if you're looking for a thriller set in space that includes a compelling cast of characters!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-arc for an honest review!

I like the setting and the universe created for this book, but I’m not sure it quite pulls its weight as a murder mystery. If you’re coming at it as a crime aficionado you may be disappointed. Space opera fans will get a lot out of it (despite the author’s claim in the afterword!), however. There’s plenty of spaceship action, an interesting and unusual alien race, plus a nicely ambiguous ending.
A complete change of pace and scene from the Rosewater books, but maintaining their quality.