Stars and Bones

Starred review from November 15, 2021
Powell (the Embers of War trilogy) burnishes his reputation as a creative and literate space opera author in his Continuance series kickoff. A politician’s offhand joke triggers the launch of nuclear missiles, but, miraculously, none of them detonate. That’s thanks to an extraterrestrial being dubbed an angel, who has been monitoring life on Earth and who deactivates all weaponry after concluding that humanity’s recent scientific breakthrough in substrate space travel merits the survival of homo sapiens. But the angel also decides to spare the planet from humanity’s ravages, and exiles them to a massive fleet of giant spaceships. Seventy-five years later, the survivors are imperiled after the scout ship Couch Surfer explores a possible new home planet, awakening an invisible force that rips them to shreds. After the crew falls silent, a rescue mission, piloted by Eryn King, whose sister had been on Couch Surfer, investigates, only increasing the risk to the flotilla. Powell balances plot, action, and character development perfectly. This promising start will especially appeal to James S.A. Corey fans.

February 1, 2022
The author of the Embers of War trilogy and the Ack-Ack Macaque series launches a new series set soon after humanity flees the planet Earth, setting sail through the stars on large ships known as arks. Each ark functions as a separate artificial world, with its own society, a self-contained segment of the human race. Each is looking for a new planet to call home. When a scout vessel encounters disaster on one candidate world, the sister of one of its crew members embarks on a rescue mission, accidentally unleashing a threat like nothing humanity has seen before. With a strong heroine, some really imaginative supporting characters (including a talking cat), and a story that packs a serious emotional wallop, the novel spotlights Powell's gifts for character-building and plotting. He's already won two best-novel awards from the British Science Fiction Association, and it wouldn't be surprising to see this one getting a nomination, too.

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