I found this book while scrolling through Threads (other social media platforms are available). It sounded like my sort of thing, with its mystery, sci-fi world, and the tantalising idea of sentient AI having a part to play.
As many of you will know, I’ve written about talking computers and artificial life, as well as the concept of humanity and emotions in non-human settings. So it seemed like a no-brainer to take a look.
I wasn’t disappointed in Between Stars. It’s an incredibly well-written novel that explores all sorts of subjects while wrapping itself in a sci-fi mystery.
Before we get to my thoughts,
Here’s the description,
She wakes with no name. No past. No memory of how she got here.
She is alone aboard a damaged spacecraft drifting through deep space. The crew is gone. No rescue is coming. Sealed sections of the ship hide secrets she cannot access, and the only voice in the silence is the ship’s AI — damaged, fragmented, and offering answers that raise more questions than they resolve.
To survive, she must think. Adapt. Solve. Repair what’s broken, unlock what’s sealed, and piece together the truth of what happened aboard this vessel — and to her.
But the deeper she goes, the more unsettling it becomes. The silence presses in. The gaps in her mind refuse to fill. And somewhere in the sealed dark of this ship, a truth is waiting that she was never meant to reach.
If your memory was gone and you woke as a stranger to yourself, would you still be you?
Adrift between stars, some truths are buried for a reason.
The book is available now.
My thoughts. No spoilers.
This is a powerful piece of writing.
When Elara wakes, she knows that she has a problem. She feels like she should be up to speed on where she is and what’s happening, but there are gaps in her knowledge. All she has to help her is ARLO, a damaged AI computer system. Everything is unfamiliar, she has to work out what’s going on, why she’s here and how she can get home. Oh, and where is everyone else?
But as she explores and discovers more, an uneasy feeling starts to invade the narrative. The atmosphere created is vibrant, the claustrophobia of the spaceship and the absence of anyone except a slightly dubious AI make it all very HAL and 2001.
IYKYK.
As Elara learns more, there are things that don’t appear to add up, but how much of the growing tension is down to Elara’s imagination? Or is there a more sinister explanation? There are answers, but as they are revealed, they certainly weren’t what I was expecting.
The worldbuilding is effortless. Everything is based around sound science and feels real.
Gradually, the full story emerges. We get twists and shocks in equal measure. There’s a brutal exploration of what it means to be human and the relationships between creators and the product of their labours. The story races along, with what has to be one of the best endings I’ve encountered in a long time.
The whole book made me stop and think. About humanity, about the benefits of ever more sentient AI and about what can go wrong, even with the best of intentions.
Is this the end of the story? I hope not. At the end, you get to choose one of four possible endings. I tried them all.
Each is plausible, and each leaves you wanting a sequel based on the unique way it ended the story.
If I have to choose a favourite, it’s the second one. I think that has the most potential for a series.
Whatever the author does next, I’d hate to think that this will be the last I’ll read about Elara or ARLO.
Highly recommended.
About the Author.
H.G. Dawson is a science fiction author fascinated by questions of identity, consciousness, and what makes us human.
He spent years writing novels that never left his computer. Fear has a way of keeping things at 90%. Not this time.
Between Stars is his debut novel, born from equal parts imagination and a stubborn refusal to let self-doubt win. Several more stories are already waiting in the wings.
He lives in a town in Northamptonshire with his wife, two boys, and a dog named Hugo, who has strong opinions about plot pacing and is sometimes the only one who listens.
The author has a website, where you can find out much more about him.
I am HG. I write stories that live somewhere between the stars and the human heart.
Science fiction is the setting.
People are the story.
Pull up a chair. Stay a while.
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