It was the cover of this one that caught my eye – and the interesting premise which seemed to promise a new twist to the classic trope of a nasty alien thing brought aboard and causing havoc… I’m also linking this review to @SciFiMonth2019.
BLURB: Far from Earth, the AI-guided vessel Alchemon discovers a bizarre creature whose malignant powers are amplified by the presence of LeaMarsa de Host, a gifted but troubled Psionic. The ship is soon caught in a maelstrom of psychic turbulence that drives one crewmember insane and frees the creature from its secure containment. Now Captain Ericho Solorzano and the survivors must fight for their lives against a shrewd enemy that not only can attack them physically, emotionally and intellectually, but which seeks control of their sentient ship as a prelude to a murderous assault on the human species.
Indeed, if this type of adventure lights your fuses, then this offering comes highly recommended. The story is as cosily familiar as a cup of evening cocoa – a highly talented, but disruptive member of the crew that either clashes or attracts that fascinating-but-lethal thingy which has been brought aboard for further research, despite the foreboding of senior crew members.
The story was a bit slow to get going, as Hinz writes on the harder side of the sci fi spectrum, so there is a fair bit of tech stuff to get through. It seemed enjoyably plausible, though I did find, in common with many books within this sub-genre, that the characterisation suffered. So no one is written in much depth and as a consequence, I didn’t really care all that much for anyone. However, as the stakes went on rising, that became beside the point, anyhow as there were deaths amongst the crew that took me by surprise.
The pace certainly picked up as the story wore on and by the final quarter, it became difficult to put down as I was keen to discover how this one was going to end. I really couldn’t predict exactly which way this one was going. Hinz’s experience showed in his deft handling of the denouement – the snag with raising the stakes, is that the payoff needs to be sufficiently satisfying so that the conclusion doesn’t fall flat. It didn’t.
All in all, this was a classic sci fi alien encounter with plenty going on, and if lacked something in originality and character depth, it made up for it in the steadily rising tension and successful ending. Recommended for those who enjoy their sci fi from the golden era. The ebook arc copy of Starship Alchemon was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
7/10
I have to admit I’m not a fan of the cover at all, which may be why I’ve never heard of this book. But it sounds like it was a pretty solid read😁
No, I’m not all that keen on the cover, either. It’s only just come out and yes… it was a solid read.
I’m okay with not really caring about the characters all that much if the action keeps the story moving forward. I’m trying to figure out how the cover connects with the story.
The story does move forward – but it is on the hard sci fi side, so there is quite a lot of tech stuff in there.
I’ll second Tammy’s comment about the strangely bare cover, but this sounds like a good story, even though the characterization seems on the light side… Thanks for sharing! 🙂
You’re welcome, Maddalean:) I think it is supposed to be a depiction of a spaceship upside down and right way up, with the alien thingy in the middle… I think!
Mmm, I don’t think this one would be for me to be honest. I don’t read a lot of sci-fi and some of it really struggles to work it’s magic on me so I tend to be a bit cautious with some stories.
Lynn 😀
This one is definitely for the keenest of fans, Lynn.
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Hmmm. This is such a tough line, isn’t it? Like, the escape into another world, another kind of life, is so enticing to explain in depth. But it’s hard to truly love that world when we’re not properly connected to the people who live in it.
And that was my problem with this one – I didn’t feel particularly connected with any of the main characters. I know the protagonist was supposed to be difficult to like – but I’m a really old-fashioned reader… I NEED to care to want to go on turning the pages. As it happens, I wasn’t tempted to DNF this one, because it’s space opera and I really wanted to discover what would happen next. But it had been a contemporary thriller – I would have tossed it.