Teaser

The generation ship Voyager has travelled far from Earth, governed by a strict charter. Yet in the last few months of its journey, simmering tensions will finally boil over, threatening to end the voyage in disaster . . .

Review

I still remember the day I first encountered Michael Mammay’s books. I found Planetside in a local bookshop and, being a military SF fan, all but inhaled it. It was so good, in fact, that I wanted to tell everyone about it. When I couldn’t find anyone, I started this blog instead. And just look at me now.

Having established himself as a reliable source of military SF, Mammay’s fifth novel is something of a departure. The closest we get yo the military in Generation Ship is SecFor, the police and security service. The rest of the book is populated with hackers, politicians, scientists, and farmers. As you can imagine, the scope is far broader than previous books. Mammay delivers not just one perspective, but captures the riotous final stages of a journey that affects thousands. All these conflicting characters have their own arc, their own motivation and drive, and they all feel very real. A personal highlight for me was one character (I shan’t name for fear of spoilers) appearing to have a heroic arc, only to slide into more villainous territory as the novel progresses.

This broad scope does come at a price, however. The skipping between characters means we get a slightly disjointed view of thir individual narratives. This is aggravated by the long time span of the book. Chapters are helpfully timestamped, but days or even weeks go past in between. Major events are skipped over in favour of dealing with the fallout of said events.

There is also some highly spoilerific material in the latter stages, when the tone of the book changes dramatically. This involves the ship’s eventual destination, and while I found the buildup incredible, but the big reveal left me underwhelmed. Especially when compared to the human drama unfolding elsewhere.

Generation Ship is Mammay’s most ambitious novel to date, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that it hits a few roadblocks along the way. When it’s firing in all cylinders, however, Mammay captures the strife and intrigue of a society under pressure like few others.

3.5/5 STARS

I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks go to the author and publisher.