Teaser

On a remote world, humans and aliens live in fragile harmony. But the sins of the past are not so easily forgiven. And a scientific research team is about to dredge up secrets best left forgotten . . .

Review

Star Trek. Star Wars. Warhammer 40,000. I read a lot of shared universe fiction. And that’s before we even consider the Dungeons and Dragons, Stargate, and Doctor Who stories of my youth. A shared universe is exactly what it sounds like. One universe, shared by numerous authors. Yet all of the ones I have mentioned have one thing in common. They exist to serve a product. Star Wars is , first and foremost, a movie franchise. Star Trek is a TV show, and Warhammer 40,000 is a wargame. The product came first, and the novels followed to promote it. This is not to denigrate the stories, but to frame them properly in a larger context.

Abaddon Books is a small press based in the UK with a history of creating their own shared universes. Pax Britannica was a steampunk world devised by Jonathan Green, but El Sombra was written by Al Ewing. Likewise, the Afterblight Chronicles and Twilight of Kerberos worlds were shared by multiple authors. Weird Space is a slight outlier, in that it appears to have only two authors, and one main narrative. Eric Brown wrote the first two, and was joined in the third by Una McCormack. McCormack then write the fourth and final novel solo. McCormack is, of course, no stranger to shared universes, having written extensively for Star Trek and Doctor Who, so when I spotted this book, I knew I was in safe hands.

This will probably end up being a very vague review, because I read this book near the start of the month, and have had an incredibly hectic time since. Any attempt to talk about The Star of the Sea itself will do the book a disservice. On that front, I think all you need to know is that, while not McCormack’s best work, it’s an enjoyable read, and worth picking up if you like tropey space operas. Fans of The Expanse will find a lot here to enjoy.

Though I’m dodging conversation about the main plot, I will say that this is both a decent standalone, and a continuation of an existing story. This got me thinking about how shared universes work. The best part of having multiple authors is the possibility of multiple stories. I love how Star Wars can contain both the epic quests of Knights of the Old Republic and the gritty warfare of Andor. Warhammer 40,000 can contain straight military SF and urban crime stories. Star Trek can offer a change of genre every book, from political drama to moral fable to out-and-out comedy. Weird Space is less expansive than that. It has one story that, while it branches off into new characters with this instalment, is still quite tight in focus. There’s something to be said for tight storytelling, but in a series written by multiple authors, I’d have liked to see more variety. Granted, I’m saying this having only read the final book in the universe, but I honestly think shared universes should be allowed to sprawl a little, if not a lot. There are some very interesting corners of the Weird Space universe, and I wish there were enough books to properly explore all of it.

That’s enough of a agent from me. For this instalment of Junk or Jewel, I have once again come to the conclusion that this book is neither, but one of the many books that land in-between.

Book Stats

• Weird Space #4
• Published in 2016
• 268 Pages