https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/stars-and-bones-by-gareth-l-powell-brief-note/

Above average space opera with big sweeping changes to the nature of humanity. Let down by the ending where things work out a bit too easily and quickly. ( )

Having enjoyed Powell's "Embers of War" trilogy, I was looking forward to starting this new endeavor by the man. However, despite the interesting high concept, (self-destructive Humans get bailed out by galactic virtual gods, but find more trouble), I really wasn't getting a lot out of this story. What it boils down to is that the characters weren't all that compelling (at least to me) and the whole thing was turning out to be a slog. However, Powell has previously shown a knack for the cinematic, no-holds-barred, climax, and that ability hasn't left him in this story. I was left with enough positive feelings once finished that I'll at least read the next book. ( )

On the moment of the Earth’s destruction due to nuclear bombs, a scientist discovers wormhole travel that immediately causes an alien to stop the bombs and lead us to the stars while leaving Earth behind forever. Now more than seventy five years later humans are among the stars on over a thousands ships strong, using the technology given to us by the Angels of the Benevolence. Granted our second chance has us packed in huge ships with Ais to help us find a new place in the universe. One of the advance scout ships has gone missing and a rescue is going after them piloted by the sister of the other pilot. Candidate-623 is a barren world with some ruins of a past civilization, but things are not what they appear, and something attacks and kills the crew. The ship’s AI pilots a return to the fleet but brings the damage with them. Now Eryn needs to figure out what killed her sister and is trying to take over all the ships.
The founding of this next step in human culture is intermixed with the story of this alien contact trying to destroy the fleet. I’m surious to see more books in this setting since it really plays with what would happen if everyone’s needs were really met and different layers of society were flattened out.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
( )

Powell, Gareth L. Stars and bones. Stars and Bones No. 1. Titan, 2022.
In his Embers of War series, Gareth Powell provided an interesting twist to a military science fiction premise by featuring a sentient warship that has retired and is now doing search and rescue. At first, it seems as if his new Stars and Bones series will also involve deep space war, but in the end, I was more reminded of scary alien encounter stories like Dan Simmons’ Hyperion series or Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis than anything involving a lot of mundane laser fire. Here is the high-concept premise: When humans discover wormhole technology, they naturally decide to go to war with it, threatening to destroy the Earth. Some ancient aliens called angels have been watching over us; they decide to save it and us by moving our entire species to spacefaring arks they have scavenged the solar system to build. They send us out roaming the stars. As they say in the infomercials, but wait, there’s more. Another race of powerful aliens is also roaming the stars wiping out sentient life, leaving only stacks of bones behind. Then they start hitting the arks. Erin is the pilot of a scoutcraft run by an alien AI called Ocelot. When her sister is killed, the Angels let Erin know she and the Ocelot must confront the new menace. Characters are nicely drawn, and the dialogue is entertaining. Epic-scale space in the British manner. 4 stars. ( )

I received this novel from Titan Books through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review: my thanks to both of them for this opportunity.

Even if I had not already read - and greatly appreciated - Gareth Powell’s Embers of War trilogy, I would not have let this story pass me by: ark ships traveling into the unknown is one of my favorite themes, so there was no doubt I would enjoy the start of this new series. And I certainly did.

The core concept of Stars and Bones sees humanity embarked on a huge fleet of arks journeying away from Earth: seventy five years before the start of such journey, a very advanced race of powerful aliens understood we were going to destroy ourselves and our planet and therefore, to give Earth a chance to repair itself, mounted a massive exodus, relocating humans on these vast, customized arks that offered artificial environments and a comfortable home away from home. While the majority enjoys the good life aboard the arks, some more adventurous individuals forge ahead exploring the emptiness of space in search of a new planet, and it’s on the surface of Candidate-623 that tragedy strikes when the scout ship sent there to check out a mysterious distress call breaks contact with the fleet. Main character Eryn, whose sister was aboard the missing ship, goes to investigate with her own vessel, the Furious Ocelot, and what she finds is the kind of horrifying danger that might bring about the annihilation of the entire human race.

While it took me a little time to become fully invested in the story, once it launched into its core mystery and subsequent terrifying chain of events, I could not turn the pages fast enough because the threat Eryn and crew discover on Candidate-623 comes out of the same stuff nightmares are made of. The beginning of the novel needs of course to establish the background and - more importantly - the path humanity took to get where it is when things start to go horribly wrong, and it does so through a series of flashbacks that, though quite informative, felt to me like a distraction from the main narrative thread: given the threat level encountered by the Furious Ocelot, I came to perceive any other kind of information as an obstacle to be cleared before reaching the “meat” of the story, and that’s the reason for my delay in getting immersed in it. Of course, once that… hurdle was past, there was indeed no turning back.

I don’t want to offer any more information about the plot because I’m convinced it must be as much of a surprise (albeit a scary one) as possible, but let me tell you that as I read I kept thinking that every space-faring expedition should make a certain 1979 movie a mandatory part of their training, so that when faced with mysterious signals people would know to exercise extreme caution, or better yet avoid its origin at any cost… ;-)

If the story is quite shocking in its increasing threat, its background is quite enjoyable, particularly where the arks are concerned: think of immense ships that can be modified (both internally and externally) according to the specifications of their occupants, so that each ark becomes a very distinctive microcosm with its own peculiar environment and social customs. What is fascinating here is the way in which humanity has now adapted to the post-scarcity civilization offered by the Angels of Benevolence (the aliens who intervened to prevent Earth’s demise), crafting habitats and societies that range from an old-style consumer economy to a laid back tropical paradise, under the supervision of the ship’s A.I. - or envoy - whose appearance is tailored according to the ark’s style: in this respect, I’m still smiling at the recollection of the hammerhead shark look of the tropical environment’s envoy, swimming through the air with total nonchalance for the absurdity of the whole situation.

Sentient ships seem indeed to be Gareth Powell’s favorite theme, and since I enjoyed reading about Trouble Dog in the Embers of War series, I was pleased to find a similar idea here and to become equally fond of Ferocious Ocelot’s envoy and of its interactions with the ship’s crew, and with Eryn in particular. Add to the mix the Ocelot’s ability to change its appearance according to the circumstances (from a portly gentleman in quiet times to a battle-ready guard when necessity arises), and its intelligently facetious repartees, and it’s no surprise that it turned out to be my favorite character in the novel.

Unfortunately, the human characters in this story did not fare equally well: some of them were woefully short-lived (prepare yourself for quite a number of sudden deaths), and Eryn herself turned out to be a little too inconsistent for my tastes - I did not truly dislike her, but I have to admit she made it quite difficult for me to connect with her. While I could sympathize with her grief over the loss of her sister, and with the huge burden of responsibility that the situation ends up placing on her shoulders, still she seems more focused on the emotional pains of the past to be the effective problem solver that the present situation requires. For once, though, I don’t mind much my lack of total connection with the main character, because the story itself is so gripping that the non-stop action takes precedence over any other consideration, and the cinematic quality of some scenes makes me hope that this novel might one day be turned into a movie, because it would be a very spectacular one.

The surprising way in which Stars and Bones ends made me wonder whether the rest of the series will concentrate on other aspects of humanity’s journey, but previous experience with Gareth Powell’s works makes me quite optimistic about the next books, and also quite eager to see where the story will take me. Hopefully, the wait will not be too long… ( )