The Scourge Between Stars

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is… the Atalanta. Something—ssssss—ollow… xima. It’s… the ship. Wa—ssssss—epeat, warning… ssssss—ssssss—ssssss… on’t… epeat, don’t… ssssss. This is Captain Isidora of the Atalanta. I—ssssss—anyone listening. Please. Don’t open the door.”

The doctor asked for you.” The android stood up in a well-oiled stretch of repurposed metal. “He’s made progress.” The ones behind the engagements probably weren’t gods, even with the ability to make interstellar war, but they were definitely too advanced for the fleet’s antiquated systems to detect or hail. The Calypso had no way of sidestepping the invisible crossfire of the skirmish that had drifted into their neighborhood since their species had last crossed this empty space. The signal-to-noise ratio was abysmally low. This was nothing like the scrubbed-up audio she had heard in Data. Punches in the static vaguely reminded her of words, but she couldn’t make out anything coherent. Just as she leaned closer to the garbled sound, the transmission cut out. He’d explained it to her before—the decades that the fleet had spent on Proxima b, exposed even at the terminator to the host star’s radiation tantrums, had corroded a number of systems and machines. The nitty-gritty: The Scourge Between Stars had plenty of thrilling action, but the story itself was too big for the short format.The emergence of this sinister lifeform is a scientific breakthrough, the first proof of extraterrestrial life and therefore worthy of study. However, it is also a menace to everyone aboard the Calypso spacecraft, so the crew must debate about whether the alien should be destroyed or preserved for scientific posterity. Now... I am not a stem girlie, but surprisingly, Ness Brown did a fantastic job utilizing engineer and scientific language without overwhelming me. I wouldn't have initially expected this story to be a debut because it has a strong overarching plot with great spaceship world building. You can tell that Ness is a scientist purely from her writing style because she's very direct. The writing doesn't have any lyrical prose because she's describing the scenes as concisely as possible and then jumping into what's next for the characters. This type of writing style, in my opinion, is less common because people like to create lush descriptions of the scenes, so Ness was refreshing in that she doesn't mess around with her writing. Moreover, this writing style led the story to be fast paced with constant action around nearly every corner and sometimes... even within the walls. Horror details are skimpy, and are more about suspense of both mystery and situation than body-horror. Personally, that's exactly the kind of book I'm looking for.

She had seen corpses before--that was the reality of war, even if they were just the ones caught in a cosmic crossfire beyond their perception--but never with viscera hanging out like the wires of an opened console." While Brown does a nice job of building the world and the ship, this is one of those that I'd say falls under 'sci-fi' light as it doesn't get too far into the mechanics and details of the technology. There's enough to give us the parameters for the set-up. That's okay; I didn't need Aurora level technical details, but some might want more. I, for instance, found myself wondering more about the crisis that launched multiple giant colony ships without better resources. A perfect blend of science fiction and horror…Short, fast, engaging, wildly entertaining, and unexpectedly gory, it almost demands to be devoured in one sitting.” — Locus This novella has everything I want in a sci-fi horror: lots of action, excellent character arcs, and a solid resolution.”— Buzzfeed I’m not a huge sci-fi/alien reader (unless the aliens are the love interests but that’s something entirely different and none-of-yer-business, lol) but I do like a dark and terrifying hell in space story sometimes. But I think I’ve finally come to the realization that I prefer the Event Horizon bleak types better than the straight-up sci-fi types so keep that in mind when you see these three stars.

The Scourge Between Stars has some nice jump scares and cool action sequences whilst recycling a well-used science fiction trope to favourable effect. The story nails the claustrophobia and loneliness of space, but I am unconvinced the cosmic horror-style vibe the ending connects with the rest of the narrative. Ultimately it is a solid read but has the potential to be much better if expanded and fleshed out. Grades:

If Ness Brown ever writes a sequel or an additional book in this universe, I will definitely be buying it. I cannot say enough positive things about The Scourge Between Stars! I had such a good time reading it. 🙂 I absolutely loved this little novella. It's the perfect amount of suspenseful and horrifying. I'm definitely going to be purchasing a physical copy when it comes out in April. Otto’s lips pursed at the interruption. “Watson is the most advanced post-zettascale system ever constructed.” He didn’t have the decency, as its creator, to blush as he said so. “It’s about as difficult for her to ingest the data as it is for you and me to take a biscuit with our coffee.”It's books like this that remind me why I love space horror so damn much. This was an excellent debut novella from author Ness Brown--who, by the way, studied astrophysics as a graduate student and was actually an astronomy instructor! (Badass!) A perfect scare to swallow up in one sitting. Filled with blood galore while holding tender humanity at its center, this is my favorite type of horror.”— Chloe Gong , #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights

I’ll keep the themes of this novel fairly short. Main ones being: how far is to far when it comes to saving humanity from extinction? Is technological advancement enough to save humanity? Are the decisions of a leader greater than those of their followers because they have the whole picture? Other smaller themes include love, LGBTQ+, diversity, sacrifice, bravery, fear, depression, and more. Are you afraid of generation ships? And outer space? And dying airless, stranded in nothing? Then keep your eyes out for The Scourge Between Stars , which crosses The Expanse with Pandorum by way of Event Horizon and emerges darkly victorious.”— Gemma Files The Scourge Between Stars starts off feeling a bit like a haunted house story - there's inexplicable noises coming from within the walls, things malfunction seemingly without cause, panels explode, etc. It's an effective opening that primes us for Brown's ultimate reveal, even if that reveal isn't particularly surprising, shifting gears from haunted house to violent creature feature. It's very much an Alien clone (in fact, Jonathan Barkan opines that Alien is the perfect haunted house movie in his piece for Bloody Disgusting. If you're going to copy somebody's template, you may as well copy from the best, right?), but Brown puts in just enough of their own touches to make the story feel more like pastiche than pure derivative. Sadly, Brown's few attempts to make the story their own aren't quite enough to salvage the whole enterprise. I trust you understand the magnitude of this moment,” Otto said, closing Watson’s mouth and cutting off the transmission.

Ness Brown

Ness Brown’s The Scourge Between Stars, a tense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror blend in the vein of Alien and Event Horizon, will be published by Nightfire in April 2023! NESS BROWN is a speculative fiction author by day and astrophysicist by night. They are a proud New Mexican living in New York City (and missing green chile) with their husband and two cats, Faust and Mephi. They are currently studying graduate astrophysics after several years of teaching astronomy and encouraging students to wonder about worlds beyond our own. The Scourge Between Stars is their debut. Something about it made her gooseflesh turn into an outright chill. With astrophysical and instrumental sources ruled out, there were only a few things it could be.