“Space Unicorn Blues” and “The Stars Now Unclaimed” – Two Recent Debut Science Fiction Novels Worth Noting

It’s been an insanely busy summer of reading, but I wanted to take a few minutes to highlight two debut novels that I think are quite worth tracking down to read.

Space Unicorn Blues by T.J. Berry

I saw the cover of Space Unicorn Blues in an ad on Facebook and knew purely based on that that I had to read it. It’s not that the cover is particularly striking, or anything, but it makes it really darned clear the book is about a unicorn… in spa-a-a-ace! Also, the tagline “Humanity’s Last Hope… A Murderous Unicorn” had me running to read it.

I have to say, I’m glad I did. There were a number of surprising things in this debut novel, not least of which is how rather serious it was despite the somewhat silly premise. Yes, of course it has its funny moments all the way through; nothing with this premise can or should take itself too seriously, but this book has some rather thoughtful, serious narrative going on.

The core of the book is really the world that Berry has invented. It’s a future in which humanity has reached the stars only to discover another resource to exploit: fantastic creatures like the unicorn, whose horn can help propel space travel. Yep, you read that right. But Berry manages to piece together a coherent and frankly intriguing world out of this premise in a way that has me salivating for the second book in the series. The characters are each built up in their own way as well, though at times our lovely space unicorn, Gary, isn’t at the center. I don’t mind, however, because the other characters have unique personalities that help foster plot twists and genuine growth.

The next book in the series comes out in May next year, and I will probably dive into a re-read of this delightful debut before I tackle book 2. I recommend it highly. Check out Space Unicorn Blues by T.J. Berry for a fun, insane science fiction/fairy tale mashup that will make you think more than you might expect.

The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams

I don’t think I would have read The Stars Now Unclaimed unless my local library had acquired it. I pretty much automatically check out every single sci-fi or fantasy book at the local library for two reasons: 1) they don’t get much of it, and I want to show that there is an interest (there really is–a few books I’ve requested have been checked out a lot!) and 2) I basically can’t say no to new SFF. This one was a winner.

Again, the cover didn’t really draw me in much. It’s fine, but the text is so dominant and the ships look somewhat generic. Opening the flap, I didn’t know whether I’d enjoy it, but as a dedicated completionist (can’t check out a book without at least giving it a try, right?), I started reading it… and devoured it in a day. All 444 pages of it. I couldn’t put it down. Why?

Well, a few reviews I saw on Goodreads make comparisons to Star Wars, which I guess is accurate in a few places, but this is definitely not derivative from that blockbuster series. It’s a far reaching science fiction adventure novel with a significant peppering of space opera thrown in for good measure. The book follows Jane, an operative of the Justified, one of the many, many groups vying for intergalactic power in a rather unforgiving universe. There’s the ominous threat of another “pulse”- an event that crippled civilizations all through the galaxy, with few exceptions. There are major plot twists, lots of action, and a good helping of character development as well.

The book is also wonderfully paced, with a few moments to slow down and breathe in between some seriously fast action sequences. If I were to draw a comparison, I’d actually call it closer to a kind of grown up Titan A.E. with a dash of Star Wars and maybe even some of Iain M. Banks as well. That’s high praise, given that I just named 3 of my favorite science fiction visions.

Oh, and another thing I liked about this book is while it is part of a series (and Drew Williams was kind enough to reply to me on Twitter to say the series is planned for 3-4 books plus potential other in-universe works), it doesn’t feel incomplete or too much like a cliffhanger. Yes, you definitely want to know more right away, and there are some major plot points waiting for future resolution, but it has the kind of ending that is satisfying in a series.

If you want a thoroughly enjoyable science fiction adventure, check out The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams.

Links

J.W. Wartick- Always Have a Reason– Check out my “main site” which talks about philosophy of religion, theology, and Christian apologetics (among other random topics). I love science fiction so that comes up integrated with theology fairly frequently as well. I’d love to have you follow there, too!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!

SDG.