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    The Wrong Stars
    The Wrong Stars
    The Wrong Stars
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Wrong Stars

    Written by Tim Pratt

    Narrated by John Glouchevitch

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A ragtag crew of humans and posthumans discover alien technology that could change the fate of humanity . . . or awaken an ancient evil and destroy all life in the galaxy.

    The shady crew of the White Raven run freight and salvage at the fringes of our solar system. They discover the wreck of a centuries-old exploration vessel floating light years away from its intended destination and revive its sole occupant, who wakes with news of First Alien Contact. When the crew break it to her that humanity has alien allies already, she reveals that these are very different extra-terrestrials . . . and the gifts they bestowed on her could kill all humanity, or take it out to the most distant stars.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 12, 2018
    ISBN9781977378347
    The Wrong Stars
    Author

    Tim Pratt

    TIM PRATT is a Hugo Award-winning SF and fantasy author, and has also been a finalist for the World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Stoker, Mythopoeic, and Nebula Awards, among others. He is the author of over twenty novels, and scores of short stories. Since 2001 he has worked for Locus, the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field, where he currently serves as senior editor. He lives in Berkeley, CA, with his wife and son.

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    Reviews for The Wrong Stars

    4/5

    115 ratings12 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This was a fun story, but the dialogue was painful.
    • 2/5
      At about 40% read:

      I decided to start checking out some popular sci-fi books; maybe "decided" makes it sound too directed... I somehow ended up adding a number of the last one or two years' popular sci-fi books to my reading list and have been rather disappointed. So far, The Wrong Stars is shaping up like that for me.

      To be clear, I'm seeing a few patterns. One is, of course, that action sells. And I like a good action flick as much as the next person; but watching 3 or 4 action movies back to back would be a bit much (...unless high enough, probably.) So maybe The Wrong Stars is like the third action movie in a row and suffering accordingly. That said, I expect something from my sci-fi that these books are not giving me and I think I am pointing at the "action" label instead of pointing at what I really mean which is... something... Maybe that pop-sci-fi isn't crunchy enough for me? Where is the hard sci? Where is the "whooaa"? Where is the," God damn, I think about things a little bit differently now"?

      So yeah, maybe pop sci-fi just isn't for me.

      But it's more than that. I point to "action" because of the (stereotypical/trope-y/etc.) "swagger" that characters have to have and/or the shallowness that is allowed for. The tropieness I guess I can deal with. But e.g. (spoiler alert) Elena has her crew abducted/killed, including her months-long developing crush, firsthand sees some of them have robot-spider-things drill into their skulls and take over their minds, and bam! like 12 subjective hours later is all like, "Hey, Callie, nice ass." WTF? I'm sorry, no. (Also, please stop saying things like "scanned them for all waves and particles" and then repeating it word for word because, I mean, basic physics... and you are writing sci-fi.)

      So yeah, again maybe pop sci-fi just isn't for me.

      The last thing is that this is the year of the gratuitous LGBQT-etc. "name drop," mostly LGB. "Name drop" because it seems like it's just getting tossed in. If I was reading a sci-fi book and the e.g. male lead commented every 20 lines on how much he liked the e.g. cleavage or wanted to e.g. be the butt-conforming couch of the e.g. female lead, I'd heave a mighty sigh and possibly plow on (if the story, action, ideas, etc. were good enough.) I find myself doing much the same here. Just because it's two ladies with their lady lust and their lady parts and they're lady lusting after each other's lady parts doesn't make it... whatever. Interesting. But it did seem to be de rigueur in 2018.

      So yeah, again maybe pop sci-fi just isn't for me.

      --------------------

      At 100% read:

      Yeah, bleh. 2.5 stars. No real emotion, ridiculous not-romance, everyone here is on some heavy, heavy mood lifting meds, a sprinkling of scientific realism to really point out the ridiculous stuff...

      This could of been a 3 star "action romp" but it just became too much. I mean, Jesus, even the guys with metal alien spiders in their brains are alive at the end.
    • 5/5
      Very fresh space opera with interesting and well rounded enjoyable characters. There's only the usual nagging problem of how easy it is to interface with new advanced technology, but at least this time there's some potential explanations. Looking forward to the the second book.
    • 4/5
      Not usually a sci-fi fan, but I enjoyed this. Will pick up the next book in the series. I’m curious to see what happens next.
    • 3/5
      The Wrong Stars is the first volume in a space opera series dealing with the far future of humankind and focusing on the ragtag crew of the White Raven, whose salvage & law enforcement operations are conducted under the aegis of the Trans-Neptune Authority, one of the political entities ruling human-controlled space.During one of their explorations, Captain Callie Machedo and her crew encounter the wreck of an ancient Earth spaceship, part of the Goldilocks fleet - slow vessels equipped with cryosleep units to allow the bridging of vast distances - sent centuries before in search of habitable planets: only one onboard cryopod is still in operation, holding Dr. Elena Oh who, once revived, warns her rescuers about the threat of a dangerous alien life form she and her lost crew-mates encountered. Callie and her people are mystified, since the only alien race humanity came across so far are the squid-like Liars who are certainly untrustworthy, as the name they came to be known by hints at, but quite far from a deadly menace. As the salvage operation turns into the attempted rescue of Elena’s trapped crew-mates, new revelations bring to light the existence of another, far more ancient alien race - the Axiom - which once ruled the galaxy and might still represent a deadly threat for humans and Liars alike, so that Callie and her people find themselves enmeshed into an action-packed race to discover the truth and, if possible, avert the doom that a return of the Axiom could entail.As with most books, The Wrong Stars stands on the double supports of plot and characterization, with the former being the strongest element. There is hardly a moment’s respite in the breathless sequence of events and plot twists that creates the backbone of the story, enhanced by a series of progressive revelations that do little to ease the burden of impending catastrophe hanging over the characters’ heads, but instead keep raising the stakes for the group of intrepid explorers. The universe in which the story is set is an intriguing one, and the author manages to give us a good picture of it without need for lengthy exposition, also conveying the notion that humanity has changed a great deal, both socially and physically - as indicated, for example, by the presence of engineer Ashok, who is a cyborg constantly on the lookout for further modifications and enhancements. Moreover, there is a vein of light humor running throughout the story, carried by the constant quips exchanged among the crew, that mitigates the seemingly endless adrenaline rush of the events, and offers a welcome respite during the tenser moments.Unfortunately, the characters suffer from such a tight focus on the plot, and they looked to me rather like… signposts (for want of a better word) of what actual characters should be, with not enough depth for me to truly connect with any of them. As I read I kept thinking that the potential for each character was not fully explored, particularly where the already mentioned Ashok is concerned, or the weirdly inseparable duo of Janice and Drake, or again the alien Liar named Lantern who at some point joins the team: they all looked to me more paint-by-the-numbers aspects of diversity than anything else, which proved disappointing in light of the hints at trans-humanity and post-humanity inhabiting this future universe, not to mention the potentially intriguing race of the Liars.Another source of frustration comes from the excessively carefree attitude with which the crew launches into unknown dangers - and into a situation that could lead to the total annihilation of humankind: their lives are constantly at stake, but I never perceived their acknowledgment of this fact, and was in turn surprised and annoyed at the way they faced mortal dangers as if they were embarking in one of their routine missions. This kind of portrayal failed to make me worry about their survival - both as individuals and as a group - because the way the story is told clearly implicates that they will survive anything: the fact that they always manage to overcome any danger, no matter how dire, and beat the worst odds, robs any of their endeavors of the suspense necessary to make such actions believable.And on top of it all, there is an equally unbelievable insta-love between Captain Callie and Dr. Elena: first of all, I was somewhat creeped out by the fact that Callie feels the pangs of physical attraction for Elena when first observing her frozen body in the cryo-pod - my suspension of disbelief did not pass this stress test, which later colored my consideration of the told-but-not-shown mutual attraction between the two of them. Add the unnatural ease with which Elena accepts the fact that she’s been frozen for a few centuries and that the world she knew is no more, an ease that never takes into account the element of “future shock” one should expect in such a situation, and you will understand my problems with the characterization of this novel.Still, the core concept of an ancient alien race poised to return and wreak havoc in the galaxy is an intriguing one, and it might be the encouragement I need to try the second book in the series - if nothing else to see if some of the problems I encountered here have been straightened out.
    • 4/5
      Marla Mason… in space!Well, not really, but sorta. Smart, tough woman with great boots and a band of loyal crewmates in what I hope is a growing trend of “SJW” space operas. A fun read—interesting characters, some nasty situations, weird aliens, high stakes, clever banter, a bit of romance, sneaky bad guys, a mysterious conspiracy—all together making just the sort of escapist scifi I needed in the middle of 2020’s coronavirus lockdown.If you liked Becky Chamber’s books, you’ll probably like Tim’s Axiom series.
    • 4/5
      This was great! A fun page-turner with an epic story and less-epic (more relatable) characters. I really enjoyed how basically everything was very satisfyingly resolved.
    • 5/5
      Tim Pratt is a new author to me. This 1st book of a 3 book series was a page turner. It is classical science fiction and Pratt does it very well although sometimes he digresses into irrelevant, but politically correct, themes. The book is well worth reading. I'm looking forward to the next two books of the series.
    • 4/5
      Fun space adventure with various human sexualities and genders and fascinating/mysterious alien cultures. Love the humor as well.
    • 4/5
      As this is a fairly light read I really don't have much more to say over and above what the other reviewers have commented on except that I enjoyed this book. Besides that I compliment the author on having good tastes in his influences and having a knack for snappy dialogue. I look forward to continuing the series.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed it. Lesbian sex scene averted, blessedly, so I had no need to flee screaming. I never heard of a "demisexual" before, so my education continues. One instance of the dreadful pollutant w-verb on p244. I damn near unswallowed on the page. But to be fair to the writer, both characters (sender and recipient) were in imminent danger of death when the heinous abuse of my eyestalks took place, so I don't doubt but what he was under some significant existential stress.The characters, Captain Callie and Xenobiologist Elena anyway, are all as well made as one could wish. Lantern the Liar, of an alien race called "the Liars", was less three-dimensional but that's not really surprising or remediable for a character whose backstory is related late in the game via infodump. Lantern is positioned now to be a regular in future books, and she and her race and her religious order are fascinating to me, so patience is a must in reading this first volume.The master aliens are creepy and xenocidal, and their tech is to die for (haw). The slave-alien Liars have been making hay off selling the said tech to humans for a good while. They've sold more than trinkets and trash to humanity, though it's all come on one Bill of Goods. The Liars have told their customers, who despite knowing the species' tendency to prevaricate whenever they feel like it, that the amazing permanent wormholes the Liars let them use to get to twenty-nine different star systems that humanity is allowed to colonize and the big dumb schmucks bought it!The truth is, needless to say, a lot more nuanced. And a lot scarier: The tech the Liars are selling turns out to have been developed by a race that's so evil that the Liars are terrified of them returning one day. After all, the Liars are their genetically engineered slaves.Okay, yeah, it's all very Flash Gordon versus Ming the Merciless, but it's fun and it's got humor and heart, so I'm in for one more read before I decide its fate at my readerly hands. Far from the worst I've read, not the best either, and the author's willingness to take the slow road out to a higher vantage point is in his favor. Can't *quite* get to another half-star, but it's not because the story is bad but because it's been good for the past hundred years.
    • 4/5
      It feels like forever since I’ve had so much fun with a book!Callie and the rest of the crew of The White Raven exist far out on the edge of the solar system, doing salvage runs and acting as the closest thing to a police force. Then on a routine salvage mission, they find a centuries old “Goldilocks ship,” with one of the original inhabitants still in cryo-sleep. When Dr. Elena Oh wakes up, she proclaims that she’s made first contact with an alien species and that the rest of her crew is in need of rescue. Humanity’s already made contact with aliens… but is this an entirely new species? And how did Elena get back to our solar system anyway? As the questions pile up, the crew of The White Raven is set to uncover a centuries long conspiracy.I love science fiction books with good aliens, and The Wrong Stars 100% delivers. The aliens humanity’s made contact with while Elena’s been gone are called the Liars. Because they lie. About everything. Every single group of Liar’s humanity’s met has spun wildly different stories about everything from the origins of their species to what day of the week it is or what their names are. They’ll never admit they’re lying, even when it’s completely obvious, but will instead say another group of Liars is lying, blame it on translation errors, or just insist that they don’t see anything wrong with the piece of technology that’s just exploded. In short, the Liars are an incredibly original alien culture that also manages to be hilarious.It also means that it’s impossible to get any straight answers out of them. Do they know anything about what happened with Elena? Who can tell! And you definitely can’t trust any answer they give. And man, does the crew of The White Raven start wanting answers.The pacing is quite snappy, and the narrative never drags. From the get go, there’s plenty of action and excitement to be had. On the whole, The Wrong Stars is more focused on plot shenanigans than character development, but the cast still managed to be surprisingly memorable. Callie and Elena are the clear leads, and the story switches between their POV sections. However, I think my favorite character might be the ship’s mechanic, Ashok, who’s a post-human obsessed with transforming himself into a cyborg. While the romance subplot between Callie and Elena possibly suffers from the focus on plot and the quick pacing, I never found it bothersome. All in all, I found the cast wholly enjoyable.Also, there’s so many queer characters! Going in, I knew that there was a f/f romance subplot between Callie and Elena (this was part of why I picked it up), but I didn’t know that Callie was demisexual. There’s also a supporting character who’s ace, which made me so happy, and there’s trans and nonbinary supporting characters as well. I haven’t seen The Wrong Stars popping up on any lists for queer sci-fi, and that’s a shame. If you’re looking for a fun, well written space opera with queer characters, The Wrong Stars is right up there with A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.Anyway, I enjoyed the heck out of The Wrong Stars. It’s a refreshingly fun, hard to put down book. I strongly recommend it, and I can’t wait for a sequel!Review from The Illustrated Page.