Better off Dead

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

We’re the third ship to take this job. What happened to the other two?

Commander Nakoma Kai, a (mostly) reformed screw-up with a secret, puts life and limb on the line salvaging wrecks. The ship’s an antique, the pay’s erratic, and her crewmates the usual mishmash of misfits ready to breach the boundaries of civilized space... for a fee.

But when they find a survivor on a ship eight months missing in the void, a quick death is kinder than the horror taking hold of the crew.

If you love Firefly and Alien and ever wondered what would happen a snarky starship crew met a monster with a touch of magic, come aboard the Wayward Rhapsody in Better Off Dead, Book 1 of Variant Stars.

Information

Status
Ongoing
Year
2023
Author
Val Kane

Tags

ACTIONADVENTUREMAGICFEMALE LEADSCI-FISUPERNATURALSLICE OF LIFEHORRORSOFT SCI-FISTRATEGYSPACE OPERA

Royal Road Stats

Rating
5.0/ 5.0
Followers
15
Views
1,301

Chapters(3 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(1)

  • DestroyatronMk8Royal Road
    ★★★★★ 5.0
    Kai is part of a small but tight knit crew working what should be a simple salvage job. Things get complicated when they find a survivor. A survivor, and something else. Now she must play a fame of cat and mouse against  mysterious, alien entity.
    STYLE: It's sharply written, with solid prose and excellent dialogue. Descriptions are clear and concise, and the MC's thoughts and feelings come give the story a distinct voice. Full marks.
    CHARACTERS: The characters are distinctive, if not necessarily complex. Personalities and relationships are consistent and have real consequences in the story. Too early to tell what sort of character arcs we'll see, but it looks very promising so far.
    STORY: The story follows the format of the classic space horror/mystery, with a small crew finding terrible danger on a dead ship. Actions and reactions are character driven and realistic, with no contrivance. Pacing is solid and the world building is excellent. The author has a solid grasp of setup and payoff, and knows how to throw in twists that I didn't see coming, but that still make perfect sense.
    GRAMMAR: No mistakes that I could see. Full marks.
    OVERALL: There are only 13 chapters at time of review, but I binged them all and got annoyed when they ran out. It's good stuff.