Stars and Bones
A fleet of sentient arks carries humanity after alien eviction.
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Stars and Bones is a science fiction novel by British writer Gareth L. Powell, first published in the United Kingdom in March 2022 by Titan Books. It is the first book of Powell's Continuance series and was nominated for the 2023 British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel. The story follows the Thousand Arks of the Continuance, a fleet of sentient starships carrying the entire human population after their eviction from Earth by an alien intelligence called the Benevolence.
Background
The novel's premise originated from a throwaway remark about aliens solving climate change. Powell set the story seventy-five years ahead, reasoning that was the furthest point before climate impacts would make society unrecognizable, and far enough that he wouldn't be alive to see his guesses disproven. He credited Iain Banks, Samuel R. Delany, Ann Leckie, and Peter F. Hamilton for shaping the technology, while Michael Moorcock, Becky Chambers, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Octavia E. Butler influenced the character work.
Plot summary
The Benevolence, an alien intelligence observing life in the galaxy, disapproved of humans destroying Earth and built a thousand sentient arks to house the entire population. Seventy-five years later, the arks drift among the stars, with scout ships investigating planetary systems ahead. A visit to Candidate-623 awakens an unseen alien force that destroys a scout ship and dismembers its crew, then begins infiltrating and infecting the arks one by one.
Critical reception
David Pitt in Booklist wrote that with a strong heroine, imaginative supporting characters, and a story with serious emotional impact, the novel highlights Powell's gifts for character-building and plotting, and noted it would not be surprising to see a nomination. Publishers Weekly gave a starred review, stating Powell balances plot, action, and character development perfectly, and that the start will appeal to James S. A. Corey fans. Robin Brooks in GeekDad called it a hi-concept monster thriller with an unexpected human core, praising the well-realized characters including ship AIs, and describing narrator Eryn as strong, independent, and sarcastic.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Stars and Bones (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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