Staroamer's Fate

by Chuck Rothman

Quarnian Dow is a syron, driven by her intuition, anticipating the future and acting without knowing why—just that she has to. Often, she's a hero. Sometimes, she's a thief. Her talent takes her from planet to planet, buffeted by fate and never knowing what it will force her to do. And now, her intuition is leading her to the legendary Staroamer , a generation ship that vanished centuries ago. But the Staroamer has secrets in its vast dark chambers, and they may be have dangers that even a Syron's abilities can't overcome. Praise for Staroamer's Fate Worth passing on— Rothman brings to his novel a certain freshness and vigor which makes Staroamer's Fate anything but hackneyed. Very little is dull here. —Dan Chow, Locus Nothing profound, but fun. I liked it. —John Betancourt, Amazing Stories One of the unique heroines to come along— This is the sort of action/adventure story that can be enjoyed on several levels, and by people who are not necessarily hard-core SF fans. Definitely a good read. —Roberta Rogow, Voya

Genres: Science Fiction

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

I've been writing science fiction and fantasy for over 30 years, with short stories appearing in Asimov's, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Baen's Universe, Daily Science Fiction, Strange Horizons and many other magazines and anthologies.

My novel, Staroamer's Fate, was published in 1986 by Warner/Questar Books and was praised by LOCUS, put on their Recommended Reading list, and was listed in their Reader's Poll (despite being only out a month before voting ended).

The sequel, Syron's Fate, was published as an ebook by Embiid Publishing in 2003.

Now both books are back, published by Fantastic Books.

Reviews

[Jess Bae]

This book started off really corny. However, I ended up finding it quite compelling! I almost gave up on it after two chapters but then a "hunch" told me to keep going 😹 A gold-star syron is a psychic, whose instincts have been honed by the Training. They learn to read others' motivations and emotions and use this skill in fighting. I appreciated that Quarnian has no control over where she is being sent or why, she has no inherent politics or ideals, she is an instrument of fate. She has one moral principle: to honor oaths. Other than that, she's just trying to survive! Definitely an enjoyable read for therapists who would like to use our psychic powers to kill, not coddle, in outer space.

[James]

Quarnian Dow is a syron, driven by her intuition, anticipating the future and acting without knowing why—just that she has to. Often, she's a hero. Sometimes, she's a thief. Her talent takes her from planet to planet, buffeted by fate and never knowing what it will force her to do. And now, her intuition is leading her to the legendary Staroamer, a generation ship that vanished centuries ago. But the Staroamer has secrets in its vast dark chambers, and they may be have dangers that even a Syron's abilities can't overcome. Praise for Staroamer's Fate Worth passing on— Rothman brings to his novel a certain freshness and vigor which makes Staroamer's Fate anything but hackneyed. Very little is dull here. —Dan Chow, Locus Nothing profound, but fun. I liked it. —John Betancourt, Amazing Stories One of the unique heroines to come along— This is the sort of action/adventure story that can be enjoyed on several levels, and by people who are not necessarily hard-core SF fans. Definitely a good read. —Roberta Rogow, Voya

[CONNIE BALTHROP · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book.

[Cameron · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was no way this was going to be a good book. There are too many bits and pieces of good ideas and not enough good writing and plot to fit them all together in a cohesive manner.
So. Dow is a fancy pants "gold star syron" which just means that she's sort of a member of a cult of fate, she follows her hunches because it's for the good of the universe that she does so. She's also good at reading people. Apparently she's also sort of telepathic.
This is so that all the stupid coincidences in the plot are explainable. It's fate. Obviously.
Anyway, she goes off into space and they find the Staroamer, which is a ship that's been lost for 500 or so years.
And hilarity ensues.
Not really. The story drags a bit and eventually everything turns out all right.

Except that you just spent a day reading this book that makes absolutely no sense and has an embarrassing cover.