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Tales From a Stinking, Star-Crossed Milky Way #2
Navvies' Flight: Another Space Opera: Tales From a Stinking, Star-Crossed Milky Way
Fly a ship.
Save the Milk.
Try not to blow up suns..
Registered Smuggler Polla's Ottrava's grown fond of her trio of desperate war criminals. She's even fallen in love.
But everything in her life is still supernova-shaped... and that's not even funny, considering it's all Ledas Starfire's fault, the dead woman who CAUSED a supernova three years ago.
Polla tries to keep light-years between herself and Starfire's reputation, but it's tough to do when she's flying the dead woman's ship, employed by the dead woman's twin, and on a mission to kill the dead woman's husband. That genocidal murderer's crap keeps blowing back, forcing Polla to relive the murderer's memories in the woman's ship. And every time she tries to do something good, people try and kill her!
Fond as she is of her companions, she can't help but think it's their fault.
A reckoning is coming, and Polla's about to find out there's only two people in the Milk who can truly understand what she's going through. One is Starfire's ex, the madman who's reshaping planets with a shapeshifting biophage--the man they're on a mission to kill.
The other's a pregnant farmgirl, also named "Polla Ottrava." And, funny thing? Them sharing a name's no coincidence...
Still, it sure feels good to be one of the good guys.
Uh, they are the good guys... right?
Save the Milk.
Try not to blow up suns..
Registered Smuggler Polla's Ottrava's grown fond of her trio of desperate war criminals. She's even fallen in love.
But everything in her life is still supernova-shaped... and that's not even funny, considering it's all Ledas Starfire's fault, the dead woman who CAUSED a supernova three years ago.
Polla tries to keep light-years between herself and Starfire's reputation, but it's tough to do when she's flying the dead woman's ship, employed by the dead woman's twin, and on a mission to kill the dead woman's husband. That genocidal murderer's crap keeps blowing back, forcing Polla to relive the murderer's memories in the woman's ship. And every time she tries to do something good, people try and kill her!
Fond as she is of her companions, she can't help but think it's their fault.
A reckoning is coming, and Polla's about to find out there's only two people in the Milk who can truly understand what she's going through. One is Starfire's ex, the madman who's reshaping planets with a shapeshifting biophage--the man they're on a mission to kill.
The other's a pregnant farmgirl, also named "Polla Ottrava." And, funny thing? Them sharing a name's no coincidence...
Still, it sure feels good to be one of the good guys.
Uh, they are the good guys... right?
544 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 6, 2026
1 person is currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
H.M.H. Murray
2 books7 followersHMH lives in Maryland with her family.
NAVVY DREAMS is her debut and the first volume of the Stinking Star-Crossed Milky Way series.
NAVVIES' FLIGHT -- IS OUT!
KROV WAR - Expected pub date 2027
NAVVY DREAMS is her debut and the first volume of the Stinking Star-Crossed Milky Way series.
NAVVIES' FLIGHT -- IS OUT!
KROV WAR - Expected pub date 2027
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2026
Another big, bold space opera from Murray. We continue to travel across a fascinating universe, but the real journey is into the mind(s) of Polla Ottrava, and fortunately her characterization(s) remains a highlight, a sort of aw-shucks, rough-and-tumble space cowgirl struggling to resolve secrets buried within her psyche.
January 8, 2026
Exactly what I'd hoped for after the first book: more of the main character I loved; more details about the backstory with Lee and Nate; finally learning more about the krov; fascinating worldbuilding about the Aemercy. These books feed us backstory one tiny drop at a time, but I like it that way.
February 22, 2026
I just love when a second in series is even better than the first. Not to mention a book being an actual grown up sci-fi. It's rare, but it happens. This continuation of the Stinking, Star-Cross Milky Way series may be quite a tome in length, but it's a page turner with it. Big, bold, and ballsy, it's got the grit and the twists to keep you coming back for more.
We continue our tale of Polla the (highly confused, thrown in at the deep end, unreliable narrator) star pilot as she comes to terms with the revelations of the first book. Joined once again by the aloof Davad, the unknowable Mureen, her lover Rathe, and her wonderfully naive navigation implant Second, they're making their way towards their destiny. All good, right? Except for the secrets, lies, and downright despicable double crosses that lead Polla to decide between accepting her allotted fate or going rogue.
If you like your narrators unreliable, ornery, and blunt as a much-used plough share, you really can't get much better than this. Polla's not exactly a delight to listen to, but she's believably grouchy and flippant in equal measure. It's hard not to want something good to come from her miraculous recovery under the care of the Kamenlords (think Jedi-like mind powers with dubious morals) Davad and Mureen. I was so pleased to see the return of Teapot the nurse droid who really gets a chance to shine as a mash-up of helpful C3PO and the slightly scary HK droids of Star Wars KOTOR. We also get some new perspectives via apologues, making this space opera truly sprawling in scale. I love these side characters and didn't realize how much I wanted them until they showed up.
The reason why I think this worked better for me than the first book is that when it promises you lore and backstory, it delivers. Not in an info-dump, not in an unnatural chunk of dialogue, but organically as the story progresses. I didn't get that being left out of the loop feeling that I could in Navvy Dreams, and finally understood some of the ramifications of what had happened before the story started (such as: why does blowing up a sun help anything?). If we need to know it, we'll know it in time to really appreciate the outcomes and put things together ourselves. Some thought still required, but not as much that can take you out of the book.
It gives the chance for the characters to grow too. We get to know that they're far more complex than we might otherwise have thought. Even the "simple" motivation characters like Rathe are fleshed out to have more personality and history.
Plotwise, we're moving slow, but we learn SO MUCH. And just when you think things are going the way your expected (explosions, backstabbing, realizations), it pulls a shocker twist or two that take you by surprise and make you want to know more. Some of these events are slightly foreshadowed, but oh boy, you won't be prepared.
So many threads are in play, so many muddied motivations and morals. I honestly cannot wait for the next part of this tale.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
We continue our tale of Polla the (highly confused, thrown in at the deep end, unreliable narrator) star pilot as she comes to terms with the revelations of the first book. Joined once again by the aloof Davad, the unknowable Mureen, her lover Rathe, and her wonderfully naive navigation implant Second, they're making their way towards their destiny. All good, right? Except for the secrets, lies, and downright despicable double crosses that lead Polla to decide between accepting her allotted fate or going rogue.
If you like your narrators unreliable, ornery, and blunt as a much-used plough share, you really can't get much better than this. Polla's not exactly a delight to listen to, but she's believably grouchy and flippant in equal measure. It's hard not to want something good to come from her miraculous recovery under the care of the Kamenlords (think Jedi-like mind powers with dubious morals) Davad and Mureen. I was so pleased to see the return of Teapot the nurse droid who really gets a chance to shine as a mash-up of helpful C3PO and the slightly scary HK droids of Star Wars KOTOR. We also get some new perspectives via apologues, making this space opera truly sprawling in scale. I love these side characters and didn't realize how much I wanted them until they showed up.
The reason why I think this worked better for me than the first book is that when it promises you lore and backstory, it delivers. Not in an info-dump, not in an unnatural chunk of dialogue, but organically as the story progresses. I didn't get that being left out of the loop feeling that I could in Navvy Dreams, and finally understood some of the ramifications of what had happened before the story started (such as: why does blowing up a sun help anything?). If we need to know it, we'll know it in time to really appreciate the outcomes and put things together ourselves. Some thought still required, but not as much that can take you out of the book.
It gives the chance for the characters to grow too. We get to know that they're far more complex than we might otherwise have thought. Even the "simple" motivation characters like Rathe are fleshed out to have more personality and history.
Plotwise, we're moving slow, but we learn SO MUCH. And just when you think things are going the way your expected (explosions, backstabbing, realizations), it pulls a shocker twist or two that take you by surprise and make you want to know more. Some of these events are slightly foreshadowed, but oh boy, you won't be prepared.
So many threads are in play, so many muddied motivations and morals. I honestly cannot wait for the next part of this tale.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews