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In Between the Stars
What is alien and what is normal? To Inan, she’s just a girl on her homeworld, yet she dreams of travelling to the stars and experiencing all the adventures they promise. Dream is all she can do, as her people’s customs forbid girls to face dangers - especially amongst the stars. Instead of adventures, they are expected to serve their families as leaders and never take personal risks. But that is about to change as Inan’s life takes a sudden turn.
A series of events lead to her being lost in space, shipwrecked and kidnapped by soldiers-turned-pirates, a remnant from the war fought many, many years ago. With only an alien being to keep her company, she is forced to use her wits to stay alive. As she struggles, she befriends Alan, a human boy who is little more than a captive himself. Yet things go from bad to worse after a failed escape attempt when Inan comes into contact with an unknown ancient artefact which ultimately will decide the fate of the whole galaxy.
Catapulting the reader into an exciting space-opera universe, In Between the Stars is an original take on human-alien interactions, with quirky characters, high humour and endless amounts of drama. Readers aged 12 years and above will delight in the rich world that has been created, inspired by the likes of the great Science Fiction writers.
A series of events lead to her being lost in space, shipwrecked and kidnapped by soldiers-turned-pirates, a remnant from the war fought many, many years ago. With only an alien being to keep her company, she is forced to use her wits to stay alive. As she struggles, she befriends Alan, a human boy who is little more than a captive himself. Yet things go from bad to worse after a failed escape attempt when Inan comes into contact with an unknown ancient artefact which ultimately will decide the fate of the whole galaxy.
Catapulting the reader into an exciting space-opera universe, In Between the Stars is an original take on human-alien interactions, with quirky characters, high humour and endless amounts of drama. Readers aged 12 years and above will delight in the rich world that has been created, inspired by the likes of the great Science Fiction writers.
- GenresScience FictionAdventure
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 28, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 3, 2018
Publishing Date: October 2018
Publisher: Matador
ISBN:9781789012057
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 3.2/5
Publisher’s Description: What is alien and what is normal? To Inan, she’s just a girl on her homeworld, yet she dreams of travelling to the stars and experiencing all the adventures they promise. Dream is all she can do, as her people’s customs forbid girls to face dangers – especially among the stars. Instead of adventures, they are expected to serve their families as leaders and never take personal risks. But that is about to change as Inan’s life takes a sudden turn.
Review: Do you think that aliens have the same thought processes and emotional trains of thought that humans do? I think that most authors tend to write from the perspective that we are all children of this one universe and that we have evolved much the same intellectually as well as emotionally. At least for brevity’s sake and the ease in writing not too complicated novels. I get that there is a design to connect to a large audience with the story line being the main focus at the expense of the “alieness” of the characters. As an example, take Inan who is basically a young human woman that has been morphed into a lizard like alien being while retaining her humanistic emotional qualities and thought processes.
Did it work? Yeeeeah, kinda. There is plenty of good movement, well done tech without in-depth explanations and great world building. Kind of reminded me of Brian Daley’s work “Hobart Floyt-Alacrity Fitzhugh Adventures”, only with 2 aliens. This is an expected series of which I will probably pursue.
You can read all of my reviews,HERE.
Publisher: Matador
ISBN:9781789012057
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 3.2/5
Publisher’s Description: What is alien and what is normal? To Inan, she’s just a girl on her homeworld, yet she dreams of travelling to the stars and experiencing all the adventures they promise. Dream is all she can do, as her people’s customs forbid girls to face dangers – especially among the stars. Instead of adventures, they are expected to serve their families as leaders and never take personal risks. But that is about to change as Inan’s life takes a sudden turn.
Review: Do you think that aliens have the same thought processes and emotional trains of thought that humans do? I think that most authors tend to write from the perspective that we are all children of this one universe and that we have evolved much the same intellectually as well as emotionally. At least for brevity’s sake and the ease in writing not too complicated novels. I get that there is a design to connect to a large audience with the story line being the main focus at the expense of the “alieness” of the characters. As an example, take Inan who is basically a young human woman that has been morphed into a lizard like alien being while retaining her humanistic emotional qualities and thought processes.
Did it work? Yeeeeah, kinda. There is plenty of good movement, well done tech without in-depth explanations and great world building. Kind of reminded me of Brian Daley’s work “Hobart Floyt-Alacrity Fitzhugh Adventures”, only with 2 aliens. This is an expected series of which I will probably pursue.
You can read all of my reviews,HERE.
November 9, 2018
Absolutely loved this book. It kept me entertained and wanting more all the way through. Absolutely brilliantly written and an amazing book. Im hoping for a squeal so I can explore more of the stars with Inan and her friends.
April 24, 2021
Reading this book was an interesting experience. This book seems a bit like one that gamers could enjoy reading as there are inspirations from them, such as the summary on the back being comparable to what the game called “Mass Effect” is about, and the race of the main protagonist, an Izara named Inan, is aesthetically based off of the reptilian race in the Elder Scrolls games known as Argonians. As someone who’s a fan of the Elder Scrolls games (primarily Skyrim), I knew that I wanted to read this book, especially because of Inan’s appearance. This book is also great for those who enjoy the sci-fi genre and possibly a good book for those who are interested in the concept of cultural differences in literature. Additionally, I will start out with the aspects of the book that deserve praise, then the criticism and additional thoughts I have about the book.
As I said, the main character’s race is based off of the Argonian which is more of a personal bias of mine as that’s my favorite race in the Elder Scrolls games, however, despite the fact that the aesthetic is similar, their biology is different from that of Argonians, as well as their way of living. The Izara aren’t capable of breathing underwater like Argonians, nor do they have the ability to telepathically communicate with a special tree, but the Izara have the ability to sense things through their heat signature (some vipers have this as well, and they also have a loreal pit) and unlike Argonians, the Izara are more biologically accurate in the reptilian aspect as it is shown and mentioned multiple times in the book that Inan needs to retain heat by being near a source of heat in order to survive, which I think is a great detail for her race and it definitely makes more sense than Argonians being able to move around in snowy areas without being severely affected by it the way a reptile would. It is also worth mentioning that the biology of the Izara in this book goes so far as to even mention how to tell if an Izara is ready to reproduce, little details like that are ones I can appreciate.
The descriptions of the characters were done well, I enjoyed every single one who appeared in the book no matter how long their appearance lasted. I’ve got an attachment to Inan and her companions, Alan and Hijinks, as they are all unique to each other yet in some ways being very similar, Inan and Alan being adolescents, Alan and Hijinks are tech-savvy, and Inan and Hijinks come from two different races that are completely unfamiliar to us real people. There are plenty of other examples but these are the easiest to think up on the spot when comparing these three characters with each other. They are distinctive from each other too, Inan being a misfit of her society who desires to explore the world rather than be head of her home and do tasks that other female Izara are bound to do for the rest of their lives. Alan is a boy who has an unknown past that not even he can remember much of, as well as being very cautious but caring of those he’s closest to. And Hijinks is silly but very experienced in life, being the oldest of the trio; in a way, she’s like the support of the group, always mediating when it’s needed and she often seems to know what to do in a lot of situations (and apparently lives outside the boundaries of how a female should live, but that’s by Izara bias as this book is in the perspective of Inan, after all). Of course, there are other things about these characters that are admirable but to me, Inan’s qualities intrigue me the most. While the book goes on in multiple parts about things and other individuals being “alien”, Inan shows to be open-minded to the point of even imitating the gestures and habits of others (such as Hijinks’ habit of swearing in her own language or using certain body languages that she had seen Alan use). This aspect especially deserves a lot of praise, especially when it comes to the racial aspect of the book. While there are moments in which Inan has some sort of negative opinion about certain things that she’s not familiar with and generalizing her opinions (in this case, humans), she does learn to accept that generalizing isn’t the right thing to do when it comes to judging an entire group of sentient individuals as she knows that there are exceptions. I find that to be something that people can learn from this, and as someone who’s got family from eastern and western cultures, this topic in the book is quite significant to me. But at the same time, this book doesn’t fully show the idealization of just fully accepting everything about other races or societies and, realistically, has moments in which Inan has negative feelings about what other races do as traditions that are otherwise considered immoral to other races. This is something I greatly appreciate about this book, a person can be open-minded about something and still find certain things about it that are unappealing. Additionally, even the characters who had less than two pages of an appearance were enjoyable, at least to me. Their appearances were especially enjoyable with Inan as she sometimes tries to remember how she’s supposed to interact with them in public and some of those interactions are very amusing. Probably the character I like the most who only had a minor role in the book is Gloria, I absolutely loved her jovial and oblivious personality. I literally wanted to see more of her in this book even though I knew that, plot wise, she couldn’t make another appearance. I can also appreciate that there are moments in which every decision made has a consequence and the consequences seem to occur in a believable way. I don’t enjoy when certain things happen and then they’re not even so much as mentioned, but that’s not something I have to worry about with this book. Heck, I even appreciate the fact that Alan’s past didn’t get figured out in this book and it was used as a hint that there will be a sequel.
I enjoyed the humor, it wasn’t crude, it didn’t happen in inappropriate times, and didn’t seem like it was random. With the minimum age-range for this book being 11-12, the moments in which a character swears are never said what swear words are specifically being said, but the ways in which the swearing is described can sometimes be amusing, especially when Hijinks swears. Nobody knows what Ki-jirai swearing sounds like so it’s fun to try and imagine what sorts of swear words are worded. Some of the humor that physically happens to the characters reminds me of the humor that happens to characters in a cartoon or animated movie for young viewers, they are fun and light-hearted and can make you smile if that execution of humor suits your sense of humor.
The worldbuilding was interesting too, the settings were described in a way that makes you picture everything on what they look like as well as what life in space looks like. The technology is, of course, very futuristic which, yes, is to be expected of a sci-fi book that takes place in space, but some of the technology tends to make me think of sci-fi TV series like Star Trek and Star Wars (but without lightsabers). I was also relieved to know that there was a bit of plot in the story that explains why the book is called “In Between the Stars” which, for the purpose of not spoiling things, I will say that it is somewhat close to the end of the book in which one will get it. Expansion of the worldbuilding will be made in the sequel so there will be more to learn about what’s already in the first book and possibly more (though I’m not sure what all will be learned about from the first book other than additional information about the Izara and Ki-jirai).
Now, as much as I don’t enjoy typing out criticisms about anything, I still have to. One of the things I noticed is that there seems to be some pacing issues. There are moments in which it feels like the story is going by too fast or too slow, there wasn’t even enough time to explore more of Inan’s homeworld. Less than a third of the book takes place in Inan’s homeworld and even then, there isn’t a lot that is shown throughout the book. In fact, most of life on her homeplanet is told through Inan’s memories. I actually wanted to know more about Inan’s home through her current perspective before she had to leave and it just makes me wish there was more time to focus on it. There are some things that I feel like were executed a bit oddly, such as how a character that Alan apparently personally knew had died, but there was no indication of any sort of relation between these two until after she died; the information about their relation felt out of the blue for me when it wasn’t mentioned before she died. There’s also the issue with the races that made minor appearances in the book. I know this book isn’t supposed to be too long, but at the same time, whenever I read that a new one is introduced, I can’t help but want to learn more about them. To a degree, the book describes these races like they’re well known to us real people, which is the same issue when creatures in this universe are mentioned. The book mentions names of creatures that we are unfamiliar with and a lot of the time, not a lot is mentioned about them which can be hard for people who like to visualize what a creature would look like.
There’s also a bit of an issue regarding the antagonist of the book, Cochrane. Most of his appearances in the book revolves around how he wants to change the universe for the benefit of the human race, viewing himself as someone who could be a hero for his race for events that supposedly made humans oppressed. And while there is a moment in which a war was mentioned, there is very little information on why there was a war in the first place and I didn’t see any information in the book that indicated hints at what happened in the past, like what started the war, what happened during the war, and how the war ended. Every time Cochrane would go on about making things right for humanity, I couldn’t help but question every time on what specifically sparked his motivation to want to use the black disc, and it just makes me hope that there will be more answers on what happened in the sequel.
Additionally, something that I wish was in the book was what Inan’s brother’s name is. Every time he was mentioned, he was just addressed as “Inan’s brother”. It makes me wonder why it is that he doesn’t get a proper name (even when he made an appearance in the book) when her cousins got to have proper names too (or in the case of one of her cousins, a nickname). It makes me hope that he will make an appearance in the sequel so that he can have a proper name mentioned at the very least. Another thing I would like to recap is that Gloria is a minor character I really enjoyed, and with that, I wish she was in the book even a bit longer. Yes, the book would’ve turned out very differently if she stayed, but at the same time, this is more of a personal bias of mine since I love characters who are jovial and oblivious to serious situations.
Additional thoughts I have are that the word “alien” in this book is used in different contexts beside describing another race that’s unknown which is refreshing since using the word “alien” just to describe a race that’s viewed as unknown or not well known is overused, so even objects and even places are described as “alien”. Earlier I mentioned that there was inspiration in this book from certain video games, but there was a point in the book that really reminded me of video games when Inan had to make a certain decision between three options, and she hated all of these options because they were bad in a moral sense. It reminds me of video games that do this in which certain decisions they make will affect the outcome of the plot drastically, and it felt like Inan represented the player of a video game who complains about how she doesn’t like the options she’s given. Also, at the beginning of the book, I literally forgot that this was a sci-fi book up until a computer was mentioned. Up until that point, I ended up thinking that it was a fantasy book (mostly because I’m more used to reading fantasy).
Now I should also mention that because I have contacts with the author (A. A. Ripley), I received some goodies with the book and even had it signed, and she wanted me to review some of these extra goodies that she gave me as she wanted me to review them to see if they’re worth buying from her followers. I received four buttons, three of them have characters that are in the book while one is a star that doesn’t really have any appearances in the book but one thing for sure, just like the other three, this one looks amazing. The art on the buttons are beautifully detailed, the colors go well with each other and the backgrounds have beautiful gradients from a color to black and white specks for stars over them. Would I recommend this to A. A. Ripley’s followers? Absolutely! I don’t know what other sorts of merchandise will be available to promote this book, but I think they’re definitely worth purchasing. Buttons like these are especially great for those who like to collect them (like myself, I was very happy to see that I got four additional buttons to add to my collection, they’re even placed in a special spot that none of my other buttons are placed in). I also received a little 4 x 6 image of Inan holding a sign that says “Thank you” and I gotta say that I also love how it was drawn. And I wasn’t kidding when I said that her race was inspired by Argonians, those who are familiar with the Elder Scrolls games would agree that there are Argonian resemblances to her. I also had it framed because I felt that it deserved this. As for the signing, I had her address me by my username on Discord and the message she signed was, once again, a video game reference, this one also being from the Elder Scrolls (specifically Morrowind) which I thought was cool. But anyway, I say that the book is worth reading, and I def,initely recommend that people buy the merchandise because they are beautiful and worth the money!
As I said, the main character’s race is based off of the Argonian which is more of a personal bias of mine as that’s my favorite race in the Elder Scrolls games, however, despite the fact that the aesthetic is similar, their biology is different from that of Argonians, as well as their way of living. The Izara aren’t capable of breathing underwater like Argonians, nor do they have the ability to telepathically communicate with a special tree, but the Izara have the ability to sense things through their heat signature (some vipers have this as well, and they also have a loreal pit) and unlike Argonians, the Izara are more biologically accurate in the reptilian aspect as it is shown and mentioned multiple times in the book that Inan needs to retain heat by being near a source of heat in order to survive, which I think is a great detail for her race and it definitely makes more sense than Argonians being able to move around in snowy areas without being severely affected by it the way a reptile would. It is also worth mentioning that the biology of the Izara in this book goes so far as to even mention how to tell if an Izara is ready to reproduce, little details like that are ones I can appreciate.
The descriptions of the characters were done well, I enjoyed every single one who appeared in the book no matter how long their appearance lasted. I’ve got an attachment to Inan and her companions, Alan and Hijinks, as they are all unique to each other yet in some ways being very similar, Inan and Alan being adolescents, Alan and Hijinks are tech-savvy, and Inan and Hijinks come from two different races that are completely unfamiliar to us real people. There are plenty of other examples but these are the easiest to think up on the spot when comparing these three characters with each other. They are distinctive from each other too, Inan being a misfit of her society who desires to explore the world rather than be head of her home and do tasks that other female Izara are bound to do for the rest of their lives. Alan is a boy who has an unknown past that not even he can remember much of, as well as being very cautious but caring of those he’s closest to. And Hijinks is silly but very experienced in life, being the oldest of the trio; in a way, she’s like the support of the group, always mediating when it’s needed and she often seems to know what to do in a lot of situations (and apparently lives outside the boundaries of how a female should live, but that’s by Izara bias as this book is in the perspective of Inan, after all). Of course, there are other things about these characters that are admirable but to me, Inan’s qualities intrigue me the most. While the book goes on in multiple parts about things and other individuals being “alien”, Inan shows to be open-minded to the point of even imitating the gestures and habits of others (such as Hijinks’ habit of swearing in her own language or using certain body languages that she had seen Alan use). This aspect especially deserves a lot of praise, especially when it comes to the racial aspect of the book. While there are moments in which Inan has some sort of negative opinion about certain things that she’s not familiar with and generalizing her opinions (in this case, humans), she does learn to accept that generalizing isn’t the right thing to do when it comes to judging an entire group of sentient individuals as she knows that there are exceptions. I find that to be something that people can learn from this, and as someone who’s got family from eastern and western cultures, this topic in the book is quite significant to me. But at the same time, this book doesn’t fully show the idealization of just fully accepting everything about other races or societies and, realistically, has moments in which Inan has negative feelings about what other races do as traditions that are otherwise considered immoral to other races. This is something I greatly appreciate about this book, a person can be open-minded about something and still find certain things about it that are unappealing. Additionally, even the characters who had less than two pages of an appearance were enjoyable, at least to me. Their appearances were especially enjoyable with Inan as she sometimes tries to remember how she’s supposed to interact with them in public and some of those interactions are very amusing. Probably the character I like the most who only had a minor role in the book is Gloria, I absolutely loved her jovial and oblivious personality. I literally wanted to see more of her in this book even though I knew that, plot wise, she couldn’t make another appearance. I can also appreciate that there are moments in which every decision made has a consequence and the consequences seem to occur in a believable way. I don’t enjoy when certain things happen and then they’re not even so much as mentioned, but that’s not something I have to worry about with this book. Heck, I even appreciate the fact that Alan’s past didn’t get figured out in this book and it was used as a hint that there will be a sequel.
I enjoyed the humor, it wasn’t crude, it didn’t happen in inappropriate times, and didn’t seem like it was random. With the minimum age-range for this book being 11-12, the moments in which a character swears are never said what swear words are specifically being said, but the ways in which the swearing is described can sometimes be amusing, especially when Hijinks swears. Nobody knows what Ki-jirai swearing sounds like so it’s fun to try and imagine what sorts of swear words are worded. Some of the humor that physically happens to the characters reminds me of the humor that happens to characters in a cartoon or animated movie for young viewers, they are fun and light-hearted and can make you smile if that execution of humor suits your sense of humor.
The worldbuilding was interesting too, the settings were described in a way that makes you picture everything on what they look like as well as what life in space looks like. The technology is, of course, very futuristic which, yes, is to be expected of a sci-fi book that takes place in space, but some of the technology tends to make me think of sci-fi TV series like Star Trek and Star Wars (but without lightsabers). I was also relieved to know that there was a bit of plot in the story that explains why the book is called “In Between the Stars” which, for the purpose of not spoiling things, I will say that it is somewhat close to the end of the book in which one will get it. Expansion of the worldbuilding will be made in the sequel so there will be more to learn about what’s already in the first book and possibly more (though I’m not sure what all will be learned about from the first book other than additional information about the Izara and Ki-jirai).
Now, as much as I don’t enjoy typing out criticisms about anything, I still have to. One of the things I noticed is that there seems to be some pacing issues. There are moments in which it feels like the story is going by too fast or too slow, there wasn’t even enough time to explore more of Inan’s homeworld. Less than a third of the book takes place in Inan’s homeworld and even then, there isn’t a lot that is shown throughout the book. In fact, most of life on her homeplanet is told through Inan’s memories. I actually wanted to know more about Inan’s home through her current perspective before she had to leave and it just makes me wish there was more time to focus on it. There are some things that I feel like were executed a bit oddly, such as how a character that Alan apparently personally knew had died, but there was no indication of any sort of relation between these two until after she died; the information about their relation felt out of the blue for me when it wasn’t mentioned before she died. There’s also the issue with the races that made minor appearances in the book. I know this book isn’t supposed to be too long, but at the same time, whenever I read that a new one is introduced, I can’t help but want to learn more about them. To a degree, the book describes these races like they’re well known to us real people, which is the same issue when creatures in this universe are mentioned. The book mentions names of creatures that we are unfamiliar with and a lot of the time, not a lot is mentioned about them which can be hard for people who like to visualize what a creature would look like.
There’s also a bit of an issue regarding the antagonist of the book, Cochrane. Most of his appearances in the book revolves around how he wants to change the universe for the benefit of the human race, viewing himself as someone who could be a hero for his race for events that supposedly made humans oppressed. And while there is a moment in which a war was mentioned, there is very little information on why there was a war in the first place and I didn’t see any information in the book that indicated hints at what happened in the past, like what started the war, what happened during the war, and how the war ended. Every time Cochrane would go on about making things right for humanity, I couldn’t help but question every time on what specifically sparked his motivation to want to use the black disc, and it just makes me hope that there will be more answers on what happened in the sequel.
Additionally, something that I wish was in the book was what Inan’s brother’s name is. Every time he was mentioned, he was just addressed as “Inan’s brother”. It makes me wonder why it is that he doesn’t get a proper name (even when he made an appearance in the book) when her cousins got to have proper names too (or in the case of one of her cousins, a nickname). It makes me hope that he will make an appearance in the sequel so that he can have a proper name mentioned at the very least. Another thing I would like to recap is that Gloria is a minor character I really enjoyed, and with that, I wish she was in the book even a bit longer. Yes, the book would’ve turned out very differently if she stayed, but at the same time, this is more of a personal bias of mine since I love characters who are jovial and oblivious to serious situations.
Additional thoughts I have are that the word “alien” in this book is used in different contexts beside describing another race that’s unknown which is refreshing since using the word “alien” just to describe a race that’s viewed as unknown or not well known is overused, so even objects and even places are described as “alien”. Earlier I mentioned that there was inspiration in this book from certain video games, but there was a point in the book that really reminded me of video games when Inan had to make a certain decision between three options, and she hated all of these options because they were bad in a moral sense. It reminds me of video games that do this in which certain decisions they make will affect the outcome of the plot drastically, and it felt like Inan represented the player of a video game who complains about how she doesn’t like the options she’s given. Also, at the beginning of the book, I literally forgot that this was a sci-fi book up until a computer was mentioned. Up until that point, I ended up thinking that it was a fantasy book (mostly because I’m more used to reading fantasy).
Now I should also mention that because I have contacts with the author (A. A. Ripley), I received some goodies with the book and even had it signed, and she wanted me to review some of these extra goodies that she gave me as she wanted me to review them to see if they’re worth buying from her followers. I received four buttons, three of them have characters that are in the book while one is a star that doesn’t really have any appearances in the book but one thing for sure, just like the other three, this one looks amazing. The art on the buttons are beautifully detailed, the colors go well with each other and the backgrounds have beautiful gradients from a color to black and white specks for stars over them. Would I recommend this to A. A. Ripley’s followers? Absolutely! I don’t know what other sorts of merchandise will be available to promote this book, but I think they’re definitely worth purchasing. Buttons like these are especially great for those who like to collect them (like myself, I was very happy to see that I got four additional buttons to add to my collection, they’re even placed in a special spot that none of my other buttons are placed in). I also received a little 4 x 6 image of Inan holding a sign that says “Thank you” and I gotta say that I also love how it was drawn. And I wasn’t kidding when I said that her race was inspired by Argonians, those who are familiar with the Elder Scrolls games would agree that there are Argonian resemblances to her. I also had it framed because I felt that it deserved this. As for the signing, I had her address me by my username on Discord and the message she signed was, once again, a video game reference, this one also being from the Elder Scrolls (specifically Morrowind) which I thought was cool. But anyway, I say that the book is worth reading, and I def,initely recommend that people buy the merchandise because they are beautiful and worth the money!
November 20, 2018
Inan is on her way to fulfill her duty to her matriarchal society of lizard beings by being part of a marriage alliance when the space ship she is on goes up in flames. She escapes with the help of a steward, Hijinks, who is a purple-furred marsupial. The two are stuck in an escape pod until they are rescued. Unfortunately, their rescuers only proceed to imprison them. Escaping from their captors with the help of a human boy named Alan, Inan and Hijinks find themselves running across the universe trying to evade capture by pirates, figure out Alan’s origins, identify a small black disc, explore new planets and space stations, oh, and save the known universe from being rewritten.
Honestly, I asked to read this on NetGalley because I thought it was a graphic novel for some reason. It isn’t a graphic novel. It is an adventurous and exciting space adventure featuring three very different and unexpected friends thrown together by a series of crazy occurrences. The focus of this story is definitely the adventures that the three companions experience, rather than character building or even world building (though they do visit some very imaginative places). They go out of the frying pan and into the fire again and again on their tangled route to saving the known universe. And they are all three rather unlikely heroes. Inan is more of an insecure scholar and manager. Hijinks is a surprising jack of all trades, who also turns out to be a grandmother. (She was my favorite character.) Alan was raised by pirates but not tenderly and his only friend prior to meeting Hijinks and Inan was a slightly crazy AI personality. He’s tech savvy but not the best at navigating relationships. The problems the three face provide diversion but usually turn out easily solved. Which could be good or bad for you depending on what type of reader you are. If you like high action but little anxiety about how things will turn out, you’ll probably love it. If you like to see characters stalwartly work through tough spots, you may be disappointed. Due to the shortness of the book and all that happens, there’s a lot of jumping from one scene straight to the next with no segue or transition at breaks. Sometimes hours will pass in those breaks and other times bigger chunks of time. They frustrated me at first, especially as we were supposed to be getting to known Inan. I felt like I got whiplash as weeks suddenly were gone. Later I liked it better when it just seemed like we were joining our heroes for their next adventure and skipped all the boring days in between. It looks like this is the author’s first book and if there were one thing she could improve on, it would be in these transitions from one scene to the next. She’s definitely got plenty of imagination. Recommended if you like quick and zippy, imaginative scifi adventures that read somewhat like a TV series of episodes with one overarching plot.
Notes on Content [Based on ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content. Violence is threatened but there is actually relatively little on page for a scifi adventure. Deaths in ship catastrophes and past conflicts are mentioned or implied but not described. One non-gory death somewhat described. One somewhat gory death only very vaguely described.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I asked to read this on NetGalley because I thought it was a graphic novel for some reason. It isn’t a graphic novel. It is an adventurous and exciting space adventure featuring three very different and unexpected friends thrown together by a series of crazy occurrences. The focus of this story is definitely the adventures that the three companions experience, rather than character building or even world building (though they do visit some very imaginative places). They go out of the frying pan and into the fire again and again on their tangled route to saving the known universe. And they are all three rather unlikely heroes. Inan is more of an insecure scholar and manager. Hijinks is a surprising jack of all trades, who also turns out to be a grandmother. (She was my favorite character.) Alan was raised by pirates but not tenderly and his only friend prior to meeting Hijinks and Inan was a slightly crazy AI personality. He’s tech savvy but not the best at navigating relationships. The problems the three face provide diversion but usually turn out easily solved. Which could be good or bad for you depending on what type of reader you are. If you like high action but little anxiety about how things will turn out, you’ll probably love it. If you like to see characters stalwartly work through tough spots, you may be disappointed. Due to the shortness of the book and all that happens, there’s a lot of jumping from one scene straight to the next with no segue or transition at breaks. Sometimes hours will pass in those breaks and other times bigger chunks of time. They frustrated me at first, especially as we were supposed to be getting to known Inan. I felt like I got whiplash as weeks suddenly were gone. Later I liked it better when it just seemed like we were joining our heroes for their next adventure and skipped all the boring days in between. It looks like this is the author’s first book and if there were one thing she could improve on, it would be in these transitions from one scene to the next. She’s definitely got plenty of imagination. Recommended if you like quick and zippy, imaginative scifi adventures that read somewhat like a TV series of episodes with one overarching plot.
Notes on Content [Based on ARC]: No language issues. No sexual content. Violence is threatened but there is actually relatively little on page for a scifi adventure. Deaths in ship catastrophes and past conflicts are mentioned or implied but not described. One non-gory death somewhat described. One somewhat gory death only very vaguely described.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 12, 2018
I have very mixed feelings this book. That makes reviewing it somewhat uncomfortable.
Inan is a fun character. She’s not human and her society is different, but she rebels against their expectations in such a familiar way. Add Hijinks to the story and things get even more fun. Hijinks is an odd mix of tough and endearing that makes her a great sidekick for Inan. And both of them need to work together with human Alan to achieve their goals. There are a few great scenes where one relies heavily on the strengths of another and where they help each other face fears.
However, the opening of the book was a bit tricky. It started slow then played with time in a way that really didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t really get hooked until Hijinks was involved. Also the early things about her not being supposed to read books about the stars confused me when it was then quickly established that interplanetary travel was normal for her species. That setup and anxiety about the book made me expect a closed society that didn’t allow contact with other planets.
A part of me is very unhappy not to rave about this book. The character interactions were fun. The world had some interesting and creative pieces. The characters made choices that impacted what happened to them.
But… There’s always a but, isn’t there?
But the conclusion didn’t feel fully satisfying to me, although I’m likely more critical than the average reader. It tied up a big aspect of the plot, but I don’t feel like Inan and the others had enough character development in achieving the climax of the story. Instead of that happy full of story feeling when I think back over the reading experience, I feel a little let down. Like the potential the story had wasn’t fulfilled.
It doesn’t help that an aspect of the ending relied on a coincidental fix. Nor does the blatant hook for a sequel on the last page assist in making me remember it fondly. But it’s more than that, although I struggle to explain it, especially without adding spoilers.
I would definitely read more work from this author because the writing showed real talent for character and world. And I suspect a lot of other readers will have far more warm fuzzy feelings for this one than I, which is great. I just want a little bit more from my reading experience.
Overall I am only able to give this 3 stars.
Inan is a fun character. She’s not human and her society is different, but she rebels against their expectations in such a familiar way. Add Hijinks to the story and things get even more fun. Hijinks is an odd mix of tough and endearing that makes her a great sidekick for Inan. And both of them need to work together with human Alan to achieve their goals. There are a few great scenes where one relies heavily on the strengths of another and where they help each other face fears.
However, the opening of the book was a bit tricky. It started slow then played with time in a way that really didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t really get hooked until Hijinks was involved. Also the early things about her not being supposed to read books about the stars confused me when it was then quickly established that interplanetary travel was normal for her species. That setup and anxiety about the book made me expect a closed society that didn’t allow contact with other planets.
A part of me is very unhappy not to rave about this book. The character interactions were fun. The world had some interesting and creative pieces. The characters made choices that impacted what happened to them.
But… There’s always a but, isn’t there?
But the conclusion didn’t feel fully satisfying to me, although I’m likely more critical than the average reader. It tied up a big aspect of the plot, but I don’t feel like Inan and the others had enough character development in achieving the climax of the story. Instead of that happy full of story feeling when I think back over the reading experience, I feel a little let down. Like the potential the story had wasn’t fulfilled.
It doesn’t help that an aspect of the ending relied on a coincidental fix. Nor does the blatant hook for a sequel on the last page assist in making me remember it fondly. But it’s more than that, although I struggle to explain it, especially without adding spoilers.
I would definitely read more work from this author because the writing showed real talent for character and world. And I suspect a lot of other readers will have far more warm fuzzy feelings for this one than I, which is great. I just want a little bit more from my reading experience.
Overall I am only able to give this 3 stars.
May 24, 2019
I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I was not really sure about this book. IT was a little strange and it made me thing that time was all mixed up. I have to say that Hijinks was my favorite character. A big purple furball. The adventure to do what is asked of someone. I just wanted more, but could be is that I trying to read more in this genre and just not found my niche in it yet.
January 25, 2026
In Between the Stars is a sci-fi from an alien's perspective. Focusing on Anan, a sentient alien reptile as the main protagonist, the novel centres on Anan, Hijinks a marsupial and Alan a teenage boy, the book focuses on their adventures as they escape space pirates who are tracking them down.
The book has no numbered chapters but offers an interesting perspective and viewpoint. I also liked the settings and description, with purple woodlands on one of the worlds.
3.5 stars
The book has no numbered chapters but offers an interesting perspective and viewpoint. I also liked the settings and description, with purple woodlands on one of the worlds.
3.5 stars
November 10, 2018
The book is fantastic and has the unique dynamic story. I hope, I will hear about Inan's space adventures in the near future. The space opera wasn't my thing, but after that book, I have changed my mind.
December 5, 2018
I received an arc from netgalley. I really don't normally read space opera books but this book has changed my mind. Loved Inan and the gang. Can't wait for a sequence. Pretty please. Definitely recommend this book!
December 26, 2023
Bought this book at a London Comic Con a few years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The concept of it being an actual aliens perspective, rather than a human like being was refreshing and made for a really interesting perspective.
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