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Death of a Starship
In a distant future in which the empire of humanity has spread throughout the stars, the Xenic Bureau of the Grand Ekumenical Security Directorate investigates any hint of aliens, strange disappearances, or other anomalous events. When rumors spread of the mysterious reappearance of a long-lost battleship, a priest, an alien-killer, and a cashiered starship engineer find themselves caught up in a chase across the empire and into secrets better left forgotten.
- GenresScience Fiction
182 pages, Paperback
First published December 25, 2009
About the author
Jay Lake
239 books254 followersJay Lake lived in Portland, Oregon, where he worked on multiple writing and editing projects. His 2007 book Mainspring received a starred review in Booklist. His short fiction appeared regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Endeavour Award, and was a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 15, 2023
space operatics! future humanity belongs to two masters: the theocrats and the military, currently at truce. outside of this system are the independent mining communities in their haphazardly built asteroid lairs. the current obsession of the theocracy: who are the aliens among us, pulling our strings? the current obsession of the military: how to get more militarized, of course, wherever that path may lead... to aliens perhaps, or maybe to a long missing super-spaceship, lost a century before. both groups have a lot in common: arrogance, the ability to instill fear in the masses, and an interest in genetically mutated super-soldiers.
this was a dense little book with multiple protagonists, yet fast-paced and easy to read despite the wall-to-wall ideas. Jay Lake was an idiosyncratic writer with a lot on his mind. rest in peace, brother - you were taken too soon! this is one of those rare stories that could have gone on much longer. I didn't love the almost offhand nihilism and tragedy, but apparently a morbid outlook on the nature of humanity was a hallmark of this talented author.
this was a dense little book with multiple protagonists, yet fast-paced and easy to read despite the wall-to-wall ideas. Jay Lake was an idiosyncratic writer with a lot on his mind. rest in peace, brother - you were taken too soon! this is one of those rare stories that could have gone on much longer. I didn't love the almost offhand nihilism and tragedy, but apparently a morbid outlook on the nature of humanity was a hallmark of this talented author.
April 23, 2011
I finished reading Death of a Starship this afternoon. It’s a wonderful short novel. Classical SF set in the distant (?) future. It’s got starships traveling faster than light, enhanced people, a powerful Church on one side with a powerful Military on the (maybe) other and plain old folks trapped in between.
In time honoured tradition the novel starts with some deep background material from a hundred years previously then follows three apparently separate storylines in which we meet (in order): Chor Episcopos Jonah Menard, one of the Church’s leading experts on xenic (non-human?) intelligences; Golliwog, a soldier, surgically and cybernetically enhanced and barely human; and Micah Albrecht, an out of work c-drive engineer. Not too surprisingly, all the divergent story lines eventually converge.
Lake weaves an interesting story. Initially the switching between plot threads was a little confusing, but I’m not sure why. I’ve certainly read many other novels that take this approach; the length may have been an issue. This is a pretty short novel (less than 200 pages) and the switching can be pretty abrupt. In any case my confusion faded as the story shifted into higher gear.
One thing I enjoyed about the story is that even though we got to view the action from three different perspectives, we still didn’t really get to know what was going on. Menard (the priest/bishop) was hoping for a first contact with alien intelligence; Albrecht just wanted to get away from his troubles and back into space and thought there was some kind of insurance fraud involved; and Golliwog was mostly just following orders. As readers we don’t really know what the story is all about. It could be a story about first contact or about insurance (or some other kind of) fraud; or about fomenting a rebellion. Or perhaps all of the above.
I really enjoyed this book. This is the second book by Lake that I’ve read; the other, Rocket Science, was also quite enjoyable. Still on my to-read shelf are Mainspring and its two sequels, Escapement and Pinion. It’ll be interesting to see how Lake does with a much longer work.
I only have two minor complaints about Death of a Starship. First, it ends rather abruptly; I want to know what happens after. And, second, I want to know more about the universe of the story; some short stories or novellas set in the same universe would be welcome.
In time honoured tradition the novel starts with some deep background material from a hundred years previously then follows three apparently separate storylines in which we meet (in order): Chor Episcopos Jonah Menard, one of the Church’s leading experts on xenic (non-human?) intelligences; Golliwog, a soldier, surgically and cybernetically enhanced and barely human; and Micah Albrecht, an out of work c-drive engineer. Not too surprisingly, all the divergent story lines eventually converge.
Lake weaves an interesting story. Initially the switching between plot threads was a little confusing, but I’m not sure why. I’ve certainly read many other novels that take this approach; the length may have been an issue. This is a pretty short novel (less than 200 pages) and the switching can be pretty abrupt. In any case my confusion faded as the story shifted into higher gear.
One thing I enjoyed about the story is that even though we got to view the action from three different perspectives, we still didn’t really get to know what was going on. Menard (the priest/bishop) was hoping for a first contact with alien intelligence; Albrecht just wanted to get away from his troubles and back into space and thought there was some kind of insurance fraud involved; and Golliwog was mostly just following orders. As readers we don’t really know what the story is all about. It could be a story about first contact or about insurance (or some other kind of) fraud; or about fomenting a rebellion. Or perhaps all of the above.
I really enjoyed this book. This is the second book by Lake that I’ve read; the other, Rocket Science, was also quite enjoyable. Still on my to-read shelf are Mainspring and its two sequels, Escapement and Pinion. It’ll be interesting to see how Lake does with a much longer work.
I only have two minor complaints about Death of a Starship. First, it ends rather abruptly; I want to know what happens after. And, second, I want to know more about the universe of the story; some short stories or novellas set in the same universe would be welcome.
May 12, 2010
I loved this book. A fast read, it's filled with action and focuses on three well drawn lead characters. Jay Lake went to considerable effort to make them realistic, even consulting priests to make sure his portrayal of Father Menard was as accurate as he could make it.
The story of an investigation into the disappearance of a major battleship, the last of a type decommissioned years before in a quest for peace, a ship so powerful it could blow away half the current fleet by itself, Menard, a ship's mechanic, and Navy assassins find themselves on colliding trajectories which take them not only toward each other, but the ship and the long suspected aliens who caused it to crash. Menard's Xenic Bureau of the church has long been seeking proof of their existence, and Menard finds their infiltration is far deeper than he'd ever suspected.
Fast-paced, tightly written, a page turner. I almost couldn't put it down. I read 92 pages the first day and split the other pages only due to busyness in my schedule.
Highly recommended to anyone who likes scifi and especially solid space opera.
The story of an investigation into the disappearance of a major battleship, the last of a type decommissioned years before in a quest for peace, a ship so powerful it could blow away half the current fleet by itself, Menard, a ship's mechanic, and Navy assassins find themselves on colliding trajectories which take them not only toward each other, but the ship and the long suspected aliens who caused it to crash. Menard's Xenic Bureau of the church has long been seeking proof of their existence, and Menard finds their infiltration is far deeper than he'd ever suspected.
Fast-paced, tightly written, a page turner. I almost couldn't put it down. I read 92 pages the first day and split the other pages only due to busyness in my schedule.
Highly recommended to anyone who likes scifi and especially solid space opera.
November 4, 2013
3.5 stars.
This book was a bit difficult to get into at first. Once the story got going it was good, but had a lot more potential. The entire story felt a bit rushed and the author's use of similar foreign names for the two main characters led to a bit of character confusion toward the beginning of the book.
The narration wasn't bad. I would recommend this book, but it would come after a long list of other recommendations.
This book was a bit difficult to get into at first. Once the story got going it was good, but had a lot more potential. The entire story felt a bit rushed and the author's use of similar foreign names for the two main characters led to a bit of character confusion toward the beginning of the book.
The narration wasn't bad. I would recommend this book, but it would come after a long list of other recommendations.
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April 2, 2010This reminded me of classic golden age science fiction, with the plucky engineer dealing with space, aliens, bad guys, and buggy hardware. But updated from 50's era gender roles and such. Really enjoyed it.
January 7, 2019
A quick read. Something of a Dan Simmons vibe. The chief investigator is a "priest militant" of sorts. Trying to find a gigantic lost space battleship seems to be an obsession for everyone. Pretty interesting story.
December 18, 2018
A good quick story that ends a bit too soon for my liking. This universe is a great potential for a series but that doesn't appear to have developed.
July 15, 2013
Review to follow.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews