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Interstitial by Ann Somerville
Our science-fiction story opens as Sebastien ven Hester, captain of a commercial starship freighter, sets out on his next transport run. He has a problem. He and two subordinates have just fallen into a messy love triangle, and now they have to spend the next three weeks trapped together, coping with the usual hazards of space travel. What an awkward predicament!
The situation smoothly unfolds, giving us the technical details. We have faster-than-light-speed (FTL) technology with which to traverse the galaxy. Captains interact telepathically with sentient organisms implanted in their ships. Humanity is still recovering from a war years earlier with a carnivorous alien species known as the Karhal.
We also get the interpersonal details. Captain Seb, 38 years old and emotionally damaged by his combat experience in the Karhal war, is now reeling from the breakup of his marriage to a man with which he is still in love. Loneliness sabotages his better judgment right before the current voyage, and he sleeps with his pilot Jason North. Now 26 year-old North seethes with resentment towards him (for reasons you'll have to read about for yourself), and treads dangerously close to insubordination.
Meanwhile, twentysomething Jatila Kan, who is the ship's engineer, wonders why North has been growing so distant from her. They have great sex, but could he have possibly fallen in love with someone else? She's about to find out. Almost immediately the crew encounters an emergency situation that demands their utmost cooperation to survive at a time in which they've never been more divided against one another.
Interstitial, at 82 pages, works as an unpretentious space adventure on the one hand, and a character-driven drama on the other. The two aspects of the story complement one another: the space action provides an exciting plot, and the relationship tensions give the piece depth and human interest. The smooth, pared-down writing keeps the story fast-paced (though dialogue extends the epilogue a little too long for me).
Fans of erotica should know that you're only going to get one discreet sex scene (between the guys) shown in a couple of brief flashbacks. This is not a ménage à trois, but rather an emotional triangle between a homosexual captain, a bisexual pilot, and a heterosexual engineer. Seb is the emotional heart of the story, but it's fun to see the two younger characters (who get the funny lines) interacting with each other as well as struggling with the slight generational gap that separates them from their 38 year-old captain.
The science fiction details are numerous and well-placed from the weaponry on down to the environmental conditions on board the ship. You don't have to be a gear-head to understand the details, and they don't slow the pace, but they do make the setting vivid. (Note: there is a sequel, Synchronised. The author recommends you read Interstitial first for context. Look for Synchronised here.)
The mix within Interstitial of action-adventure and quirky characterization may remind readers of such beloved science fiction television series as Babylon 5, Firefly, and Farscape (Here at Obsidianbookshelf.com, I'm a big fan of all three in that order). Try it; I think you'll like it.
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