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Dark Space
Bestselling and acclaimed authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura join forces on Dark Space, a sweeping sci-fi spy thriller that blends the epic scope and character-driven spark of Star Trek with the intrigue of John le Carré’s Smiley novels.
If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he’s the pilot of the Mosaic—a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union’s first-ever mission to outside our solar system.
Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony’s international intelligence arm. Instead, she’s been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself—and maybe Carriles.
But when the Mosaic experiences a series of strange malfunctions and Carriles is forced to take a wild gamble to save the ship, he begins to suspect the reasons behind the exploratory mission weren’t exactly on the up and up.
At the same time, Timony’s old instincts kick in as she realizes the distress call she received from the Mosaic has been wiped without a trace.
As people start to end up dead and loyalties are tested, Timony and Carriles find themselves entangled in a star-spanning conspiracy that drags them through the darkest corners of their government—and their own personal failures—and face-to-face with a reckoning that could destroy humanity as we know it.
If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he’s the pilot of the Mosaic—a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union’s first-ever mission to outside our solar system.
Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony’s international intelligence arm. Instead, she’s been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself—and maybe Carriles.
But when the Mosaic experiences a series of strange malfunctions and Carriles is forced to take a wild gamble to save the ship, he begins to suspect the reasons behind the exploratory mission weren’t exactly on the up and up.
At the same time, Timony’s old instincts kick in as she realizes the distress call she received from the Mosaic has been wiped without a trace.
As people start to end up dead and loyalties are tested, Timony and Carriles find themselves entangled in a star-spanning conspiracy that drags them through the darkest corners of their government—and their own personal failures—and face-to-face with a reckoning that could destroy humanity as we know it.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published October 8, 2024
58 people are currently reading
3616 people want to read
About the author
Rob Hart
57 books1,036 followersRob Hart is the author of the USA TODAY bestseller ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS. He also wrote THE PARADOX HOTEL, which was nominated for. Lambda Literary Award, as well as THE WAREHOUSE, which has been sold in more than 20 countries. He also wrote the Ash McKenna crime series, the short story collection TAKE-OUT, the novella SCOTT FREE with James Patterson, and, with Alex Segura, the comic book BLOOD OATH and the novel DARK SPACE.
His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and "Take-Out," which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.
He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and class director at LitReactor. He lives in Jersey City.
His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and "Take-Out," which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.
He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and class director at LitReactor. He lives in Jersey City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
September 29, 2025
A space opera spy thriller with engaging dialogue. Themes are centering around the cost of leadership, and the difficult choices that must be made for survival. This addresses some serious moral dilemmas and I love it for that.
The complexity of the Mosaic (spaceship) and use of ultraviolet light for communication were science elements that added to the fun of this unique space opera.
4 Stars*
The complexity of the Mosaic (spaceship) and use of ultraviolet light for communication were science elements that added to the fun of this unique space opera.
4 Stars*
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January 6, 2025DNF at 50%
I love good science fiction or space opera novels. I love space exploration and humanity spreading to the other planets of our solar system before reaching for the stars. So this book should have been right up my alley, right? Well, I'm sad to say that it's been a massive disappointment instead.
The book is split into two POVs from two characters located in different places - one is on a starship going for an inhabitable planet orbiting another star, and the other is on the Moon. While I liked the Moon storyline well enough, the whole deal with the starship left me frustrated to indifferent.
I was frustrated with the absurdity of the premise and how all the characters behaved there. Are you telling me that the captain and most of the crew would choose to cover up an attempt to not only sabotage their mission but to destroy the ship and kill them all? That they would retract the transmission to Earth, falsify the investigation results, and act like those who question them are crazy or insubordinate? This makes no sense.
And when I wasn't frustrated with characters acting like stupid children, I was bored because I could care less for them. Because they have less substance than a cardboard cutout.
The conspiracy on the Moon was more interesting, even if the protagonist there wasn't very likable either but the main issue there is that I didn't buy into the premise or the stakes of the story.
The author hints that this is not the near future, so it's not like this is happening 20-30 years from now. Humanity has a functional base on the Moon. There is talk of space stations and even a foothold on Mars... yet we are still being divided along national lines? Why would a person born on the Moon care about Russia or US or China's interests versus the interests of the Moon?
In that respect, The Expanse series did politics so much better. Forget national interests. People defend and identify with places they are born in. That's why we have Earth and Mars at odds with each other, and the Belters squabble and scrape and never quite manage to unite. That makes sense. What we have in this book? Not so much.
In the end, I stopped reading because I realized that I didn't care to discover who tried to sabotage the mission or why. And I didn't care AT ALL about the first contact with an alien civilization whose individuals conveniently speak English. That the tepid interest I had in the Moon storyline didn't justify wasting more of my time on this book.
There are other excellent space opera books out there, but this one just isn't for me.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love good science fiction or space opera novels. I love space exploration and humanity spreading to the other planets of our solar system before reaching for the stars. So this book should have been right up my alley, right? Well, I'm sad to say that it's been a massive disappointment instead.
The book is split into two POVs from two characters located in different places - one is on a starship going for an inhabitable planet orbiting another star, and the other is on the Moon. While I liked the Moon storyline well enough, the whole deal with the starship left me frustrated to indifferent.
I was frustrated with the absurdity of the premise and how all the characters behaved there. Are you telling me that the captain and most of the crew would choose to cover up an attempt to not only sabotage their mission but to destroy the ship and kill them all? That they would retract the transmission to Earth, falsify the investigation results, and act like those who question them are crazy or insubordinate? This makes no sense.
And when I wasn't frustrated with characters acting like stupid children, I was bored because I could care less for them. Because they have less substance than a cardboard cutout.
The conspiracy on the Moon was more interesting, even if the protagonist there wasn't very likable either but the main issue there is that I didn't buy into the premise or the stakes of the story.
The author hints that this is not the near future, so it's not like this is happening 20-30 years from now. Humanity has a functional base on the Moon. There is talk of space stations and even a foothold on Mars... yet we are still being divided along national lines? Why would a person born on the Moon care about Russia or US or China's interests versus the interests of the Moon?
In that respect, The Expanse series did politics so much better. Forget national interests. People defend and identify with places they are born in. That's why we have Earth and Mars at odds with each other, and the Belters squabble and scrape and never quite manage to unite. That makes sense. What we have in this book? Not so much.
In the end, I stopped reading because I realized that I didn't care to discover who tried to sabotage the mission or why. And I didn't care AT ALL about the first contact with an alien civilization whose individuals conveniently speak English. That the tepid interest I had in the Moon storyline didn't justify wasting more of my time on this book.
There are other excellent space opera books out there, but this one just isn't for me.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 3, 2024
3.5 Stars
This is an enjoyable space opera mixed with a spy thriller. I found it an interesting blend of the two genres. This one had a strong start and ticked a lot of boxes that I look for in science fiction. It had a good story, made better by good characters. I liked this one but wanted it to be more memorable. For a futuristic story, I wish it felt more advanced. I was disappointed how grounded in the present it felt.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This is an enjoyable space opera mixed with a spy thriller. I found it an interesting blend of the two genres. This one had a strong start and ticked a lot of boxes that I look for in science fiction. It had a good story, made better by good characters. I liked this one but wanted it to be more memorable. For a futuristic story, I wish it felt more advanced. I was disappointed how grounded in the present it felt.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
November 8, 2024
The nitty-gritty: A high-stakes space opera with political intrigue, Dark Space succeeded in the first half, but lost me in the second.
I had very high expectations for Dark Space, simply because Rob Hart co-wrote the book. So it pains me to say this was a mixed bag for me and didn’t even come close to Hart’s brilliant Assassins Anonymous. I’m guessing it’s because there are two authors, and for me their styles and writing skills didn’t mesh very well. Still, I did have fun with this story, especially the first half, and it has a lot of elements I love, but I think going in with realistic expectations might be the key to really enjoying it.
The story alternates between two main characters. Jose Carriles is a pilot assigned to the Mosaic, a ship heading away from Earth to a new planet. Carriles got the job after the first pilot died during a training exercise, and because of this, the crew isn’t completely thrilled that he’s flying the ship. When three of the ship’s main systems suddenly fail at the same time, Carriles suspects that something is going on. And when he sends a distress signal back to New Destiny, he finds out later that his message has been deleted.
Back on space station New Destiny, we meet Corin Timony, former spy for Bazaar who has been demoted to desk jockey following an unfortunate incident involving illegal drugs. One day Corin receives a message on the “wire,” the quantum device that allows instantaneous communication with the Mosaic. The Mosaic is in trouble, it’s engines have failed, and they are quickly loosing their shields. But oddly, only moments later another message comes in saying to ignore the first one. Corin doesn’t know what to make of it, and her experience as a spy propels her to start asking questions. Her friend Carriles is up there, and now she’s worried that something terrible has happened.
The authors bounce back and forth between Timony and Carriles as they both realize something foul is afoot with the Mosaic and its mission to the new planet. The stakes are very high, especially up in space as Carriles is trying to figure a way to save them as their shields continue to drop. Once the ship is more or less safe, though, Carriles realizes there is a conspiracy going on, and it involves the captain of the ship. The fact that there is a Chinese contingency on board the Mosaic adds some drama, as the Americans and Chinese start to turn on each other.
From Timony’s POV, we learn what happened to her before she was demoted and experience her frustration with not being able to do the job she’s so good at. We also meet Slade, the woman who took her place and appears to be doing a better job than Timony, which is another source of frustration. Still, Slade and Timony end up working together to not only figure out what’s happening on the Mosaic, but to dig into the death of the first Mosaic pilot. Yes, everything is intertwined, and I thought so many of these details were well done. And I loved the spy subplot, probably even more than what was happening up in space.
So what didn’t work for me? As I mentioned, the first half of the book is very solid. But the second half felt as if the authors were rushing to finish it, and there were too many instances of what felt like lazy writing, unrealistic coincidences, and problems that were way too easily resolved. The story is packed with quite a bit going on, but everything in the second half felt rushed. For example (small spoiler ahead), it turns out there are aliens on the planet, who conveniently look “almost” human and speak perfect English, not to mention they are well versed in popular culture. The sections involving the aliens were probably my least favorite in the whole book, since they came across as silly and clichéd. If the first contact plot had been given more time to develop and wasn’t so rushed, I would have bought it, but the way the story stands now it was sort of ridiculous.
The writing is inconsistent as well, which doesn’t surprise me because there are two different writers. But really that’s no excuse. I found so many awkwardly written sentences and instances of bad dialog, and unfortunately it gave the story an amateurish feel.
But for a space thriller, it definitely has some good moments. The authors address some interesting themes like should a species be judged based on their worst members---those who are hateful and violent? Or should concessions be given for a species willing to change for the better? Readers will have lots to think about while they enjoy the fast-paced thriller parts of the story.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
I had very high expectations for Dark Space, simply because Rob Hart co-wrote the book. So it pains me to say this was a mixed bag for me and didn’t even come close to Hart’s brilliant Assassins Anonymous. I’m guessing it’s because there are two authors, and for me their styles and writing skills didn’t mesh very well. Still, I did have fun with this story, especially the first half, and it has a lot of elements I love, but I think going in with realistic expectations might be the key to really enjoying it.
The story alternates between two main characters. Jose Carriles is a pilot assigned to the Mosaic, a ship heading away from Earth to a new planet. Carriles got the job after the first pilot died during a training exercise, and because of this, the crew isn’t completely thrilled that he’s flying the ship. When three of the ship’s main systems suddenly fail at the same time, Carriles suspects that something is going on. And when he sends a distress signal back to New Destiny, he finds out later that his message has been deleted.
Back on space station New Destiny, we meet Corin Timony, former spy for Bazaar who has been demoted to desk jockey following an unfortunate incident involving illegal drugs. One day Corin receives a message on the “wire,” the quantum device that allows instantaneous communication with the Mosaic. The Mosaic is in trouble, it’s engines have failed, and they are quickly loosing their shields. But oddly, only moments later another message comes in saying to ignore the first one. Corin doesn’t know what to make of it, and her experience as a spy propels her to start asking questions. Her friend Carriles is up there, and now she’s worried that something terrible has happened.
The authors bounce back and forth between Timony and Carriles as they both realize something foul is afoot with the Mosaic and its mission to the new planet. The stakes are very high, especially up in space as Carriles is trying to figure a way to save them as their shields continue to drop. Once the ship is more or less safe, though, Carriles realizes there is a conspiracy going on, and it involves the captain of the ship. The fact that there is a Chinese contingency on board the Mosaic adds some drama, as the Americans and Chinese start to turn on each other.
From Timony’s POV, we learn what happened to her before she was demoted and experience her frustration with not being able to do the job she’s so good at. We also meet Slade, the woman who took her place and appears to be doing a better job than Timony, which is another source of frustration. Still, Slade and Timony end up working together to not only figure out what’s happening on the Mosaic, but to dig into the death of the first Mosaic pilot. Yes, everything is intertwined, and I thought so many of these details were well done. And I loved the spy subplot, probably even more than what was happening up in space.
So what didn’t work for me? As I mentioned, the first half of the book is very solid. But the second half felt as if the authors were rushing to finish it, and there were too many instances of what felt like lazy writing, unrealistic coincidences, and problems that were way too easily resolved. The story is packed with quite a bit going on, but everything in the second half felt rushed. For example (small spoiler ahead), it turns out there are aliens on the planet, who conveniently look “almost” human and speak perfect English, not to mention they are well versed in popular culture. The sections involving the aliens were probably my least favorite in the whole book, since they came across as silly and clichéd. If the first contact plot had been given more time to develop and wasn’t so rushed, I would have bought it, but the way the story stands now it was sort of ridiculous.
The writing is inconsistent as well, which doesn’t surprise me because there are two different writers. But really that’s no excuse. I found so many awkwardly written sentences and instances of bad dialog, and unfortunately it gave the story an amateurish feel.
But for a space thriller, it definitely has some good moments. The authors address some interesting themes like should a species be judged based on their worst members---those who are hateful and violent? Or should concessions be given for a species willing to change for the better? Readers will have lots to think about while they enjoy the fast-paced thriller parts of the story.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
October 10, 2024
If you love the space exploration of Star Trek and the spy intrigue of Andor, well... you've already seen anything this book has to offer. Nothing really new, nothing really original. US vs Russia and China again. Big conspiracy by the menacing corporation. Mysteries that can only be solved by the main characters because they're the only ones gifted with the bare minimum of personality.
I feel like both authors half-assed their parts hoping it would equal a whole ass, but sadly book math doesn't work that way.
I feel like both authors half-assed their parts hoping it would equal a whole ass, but sadly book math doesn't work that way.
September 4, 2024
Blackstone Publishing provided an early galley for review.
Every now and again, I like to dive into a sci-fi novel about space as it was a genre I read a lot of in my teens. Having enjoyed an earlier novel by Segura, this one caught my eye.
Interestingly enough, this novel has two writers which I always find to be an intriguing exercise. Can I tell the difference between their two styles? (I could not.) Do their styles mesh well together? (They do.) The story itself is split between two main protagonists in two different locations which probably made their work a bit easier (assuming they each took one narrative path, which I am not sure if they did or not).
However, the narrative ping-pong really did not work for me here. While each storyline moved along and eventually came together to a satisfying conclusion, I found myself frustrated by being invested in one only to be jerked back to the other. That took some of the luster off of the book for me.
Every now and again, I like to dive into a sci-fi novel about space as it was a genre I read a lot of in my teens. Having enjoyed an earlier novel by Segura, this one caught my eye.
Interestingly enough, this novel has two writers which I always find to be an intriguing exercise. Can I tell the difference between their two styles? (I could not.) Do their styles mesh well together? (They do.) The story itself is split between two main protagonists in two different locations which probably made their work a bit easier (assuming they each took one narrative path, which I am not sure if they did or not).
However, the narrative ping-pong really did not work for me here. While each storyline moved along and eventually came together to a satisfying conclusion, I found myself frustrated by being invested in one only to be jerked back to the other. That took some of the luster off of the book for me.
October 15, 2024
I adore author Rob Hart's books, and this one gave me epic The Last War vibes, so that is kind of all you need to know, yeah? No? Okay fine. I'll try to do better. So the story is told on two fronts: Corin Timony's, back in our solar system, and Jose Carriles's on a ship in, well, you guessed it, deep space. These two have a past, but that is part of the story so you can figure it out for yourselves. They also are both grieving, as Timony lost her lover, who Carriles replaced (unfairly, in her opinion) on this mission, and Carriles has lost his mother, and basically everyone's respect.
But as the ship Carriles is piloting heads to the edge of the known universe, Timony is finding that things are not adding up back at home. Communications are being deleted, and she's getting straight answers from no one. Meanwhile, Carriles is facing all kinds of problems on the ship, and these seem very fishy, too. It's a race against time and power to see if they can save each other, save humanity, even. And it is definitely a ride! There were a few points, especially in the first half of the book, that felt a wee bit long, but that is a minor gripe. Overall, I adored this one, because the stakes are epically high, I love anything that gives me The 100 vibes, and I really loved that the characters were able to grow even during these harrowing times. I think the mix of action and adventure and personal relationships was great, and I am glad I got to read this one- and be introduced to a new great author via one I already loved!
Bottom Line: Loved the adventure, the power struggles, the commentary, and the characters! Definitely a win.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
But as the ship Carriles is piloting heads to the edge of the known universe, Timony is finding that things are not adding up back at home. Communications are being deleted, and she's getting straight answers from no one. Meanwhile, Carriles is facing all kinds of problems on the ship, and these seem very fishy, too. It's a race against time and power to see if they can save each other, save humanity, even. And it is definitely a ride! There were a few points, especially in the first half of the book, that felt a wee bit long, but that is a minor gripe. Overall, I adored this one, because the stakes are epically high, I love anything that gives me The 100 vibes, and I really loved that the characters were able to grow even during these harrowing times. I think the mix of action and adventure and personal relationships was great, and I am glad I got to read this one- and be introduced to a new great author via one I already loved!
Bottom Line: Loved the adventure, the power struggles, the commentary, and the characters! Definitely a win.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
April 18, 2025
A decent Cold War spy thriller set in the future
October 31, 2024
The main characters are the stars of this fast-moving and fun story of political intrigue set in space. The two are separated by a vast distance, but also by anger and self-loathing, and are instrumental in stopping a plot that could have terrible consequences for humanity.
The US, China and Russia banded together to create the Interstellar Union and established the colony New Destiny further out in the solar system. But thanks to the same behaviour that has damaged Earth, New Destiny is slowly collapsing, though this isn't made common knowledge.
Jose Carriles is the son of a senator, and able to easily pick up skills. He is a gifted pilot, and was selected for the Mosaic, a huge ship taking the Interstellar Union's first mission out of the solar system.
He and Corin Timony had become best friends as children, and Adan joined the circle later, in school, with Adan, and Corin getting engaged to be married. Their friendship fell apart when both Jose and Corin got into trouble, with Adan distancing himself from the other two, and Jose unwilling to support Timony. Corin spiraled downwards, getting regularly drunk and messing up her career.
Timony had been an agent with the Bazaar, which was an espionage organization created and staffed by the US, China and Russia. While an agent, Corin learned many, useful, deadly skills, and mentored other agents.
At the novel's open, far from Earth, the Mosaic suffers multiple failures, and it's only Jose's very quick thinking and a daring plan that saves the ship, and they manage to get to their destination, an Earth-like planet.
Prior to implementing his plan, Jose had sent an urgent message back home through the wire, a highly advanced piece of tech using quantum computing, alerting officials of multiple system failures on the Mosaic. Just as Timony deciphers this message, she's strongly urged to ignore it, twice. Being contrary, and alert to the strangeness of the situation, Timony begins digging into things, just as Jose is noticing a number of alarming things going on where he is, from behaviours of some on board, to the planet they're interested in settling.
Pretty soon, everything Jose and Timony believe is upended, and things begin happening very quickly, and violently. The two authors, Rob Hart and Alex Segura, keep the tension and action amped up, jumping back and forth between Jose's and Timony's perspectives, as each learns of the precarious situation on New Destiny and the new colonization effort, and what is at stake with the mission. Both leads are targeted, and have to get past their guilt and anger, and the politically-motivated obstructionist actions of others to find ways to deal with the messes occurring around them.
I totally enjoyed this story, from its sympathetic leads, to its political intrigue and to its action. The story literally begins with the bang, and just keeps going, delivering necessary information and backstory as needed and keeping the energy high and exciting.
The ending left me satisfied, but also eager for more stories in the compelling world the two authors have created.
I switched back and forth between the text and the audiobook, which is capably narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon & Nicol Zanzarella. Each wonderfully captures the emotions of the two leads, and also distinguishing these well from other characters' voices. I was captured by the narrative by the two voice actors, who made me care a lot about Jose and Timony.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Blackstone Publishing and Blackstone Publishing-Audiobooks for the ARCs in exchange for my review.
The US, China and Russia banded together to create the Interstellar Union and established the colony New Destiny further out in the solar system. But thanks to the same behaviour that has damaged Earth, New Destiny is slowly collapsing, though this isn't made common knowledge.
Jose Carriles is the son of a senator, and able to easily pick up skills. He is a gifted pilot, and was selected for the Mosaic, a huge ship taking the Interstellar Union's first mission out of the solar system.
He and Corin Timony had become best friends as children, and Adan joined the circle later, in school, with Adan, and Corin getting engaged to be married. Their friendship fell apart when both Jose and Corin got into trouble, with Adan distancing himself from the other two, and Jose unwilling to support Timony. Corin spiraled downwards, getting regularly drunk and messing up her career.
Timony had been an agent with the Bazaar, which was an espionage organization created and staffed by the US, China and Russia. While an agent, Corin learned many, useful, deadly skills, and mentored other agents.
At the novel's open, far from Earth, the Mosaic suffers multiple failures, and it's only Jose's very quick thinking and a daring plan that saves the ship, and they manage to get to their destination, an Earth-like planet.
Prior to implementing his plan, Jose had sent an urgent message back home through the wire, a highly advanced piece of tech using quantum computing, alerting officials of multiple system failures on the Mosaic. Just as Timony deciphers this message, she's strongly urged to ignore it, twice. Being contrary, and alert to the strangeness of the situation, Timony begins digging into things, just as Jose is noticing a number of alarming things going on where he is, from behaviours of some on board, to the planet they're interested in settling.
Pretty soon, everything Jose and Timony believe is upended, and things begin happening very quickly, and violently. The two authors, Rob Hart and Alex Segura, keep the tension and action amped up, jumping back and forth between Jose's and Timony's perspectives, as each learns of the precarious situation on New Destiny and the new colonization effort, and what is at stake with the mission. Both leads are targeted, and have to get past their guilt and anger, and the politically-motivated obstructionist actions of others to find ways to deal with the messes occurring around them.
I totally enjoyed this story, from its sympathetic leads, to its political intrigue and to its action. The story literally begins with the bang, and just keeps going, delivering necessary information and backstory as needed and keeping the energy high and exciting.
The ending left me satisfied, but also eager for more stories in the compelling world the two authors have created.
I switched back and forth between the text and the audiobook, which is capably narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon & Nicol Zanzarella. Each wonderfully captures the emotions of the two leads, and also distinguishing these well from other characters' voices. I was captured by the narrative by the two voice actors, who made me care a lot about Jose and Timony.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Blackstone Publishing and Blackstone Publishing-Audiobooks for the ARCs in exchange for my review.
February 2, 2025
A high stakes scifi political thriller has more twists and turns than a Chubby Checkers song
Set in the near future, where Earth has been ruined by human greed and ignorance. Humans have colonised some of our solar system. This fast paced story is told by two separate protagonists separated by light years.
Jose Carriles, son of a Martian senator, is the pilot of the spaceship Mosaic, heading towards a new habitable planet. When things start to go wrong, Carriles sends a distress message back to New Destiny.
Corin Timony is a disgraced spy, demoted to a desk job on the moon colony of New Destiny intercepts the call, then told by her superiors to ignore the message.
Both Carriles and Timony work opposite ends of the problem, both realising nothing is as it seems...
Co-authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura weave an intriguing space mystery that keeps you coming back for more.
Set in the near future, where Earth has been ruined by human greed and ignorance. Humans have colonised some of our solar system. This fast paced story is told by two separate protagonists separated by light years.
Jose Carriles, son of a Martian senator, is the pilot of the spaceship Mosaic, heading towards a new habitable planet. When things start to go wrong, Carriles sends a distress message back to New Destiny.
Corin Timony is a disgraced spy, demoted to a desk job on the moon colony of New Destiny intercepts the call, then told by her superiors to ignore the message.
Both Carriles and Timony work opposite ends of the problem, both realising nothing is as it seems...
Co-authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura weave an intriguing space mystery that keeps you coming back for more.
May 6, 2024
Solid 3 stars, maybe a half extra star for intriguing use of smoke.
A short read that sucked me in every time I picked it up. The primary question (as I see it): what’s more important, saving humanity at any cost - or making sure to save humanity’s soul? To answer this question, you’ll ride along as our two main characters fight bad guys, good guys, and advanced guys - while facing a countdown that could eliminate the human species entirely.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.)
A short read that sucked me in every time I picked it up. The primary question (as I see it): what’s more important, saving humanity at any cost - or making sure to save humanity’s soul? To answer this question, you’ll ride along as our two main characters fight bad guys, good guys, and advanced guys - while facing a countdown that could eliminate the human species entirely.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.)
October 20, 2024
It’s funny that Dark Space makes reference to John Le Carré’s The Constant Gardner as I actually found more similarities between this and Le Carré’s Smiley’s People and The Mission Song. But I digress. Dark Space is an action-packed space epic brimming with great twists and turns, a propulsive narrative, and a tension packed climax that felt ripped out of the real world Cuban Missile Crisis. While the ending may be predictable, Dark Space executes everything one could hope for with a sci-fi espionage tale. Rob Hart and Alex Segura deliver an interstellar knockout.
January 10, 2025
This was a really interesting mixture of a Star Trek episode, a classic hardboiled detective story, and a spy thriller. One of the main characters was a little Messy™ for my taste, but I still enjoyed it!
January 21, 2025
A Genre Bending Sci-Fi Action Epic
Such a great sci-fi novel, full of intrigue, mystery, action, diplomacy, backstabbing, spies, it had everything and I loved every minute I spent reading it! Both authors are on my must buy list after this.
Such a great sci-fi novel, full of intrigue, mystery, action, diplomacy, backstabbing, spies, it had everything and I loved every minute I spent reading it! Both authors are on my must buy list after this.
December 7, 2024
This book took me by surprise.
A sci-fi spy thriller with some great plot twists and elements.
A sci-fi spy thriller with some great plot twists and elements.
April 24, 2025
I was skeptical, but I really enjoyed the little twist and the split perspectives of the protagonists. Good read and nice story with a couple twists.
May 20, 2025
A solid, engaging audiobook that evokes the best parts of Star Trek and other SF ship-based series.
October 12, 2024
Who knew there was a subgenre of science fiction that is basically espionage in space? Turns out, it’s a real category and it’s great! The novel Dark Space by Rob Hart and Alex Segura drew me in with the synopsis-and it delivered. The story is told with two different perspectives, one pilot in space and one government agent on the moon. Scary situations are occurring in both narratives but neither person can figure out what is going on and why they are being steered in different directions. From the beginning this space mystery goes at a pretty adventurous speed, but at about 35% in- it really gets going. With a sprinkling of spy tech and tactics, hidden enemies and even first contact, this novel has all the science fiction ingredients I love. I hope these authors keep combining their skills because they worked together to create one of my favorite novels this year. If you like Mission Impossible movies and stories that are like puzzles, you may love this book! Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a chance to read this earc in return for my honest opinion.
October 21, 2024
“Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise …”
Those immortal words from the opening of every “Star Trek” episode launched many films, spinoffs, and reboots in the 60 years since the original series began. They also inspired hundreds of authors to use Star Trek’s vision of the future as the launching pad for their own works. Authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura dipped into the “Star Trek” canon as one inspiration for their recent novel, “Dark Space.” However, they reversed the series’ premise. Instead of an interplanetary federation boldly going where no man has gone before, in the authors’ book, a spaceship from Earth seeks out a similar collective on its home soil. That’s just one of the fascinating premises in “Dark Space.” The book combines action, intrigue, and speculative science fiction in one entertaining package.
“Dark Space” takes place several hundred years in an almost dystopian future. Earth is almost uninhabitable because of environmental excesses, and the lucky ones now live on New Destiny. It’s a lunar colony that’s loosely ruled by the United States, Russia, and China operating in what appears to be an uneasy informal alliance. New Destiny boasts “neighborhoods” like Texas 2 and Little Havana that are intended to evoke memories of a happier time on Earth. However, there doesn’t seem to be a centralized government. Instead, law and order in New Destiny are maintained by the Bazaar, which appears to be a cross between a multinational CIA and FBI. New Destiny is already exhibiting the same structural wear and tear that has nearly decimated the Earth. Fortunately, the national powers have discovered another planet outside the solar system capable of sustaining life. As “Dark Space” begins, a ship called the Mosaic, with an American and Chinese crew (the Russians begged out), is on a several-month journey to the planet dubbed Esparar to determine if it’s suitable for colonization.
The main characters in “Dark Space” are Jose Carriles, the pilot of the Mosaic, and his old friend, Corin Timony, a former Bazaar agent on New Destiny. The book is told from their perspective, in alternating third-person narrative chapters. They have a long history of a friendship that went very sour. To make some extra money, Carriles once sold Timony some drugs. When he was busted, he then informed on her. Because Carriles came from an influential family, he got a slap on the wrist. However, Timony lost her agent status and was demoted to admin work.
As the Mosaic approaches Esparar, Carriles and Timony, working separately, realize the Mosaic’s mission isn’t what it seems. Esparar is inhabited by a highly advanced species of aliens belonging to an interplanetary confederation called the Mutual. Specific individuals on New Destiny and the Mosaic are determined to get the resources and technology Earth needs from the Mutual, one way or another.
Unlike my comments in this review, the authors do not dump their intricately thought-out futuristic universe on readers all at once. Instead, they take a page from a movie script, starting the story with a crisis on the Mosaic (including a figurative ticking clock) that threatens the entire ship. Non-spoiler: Carriles saves the ship (or this would be a ten-page short story instead of a 300-page novel). From that moment on, “Dark Space” has a lot of action, both in space and on New Destiny. Carriles and Timony frequently engage in both armed and unarmed combat. (Timony’s Bazaar training allows her to grapple with formidable opponents.) The book has enough action to satisfy almost any space opera fan.
However, “Dark Space” is more complex than a mere good guys vs. bad guys story. Readers must figure out who the good and bad guys are, just as Carriles and Timony do. This book has spies, traitors, double and triple agents, hidden agendas, and a complex international and interplanetary political storyline. Many characters are not what they first seem, as Carriles and Timony learn, often to their detriment. Friends turn out to be enemies, and enemies wind up being allies. In other words, “Dark Space” also has the elements of a good espionage novel.
The science fiction elements of the novel are interesting but basic. “Dark Space” reverses the “Star Trek” theme of an interplanetary union exploring and enlightening new civilizations. Here, the people of Earth seek the Mutual with an agenda that doesn’t always hold up logically (but makes for an exciting book). The result is a plot that echoes some of the simplistic themes often occurring in “Star Trek” episodes. Those stories entertained 1960s TV viewers, but 21st-century science fiction readers expect greater insight and sophistication.
Nor is the backstory of societal decay on both Earth and New Destiny as interesting as it should be. I had a hard time picturing how lunar colonies could provide even a short-term solution to the overcrowding and diminishing resources mentioned in the book. However, the book does an excellent job of making Carriles and Timony flawed but decent three-dimensional characters. (Although I doubt that any law enforcement agency on the Earth or the moon would cashier an agent for drug abuse while conveniently allowing her access to the type of top-secret data needed to drive the plot.) I especially appreciated the depiction of Timony as a recovering drug addict. She made mistakes and poor decisions and was trying to work through them. Her recovery is hindered by her getting into a life-or-death situation, but I could appreciate the care the authors took in establishing her character.
“Dark Space” is a rollicking space opera with a complex plot filled with twists and surprise revelations. The action is riveting sometimes, and readers will enjoy figuring out who’s who in the book. The science fiction elements are often at the level of average “Star Trek” episodes, but they don’t detract from the story’s pace and entertainment value. “Dark Space” should find its space on many science fiction fans’ bookshelves.
NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.
Those immortal words from the opening of every “Star Trek” episode launched many films, spinoffs, and reboots in the 60 years since the original series began. They also inspired hundreds of authors to use Star Trek’s vision of the future as the launching pad for their own works. Authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura dipped into the “Star Trek” canon as one inspiration for their recent novel, “Dark Space.” However, they reversed the series’ premise. Instead of an interplanetary federation boldly going where no man has gone before, in the authors’ book, a spaceship from Earth seeks out a similar collective on its home soil. That’s just one of the fascinating premises in “Dark Space.” The book combines action, intrigue, and speculative science fiction in one entertaining package.
“Dark Space” takes place several hundred years in an almost dystopian future. Earth is almost uninhabitable because of environmental excesses, and the lucky ones now live on New Destiny. It’s a lunar colony that’s loosely ruled by the United States, Russia, and China operating in what appears to be an uneasy informal alliance. New Destiny boasts “neighborhoods” like Texas 2 and Little Havana that are intended to evoke memories of a happier time on Earth. However, there doesn’t seem to be a centralized government. Instead, law and order in New Destiny are maintained by the Bazaar, which appears to be a cross between a multinational CIA and FBI. New Destiny is already exhibiting the same structural wear and tear that has nearly decimated the Earth. Fortunately, the national powers have discovered another planet outside the solar system capable of sustaining life. As “Dark Space” begins, a ship called the Mosaic, with an American and Chinese crew (the Russians begged out), is on a several-month journey to the planet dubbed Esparar to determine if it’s suitable for colonization.
The main characters in “Dark Space” are Jose Carriles, the pilot of the Mosaic, and his old friend, Corin Timony, a former Bazaar agent on New Destiny. The book is told from their perspective, in alternating third-person narrative chapters. They have a long history of a friendship that went very sour. To make some extra money, Carriles once sold Timony some drugs. When he was busted, he then informed on her. Because Carriles came from an influential family, he got a slap on the wrist. However, Timony lost her agent status and was demoted to admin work.
As the Mosaic approaches Esparar, Carriles and Timony, working separately, realize the Mosaic’s mission isn’t what it seems. Esparar is inhabited by a highly advanced species of aliens belonging to an interplanetary confederation called the Mutual. Specific individuals on New Destiny and the Mosaic are determined to get the resources and technology Earth needs from the Mutual, one way or another.
Unlike my comments in this review, the authors do not dump their intricately thought-out futuristic universe on readers all at once. Instead, they take a page from a movie script, starting the story with a crisis on the Mosaic (including a figurative ticking clock) that threatens the entire ship. Non-spoiler: Carriles saves the ship (or this would be a ten-page short story instead of a 300-page novel). From that moment on, “Dark Space” has a lot of action, both in space and on New Destiny. Carriles and Timony frequently engage in both armed and unarmed combat. (Timony’s Bazaar training allows her to grapple with formidable opponents.) The book has enough action to satisfy almost any space opera fan.
However, “Dark Space” is more complex than a mere good guys vs. bad guys story. Readers must figure out who the good and bad guys are, just as Carriles and Timony do. This book has spies, traitors, double and triple agents, hidden agendas, and a complex international and interplanetary political storyline. Many characters are not what they first seem, as Carriles and Timony learn, often to their detriment. Friends turn out to be enemies, and enemies wind up being allies. In other words, “Dark Space” also has the elements of a good espionage novel.
The science fiction elements of the novel are interesting but basic. “Dark Space” reverses the “Star Trek” theme of an interplanetary union exploring and enlightening new civilizations. Here, the people of Earth seek the Mutual with an agenda that doesn’t always hold up logically (but makes for an exciting book). The result is a plot that echoes some of the simplistic themes often occurring in “Star Trek” episodes. Those stories entertained 1960s TV viewers, but 21st-century science fiction readers expect greater insight and sophistication.
Nor is the backstory of societal decay on both Earth and New Destiny as interesting as it should be. I had a hard time picturing how lunar colonies could provide even a short-term solution to the overcrowding and diminishing resources mentioned in the book. However, the book does an excellent job of making Carriles and Timony flawed but decent three-dimensional characters. (Although I doubt that any law enforcement agency on the Earth or the moon would cashier an agent for drug abuse while conveniently allowing her access to the type of top-secret data needed to drive the plot.) I especially appreciated the depiction of Timony as a recovering drug addict. She made mistakes and poor decisions and was trying to work through them. Her recovery is hindered by her getting into a life-or-death situation, but I could appreciate the care the authors took in establishing her character.
“Dark Space” is a rollicking space opera with a complex plot filled with twists and surprise revelations. The action is riveting sometimes, and readers will enjoy figuring out who’s who in the book. The science fiction elements are often at the level of average “Star Trek” episodes, but they don’t detract from the story’s pace and entertainment value. “Dark Space” should find its space on many science fiction fans’ bookshelves.
NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.
April 23, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Interstellar conspiracies, government politics and first contact all come together in this new collaboration. I was already a Rob Hart fan from The Warehouse, Hotel Paradox and the upcoming Assassins Anonymous so I jumped at the chance to read a new scifi book.
The plot picks up pretty quickly and is jumps back and forth between Jose Carilles on the Mosaic that is visiting the first planet outside the solar system and Corin Timony back home at New Destiny, a world created when we wore out Earth and is already being stretched to limitations. As we slowly learn about Corin and Jose's backgrounds they both narrowly escape death and independently start investigating why things are falling apart around them.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story and it came together great in the end with a very satisfying climax. There is definitely a lot more to explore in this world Hart and Segura have built and I hope this is the start of a series.
Interstellar conspiracies, government politics and first contact all come together in this new collaboration. I was already a Rob Hart fan from The Warehouse, Hotel Paradox and the upcoming Assassins Anonymous so I jumped at the chance to read a new scifi book.
The plot picks up pretty quickly and is jumps back and forth between Jose Carilles on the Mosaic that is visiting the first planet outside the solar system and Corin Timony back home at New Destiny, a world created when we wore out Earth and is already being stretched to limitations. As we slowly learn about Corin and Jose's backgrounds they both narrowly escape death and independently start investigating why things are falling apart around them.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story and it came together great in the end with a very satisfying climax. There is definitely a lot more to explore in this world Hart and Segura have built and I hope this is the start of a series.
October 27, 2024
2.5 rounded down
i wanted to like this book a lot more, but it just felt kind of. pointless to be set in space, almost. which sucks to say because i do think it did a good job making the actual Space portions of this book interesting, but the main plot relies too heavily on earth politics. like, okay, we're in space, and we're still following americans and their bad guys are still the russians and the chinese. are you for real? the authors differing styles is too obvious between the two narrators and it doesn't lend itself to the experience.
also, "texas 2" just pissed me off and i never recovered. thats why its rounded down and not up.
i wanted to like this book a lot more, but it just felt kind of. pointless to be set in space, almost. which sucks to say because i do think it did a good job making the actual Space portions of this book interesting, but the main plot relies too heavily on earth politics. like, okay, we're in space, and we're still following americans and their bad guys are still the russians and the chinese. are you for real? the authors differing styles is too obvious between the two narrators and it doesn't lend itself to the experience.
also, "texas 2" just pissed me off and i never recovered. thats why its rounded down and not up.
October 12, 2024
A mission to save humanity may not be all that it seems
After an epic screw-up that should have ended his career (he was saved by his family’s reputation), pilot Jose Carriles has been given the chance to redeem himself. An exploratory mission outside of Earth’s solar system to find resources and perhaps even an inhabitable planet is set to launch on board the Mosaic under legendary Captain Wythe Delmar, and when its pilot is killed in a freak training accident Carriles is tapped to take his place. As he and the rest of the Mosaic crew are traveling through space for a planet they have named Esparar, his former best friend (and recently disgraced and demoted agent for an international spying group with the Interstellar Union known as the Bazaar) Corin Timony - who did not have a storied family name to cushion her fall - is stuck riding a desk back on the colony of New Destiny. Instead of working her network of informants and contacts to disrupt criminal plots and keep the world safe, Timony is fielding incoming messages and communiques from those out doing the work at which she had once excelled. Having lost her reputation, her career and her fiancé when the extent of her addictions became known to her superiors, she has sunk into a pattern of plodding through her boring work day, leaving to get as drunk as possible, then waking up with an extreme hangover to continue the cycle. When three distinct systems aboard the Mosaic simultaneously malfunction and the only thing saving the ship from slipping off course and into dark space forever is Carriles’ Hail-Mary idea, it is Timony who gets first the distress message and then an almost simultaneous message to disregard it. Even relatively pickled she can tell that something isn’t right about the messages, and when her boss makes it clear that she is to forget it ever happened she knows that something is seriously messed up. Carriles similarly has his doubts about it being a coincidence that the Mosaic suffered from three separate system breakdowns which nearly wiped out the crew and the mission, but his attempts to question that premise and investigate more deeply are met with disapproval and warnings. Is there more to the Mosaic’s mission than its crew has been led to believe, or is the always uneasy alliance between the US and Chinese crew (the third power player amongst the Earth=based members of the Interstellar Union aka the Russians decided to sit this mission out, another oddity) at the root of the problems? Soon it is clear that there are more players in this scenario than all but a few were aware, both inside the solar system and outside, and the fate of mankind is riding on the outcome of the Mosaic’s quest. Can two flawed people root out friend from foe and secure their world’s continued existence, or have the people of Earth created one mess too many?
Dark Space is a novel of espionage wrapped up in a science fiction world, a premise that intrigued me. The characters of Carriles and Timony share a complicated history and have little reason to trust one another despite the years of friendship they previously shared, yet it was hard not to root not only for each of them but for an eventual bridging of the bad feelings that ripped their relationship apart at the seams as well. There are two stories at play, that of the purported mission of exploration and what those behind it truly have in mind as well as the various factions which comprise the Interstellar Union and yet (much like the situation in the world today) whose alliance between the participating countries is a thin veneer coating a group of nations batting to be top dog and not always concerned about the ethics involved in their attempts to succeed. Both of those storylines are enjoyable if not groundbreaking (few if any of the periodic betrayals came as a shock, and assuming that people in power are generally concerned more with selfish concerns than with the greater good of those under their control is usually a safe bet), and my hope is that this is the first in an eventual series and as such was geared more towards setting the framework for future exploits. I would rate it a 3.5, rounded up to a 4 given the characters’ rendering. Readers of authors like Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson and Olson Scott Card might find the premise of the story to be of interest, and I would add that it is more a work of espionage fiction with a dash of science fiction than the other way around. My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me early access to Dark Space.
After an epic screw-up that should have ended his career (he was saved by his family’s reputation), pilot Jose Carriles has been given the chance to redeem himself. An exploratory mission outside of Earth’s solar system to find resources and perhaps even an inhabitable planet is set to launch on board the Mosaic under legendary Captain Wythe Delmar, and when its pilot is killed in a freak training accident Carriles is tapped to take his place. As he and the rest of the Mosaic crew are traveling through space for a planet they have named Esparar, his former best friend (and recently disgraced and demoted agent for an international spying group with the Interstellar Union known as the Bazaar) Corin Timony - who did not have a storied family name to cushion her fall - is stuck riding a desk back on the colony of New Destiny. Instead of working her network of informants and contacts to disrupt criminal plots and keep the world safe, Timony is fielding incoming messages and communiques from those out doing the work at which she had once excelled. Having lost her reputation, her career and her fiancé when the extent of her addictions became known to her superiors, she has sunk into a pattern of plodding through her boring work day, leaving to get as drunk as possible, then waking up with an extreme hangover to continue the cycle. When three distinct systems aboard the Mosaic simultaneously malfunction and the only thing saving the ship from slipping off course and into dark space forever is Carriles’ Hail-Mary idea, it is Timony who gets first the distress message and then an almost simultaneous message to disregard it. Even relatively pickled she can tell that something isn’t right about the messages, and when her boss makes it clear that she is to forget it ever happened she knows that something is seriously messed up. Carriles similarly has his doubts about it being a coincidence that the Mosaic suffered from three separate system breakdowns which nearly wiped out the crew and the mission, but his attempts to question that premise and investigate more deeply are met with disapproval and warnings. Is there more to the Mosaic’s mission than its crew has been led to believe, or is the always uneasy alliance between the US and Chinese crew (the third power player amongst the Earth=based members of the Interstellar Union aka the Russians decided to sit this mission out, another oddity) at the root of the problems? Soon it is clear that there are more players in this scenario than all but a few were aware, both inside the solar system and outside, and the fate of mankind is riding on the outcome of the Mosaic’s quest. Can two flawed people root out friend from foe and secure their world’s continued existence, or have the people of Earth created one mess too many?
Dark Space is a novel of espionage wrapped up in a science fiction world, a premise that intrigued me. The characters of Carriles and Timony share a complicated history and have little reason to trust one another despite the years of friendship they previously shared, yet it was hard not to root not only for each of them but for an eventual bridging of the bad feelings that ripped their relationship apart at the seams as well. There are two stories at play, that of the purported mission of exploration and what those behind it truly have in mind as well as the various factions which comprise the Interstellar Union and yet (much like the situation in the world today) whose alliance between the participating countries is a thin veneer coating a group of nations batting to be top dog and not always concerned about the ethics involved in their attempts to succeed. Both of those storylines are enjoyable if not groundbreaking (few if any of the periodic betrayals came as a shock, and assuming that people in power are generally concerned more with selfish concerns than with the greater good of those under their control is usually a safe bet), and my hope is that this is the first in an eventual series and as such was geared more towards setting the framework for future exploits. I would rate it a 3.5, rounded up to a 4 given the characters’ rendering. Readers of authors like Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson and Olson Scott Card might find the premise of the story to be of interest, and I would add that it is more a work of espionage fiction with a dash of science fiction than the other way around. My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me early access to Dark Space.
October 8, 2024
While I am always down for a thrilling novel, those set mixed with science fiction or space tend to not be up my alley. However, with co-author Alex Segura on board with Rob Hart, I had to give
Dark Space
a try and am ever glad I did.
If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he's the pilot of the Mosaic--a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union's first-ever mission to outside our solar system.
Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony's international intelligence arm. Instead, she's been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself--and maybe Carriles. But when the Mosaic experiences a series of strange malfunctions and Carriles is forced to take a wild gamble to save the ship, he begins to suspect the reasons behind the exploratory mission weren't exactly on the up and up.
At the same time, Timony's old instincts kick in as she realizes the distress call she received from the Mosaic has been wiped without a trace. As people start to end up dead and loyalties are tested, Timony and Carriles find themselves entangled in a star-spanning conspiracy that drags them through the darkest corners of their government--and their own personal failures--and face-to-face with a reckoning that could destroy humanity as we know it.
With complete honesty, Dark Space was not even on my radar until I discovered the co-author was Alex Segura. Segura is one of my favorite writers in the world of comics and novels at the moment and even though this book was not my normal selection, I had to give it a go and damn was it worth the ride. Additionally, the allure in Dark Space's blend of espionage thrills set against a backdrop of space was an intriguing concept to break up my regular reads.
After diving into Dark Space, I found the pacing—a delicate balance between heart-pounding action sequences and moments of introspective calm—to be a standout of the book. This allowed me to catch my breath while pondering the larger questions at hand. The novel ebbed and flowed smoothly to create an immersive reading experience. Each chapter propels you forward at warp speed while simultaneously inviting reflection on what it means to be human when confronted with the unknown.
Having seen science fiction television shows and films such as Star Trek, I felt myself seeing the similarities between the two. Familiar themes such as ethical dilemmas posed by interstellar diplomacy resonate strongly throughout Dark Space. Yet those less acquainted with such franchises will appreciate how seamlessly Hart and Segura integrate these motifs without succumbing entirely to genre conventions—they forge new paths while paying homage where it's due. While in a subtle way not taking itself too seriously.
It was impressive to me how Hart and Segura managed to not only tell a science fiction tale that gripped me from the first page, but also intertwine the spy espionage side of things, adding excitement but also inspiration through adventure. These two authors paired up is a wonder match and will have my attention, no matter what genre, in the future.
Dark Space from Rob Hart & Alex Segura is a thrilling spy romp in space. The authors expertly navigate complexities inherent within blending spy thrillers alongside science fiction tropes seamlessly together creating something truly special. I felt myself transported into the wide and crazy place called space while getting my dose of spy thriller. A novel well worth your time.
Dark Space hits bookstores everywhere on October 8, 2024 from Blackstone Publishing. The audiobook, narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon & Nicol Zanzarella, can be pre-ordered on Libro.fm!
If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he's the pilot of the Mosaic--a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union's first-ever mission to outside our solar system.
Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony's international intelligence arm. Instead, she's been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself--and maybe Carriles. But when the Mosaic experiences a series of strange malfunctions and Carriles is forced to take a wild gamble to save the ship, he begins to suspect the reasons behind the exploratory mission weren't exactly on the up and up.
At the same time, Timony's old instincts kick in as she realizes the distress call she received from the Mosaic has been wiped without a trace. As people start to end up dead and loyalties are tested, Timony and Carriles find themselves entangled in a star-spanning conspiracy that drags them through the darkest corners of their government--and their own personal failures--and face-to-face with a reckoning that could destroy humanity as we know it.
With complete honesty, Dark Space was not even on my radar until I discovered the co-author was Alex Segura. Segura is one of my favorite writers in the world of comics and novels at the moment and even though this book was not my normal selection, I had to give it a go and damn was it worth the ride. Additionally, the allure in Dark Space's blend of espionage thrills set against a backdrop of space was an intriguing concept to break up my regular reads.
After diving into Dark Space, I found the pacing—a delicate balance between heart-pounding action sequences and moments of introspective calm—to be a standout of the book. This allowed me to catch my breath while pondering the larger questions at hand. The novel ebbed and flowed smoothly to create an immersive reading experience. Each chapter propels you forward at warp speed while simultaneously inviting reflection on what it means to be human when confronted with the unknown.
Having seen science fiction television shows and films such as Star Trek, I felt myself seeing the similarities between the two. Familiar themes such as ethical dilemmas posed by interstellar diplomacy resonate strongly throughout Dark Space. Yet those less acquainted with such franchises will appreciate how seamlessly Hart and Segura integrate these motifs without succumbing entirely to genre conventions—they forge new paths while paying homage where it's due. While in a subtle way not taking itself too seriously.
It was impressive to me how Hart and Segura managed to not only tell a science fiction tale that gripped me from the first page, but also intertwine the spy espionage side of things, adding excitement but also inspiration through adventure. These two authors paired up is a wonder match and will have my attention, no matter what genre, in the future.
Dark Space from Rob Hart & Alex Segura is a thrilling spy romp in space. The authors expertly navigate complexities inherent within blending spy thrillers alongside science fiction tropes seamlessly together creating something truly special. I felt myself transported into the wide and crazy place called space while getting my dose of spy thriller. A novel well worth your time.
Dark Space hits bookstores everywhere on October 8, 2024 from Blackstone Publishing. The audiobook, narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon & Nicol Zanzarella, can be pre-ordered on Libro.fm!
October 19, 2024
Best-selling authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura have previously collaborated on the comic book Blood Oath. Now, they are combining forces on their first full-length novel, a fine mix of Science Fiction and Spy Thriller entitled DARK SPACE.
The story at times feels like an episode of the original Star Trek that has been mashed up with a spy novel in the style of the late John le Carre. The result is a fast-moving novel that provides a lot to follow closely along with many tense moments. The action jumps between the adventures of the massive starship Mosaic, which finds itself on a mission threatening to take them into dark space. The other simultaneous narrative is set on the Moon colony known as New Destiny and the exploits of an expert spy working at the lunar colony’s international intelligence arm called the Bazaar.
Things literally begin with a bang as Lieutenant Commander Jose Carriles is piloting the Mosaic and faced with a deadly situation. Their outer shields are failing for some unknown reason and alarms did not go off to alert anyone to this. With each object that strikes them, it lowers their ability to steer the ship safely away and keep from spinning unstoppably into dark space to their doom. Captain Wythe Delmar is full of himself and in charge of this combined space mission between the U.S. and China. He is clueless as to what is happening and blindly shouting out commands to his crew to do something to save them all.
Back on New Destiny, a young spy agent named Corin Timony is still dealing with the loss of her lover Adan, who had been selected for the mission on the Mosaic before he mysteriously died. Carriles took his place, making for some serious hard feelings for the former friends. She works directly for a man named Sandwyn whom she does not trust, making her tasks and jobs even more difficult than they need to be. When one of her colleagues Osman turns up dead, she begins to think that she could be the next target for elimination, but does not know why.
Timony raised suspicion over the death of her fiancée Adan with the local Senator Tobin, but it does not go anywhere. She realizes that in order to get to the bottom of that mystery as well as the regular spy details she is assigned, she will have to tread carefully. Meanwhile, the Mosaic makes it through their ordeal safely and are now planning to head down in two cruiser ships to the planet they call Esparar. Humans have been denied entry into the Galaxy-wide group known as The Mutual because they have proven to be untrustworthy, violent, and have already destroyed their own planet earth. Initially, the mission to Esparar was to plead with this union for another chance to prove themselves --- but Carriles and few others will soon discover that Captain Delmar and his closest cronies have an ulterior motive for visiting this distant planet.
When one of the two cruiser ships returns with Delmar and his mates, they announce that they left the contingency from the other ship with the comrades from China on the planet after firing on them in battle. The real reason behind this will be one of greed as opposed to mutiny, and the fallout will involve the possible dissolution of the International Union on New Destiny with China as well as Russia. On New Destiny, Timony is searching for a woman named Oneida who has proven to be no mere Russian citizen and a person of interest with the Mutual. When Oneida goes into radio silence and misses transmissions from the Mutual, they take it as a direct threat and are now focused on wiping out the colony on New Destiny and eliminating the human race.
It will take the separate and heroic efforts of both Carriles facing off with leaders from the Mutual on Esparar as well as Timony locating and safely bringing Oneida back online to have any chance of survival. The tension becomes almost unbearable as both storylines converge to a mutual purpose. DARK SPACE succeeds on all levels and I truly enjoyed the moment when Timony scans a cover of THE CONSTANT GARDENER by le Carre in a library, tying in the homage to that great spy work. There is something for everyone here to enjoy and that is due to the universal talents of Hart and Segura!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
The story at times feels like an episode of the original Star Trek that has been mashed up with a spy novel in the style of the late John le Carre. The result is a fast-moving novel that provides a lot to follow closely along with many tense moments. The action jumps between the adventures of the massive starship Mosaic, which finds itself on a mission threatening to take them into dark space. The other simultaneous narrative is set on the Moon colony known as New Destiny and the exploits of an expert spy working at the lunar colony’s international intelligence arm called the Bazaar.
Things literally begin with a bang as Lieutenant Commander Jose Carriles is piloting the Mosaic and faced with a deadly situation. Their outer shields are failing for some unknown reason and alarms did not go off to alert anyone to this. With each object that strikes them, it lowers their ability to steer the ship safely away and keep from spinning unstoppably into dark space to their doom. Captain Wythe Delmar is full of himself and in charge of this combined space mission between the U.S. and China. He is clueless as to what is happening and blindly shouting out commands to his crew to do something to save them all.
Back on New Destiny, a young spy agent named Corin Timony is still dealing with the loss of her lover Adan, who had been selected for the mission on the Mosaic before he mysteriously died. Carriles took his place, making for some serious hard feelings for the former friends. She works directly for a man named Sandwyn whom she does not trust, making her tasks and jobs even more difficult than they need to be. When one of her colleagues Osman turns up dead, she begins to think that she could be the next target for elimination, but does not know why.
Timony raised suspicion over the death of her fiancée Adan with the local Senator Tobin, but it does not go anywhere. She realizes that in order to get to the bottom of that mystery as well as the regular spy details she is assigned, she will have to tread carefully. Meanwhile, the Mosaic makes it through their ordeal safely and are now planning to head down in two cruiser ships to the planet they call Esparar. Humans have been denied entry into the Galaxy-wide group known as The Mutual because they have proven to be untrustworthy, violent, and have already destroyed their own planet earth. Initially, the mission to Esparar was to plead with this union for another chance to prove themselves --- but Carriles and few others will soon discover that Captain Delmar and his closest cronies have an ulterior motive for visiting this distant planet.
When one of the two cruiser ships returns with Delmar and his mates, they announce that they left the contingency from the other ship with the comrades from China on the planet after firing on them in battle. The real reason behind this will be one of greed as opposed to mutiny, and the fallout will involve the possible dissolution of the International Union on New Destiny with China as well as Russia. On New Destiny, Timony is searching for a woman named Oneida who has proven to be no mere Russian citizen and a person of interest with the Mutual. When Oneida goes into radio silence and misses transmissions from the Mutual, they take it as a direct threat and are now focused on wiping out the colony on New Destiny and eliminating the human race.
It will take the separate and heroic efforts of both Carriles facing off with leaders from the Mutual on Esparar as well as Timony locating and safely bringing Oneida back online to have any chance of survival. The tension becomes almost unbearable as both storylines converge to a mutual purpose. DARK SPACE succeeds on all levels and I truly enjoyed the moment when Timony scans a cover of THE CONSTANT GARDENER by le Carre in a library, tying in the homage to that great spy work. There is something for everyone here to enjoy and that is due to the universal talents of Hart and Segura!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
October 20, 2024
Bestselling authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura collaborated on the comic book series Blood Oath. Now, they are combining forces on their first full-length novel, DARK SPACE, which is a fine mix of science fiction and spy thriller.
The story at times feels like an episode of “Star Trek” that has been mashed up with a spy novel in the style of John le Carré. The result is a fast-moving book with plenty of tense moments. The action jumps between the adventures of the massive starship Mosaic, which finds itself on a mission threatening to take those on board into dark space, and a narrative set on the lunar colony of New Destiny and the exploits of an expert spy working at its international intelligence arm, the Bazaar.
Things literally begin with a bang as Lieutenant Commander Jose Carriles is piloting the Mosaic and is faced with a deadly situation. Their outer shields are failing for some unknown reason, and alarms did not go off to alert anyone. With each object that strikes them, it lowers their ability to steer the ship safely away and keep from spinning unstoppably into dark space to their doom. Captain Wythe Delmar is full of himself and in charge of this combined space mission between the US and China. He is clueless as to what is happening and blindly shouts out commands to his crew to do something to save them.
Back on New Destiny, a young spy agent named Corin Timony is still dealing with the loss of her lover, Adan, who had been selected for the mission on the Mosaic before he mysteriously died. Carriles takes his place, making for some serious hard feelings for the former friends. When one of her colleagues turns up dead, she begins to think that she could be the next target for elimination but does not know why. Timony raises suspicion over Adan’s death with the senator, but it doesn’t go anywhere. She realizes that in order to get to the bottom of this mystery, as well as the regular spy details she is assigned, she will have to tread carefully.
Meanwhile, the Mosaic makes it through their ordeal safely and is now planning to head down in two cruiser ships to the planet they call Esparar. Humans have been denied entry into the galaxy-wide group known as the Mutual because they have been proven to be untrustworthy and violent, and they already have destroyed their own planet. Initially, the mission to Esparar is to plead with this union for another chance to prove themselves. But Carriles and a few others will soon discover that Delmar and his closest cronies have an ulterior motive for visiting this distant planet.
On New Destiny, Timony is searching for a woman named Oneida, who is no mere Russian citizen and is a person of interest with the Mutual. When Oneida goes radio silent and misses transmissions from the Mutual, they take it as a direct threat and are now focused on wiping out the colony on New Destiny and eliminating the human race.
It will take the separate and heroic efforts of Carriles facing off with leaders from the Mutual and Timony locating and safely bringing Oneida back online to have any chance of survival. The tension becomes almost unbearable as both storylines converge to a mutual purpose.
DARK SPACE succeeds on all levels, and I loved when Timony scans a cover of le Carré’s THE CONSTANT GARDENER in a library. There is something here for everyone to enjoy, and that is due to the universal talents of Rob Hart and Alex Segura.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
The story at times feels like an episode of “Star Trek” that has been mashed up with a spy novel in the style of John le Carré. The result is a fast-moving book with plenty of tense moments. The action jumps between the adventures of the massive starship Mosaic, which finds itself on a mission threatening to take those on board into dark space, and a narrative set on the lunar colony of New Destiny and the exploits of an expert spy working at its international intelligence arm, the Bazaar.
Things literally begin with a bang as Lieutenant Commander Jose Carriles is piloting the Mosaic and is faced with a deadly situation. Their outer shields are failing for some unknown reason, and alarms did not go off to alert anyone. With each object that strikes them, it lowers their ability to steer the ship safely away and keep from spinning unstoppably into dark space to their doom. Captain Wythe Delmar is full of himself and in charge of this combined space mission between the US and China. He is clueless as to what is happening and blindly shouts out commands to his crew to do something to save them.
Back on New Destiny, a young spy agent named Corin Timony is still dealing with the loss of her lover, Adan, who had been selected for the mission on the Mosaic before he mysteriously died. Carriles takes his place, making for some serious hard feelings for the former friends. When one of her colleagues turns up dead, she begins to think that she could be the next target for elimination but does not know why. Timony raises suspicion over Adan’s death with the senator, but it doesn’t go anywhere. She realizes that in order to get to the bottom of this mystery, as well as the regular spy details she is assigned, she will have to tread carefully.
Meanwhile, the Mosaic makes it through their ordeal safely and is now planning to head down in two cruiser ships to the planet they call Esparar. Humans have been denied entry into the galaxy-wide group known as the Mutual because they have been proven to be untrustworthy and violent, and they already have destroyed their own planet. Initially, the mission to Esparar is to plead with this union for another chance to prove themselves. But Carriles and a few others will soon discover that Delmar and his closest cronies have an ulterior motive for visiting this distant planet.
On New Destiny, Timony is searching for a woman named Oneida, who is no mere Russian citizen and is a person of interest with the Mutual. When Oneida goes radio silent and misses transmissions from the Mutual, they take it as a direct threat and are now focused on wiping out the colony on New Destiny and eliminating the human race.
It will take the separate and heroic efforts of Carriles facing off with leaders from the Mutual and Timony locating and safely bringing Oneida back online to have any chance of survival. The tension becomes almost unbearable as both storylines converge to a mutual purpose.
DARK SPACE succeeds on all levels, and I loved when Timony scans a cover of le Carré’s THE CONSTANT GARDENER in a library. There is something here for everyone to enjoy, and that is due to the universal talents of Rob Hart and Alex Segura.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
March 1, 2025
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.5 of 5
Jose Carriles is a pilot - one of the best. He's also got friends in high places, and while he should be enjoying his time sitting behind a desk with nothing to do, instead he is on the Mosaic - a massive ship taking the first-ever journey outside of our own solar system.
On the Lunar Colony of New Destiny, Corin Timony - a former friend of Carriles - should be celebrated as the best spy in the business. Instead, she's been demoted to menial admin duties. Carriles might be the one to blame for her current status.
Carriles recognizes that he's only the pilot on this unique vessel, but he begins to sense some things are going wrong. In fact, if not for his quick, out-of-the-box thinking, the entire ship and crew might have been destroyed. When he brings his concerns to his superior, he is quickly put in his place and reminded to leave issues in other departments to those in charge.
Instead of being reassured, this has the opposite affect. Carriles might otherwise be unconcerned, but as he's on this ship that was nearly destroyed, he wants to get to the crux of the problem but must now tread carefully.
Back on New Destiny, Timony receives the distress call from Mosaic. But when she discovers that the messages have been erased and there's no evidence of them ever being received, she knows that Carriles and the Mosaic are in real danger and she needs to do something. The two of them will find themselves deep in conspiracies with the entire human race facing extinction.
I've never read anything by either author Rob Hart nor Alex Segura but I'm always up to read an exciting, new scifi story.
The general setup here was mostly nicely done. We really get to know Carriles quickly and efficiently. We also get to know the dangerous situation. Timony, on the other hand, is rather an enigma. How she comes into play, and why she comes into play, is harder to decipher. (And I'll be honest, throughout the book I was thrown - I had trouble remembering that the name 'Timony' was female. Most likely because I knew a male with a very similar name.) There's a backstory to them, but we don't really get much information on it. It seems rather heavy-handed - you know, they have a back story. It's important. But then it isn't.
Carriles - cool. Easy to identify. Maybe too much of a stock 'starship pilot' character, but the story he's involved in grabs our interest. Timony, on the other hand, is supposed to be some great spy, but if we weren't TOLD this, we'd never know because she doesn't do any super spying.
Once the details to the mystery started to reveal themselves, I lost interest. It's kind of goofy, to be honest. New planet discovered. Oops - the planet maybe has intelligent life. Mankind threatened.
Overall, the Carriles/Timony relationship doesn't work. Their 'past' is only important for one brief moment that I can recall, and frankly, two strangers with similar ethics would have responded the same. The story starts out great but devolves into some pretty standard scifi fare - the sort we might have found in the scifi of the 50's.
Looking for a good book? Dark Space by Rob Hart and Alex Segura is space opera that isn't particularly new and doesn't provide any remarkable characters.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Jose Carriles is a pilot - one of the best. He's also got friends in high places, and while he should be enjoying his time sitting behind a desk with nothing to do, instead he is on the Mosaic - a massive ship taking the first-ever journey outside of our own solar system.
On the Lunar Colony of New Destiny, Corin Timony - a former friend of Carriles - should be celebrated as the best spy in the business. Instead, she's been demoted to menial admin duties. Carriles might be the one to blame for her current status.
Carriles recognizes that he's only the pilot on this unique vessel, but he begins to sense some things are going wrong. In fact, if not for his quick, out-of-the-box thinking, the entire ship and crew might have been destroyed. When he brings his concerns to his superior, he is quickly put in his place and reminded to leave issues in other departments to those in charge.
Instead of being reassured, this has the opposite affect. Carriles might otherwise be unconcerned, but as he's on this ship that was nearly destroyed, he wants to get to the crux of the problem but must now tread carefully.
Back on New Destiny, Timony receives the distress call from Mosaic. But when she discovers that the messages have been erased and there's no evidence of them ever being received, she knows that Carriles and the Mosaic are in real danger and she needs to do something. The two of them will find themselves deep in conspiracies with the entire human race facing extinction.
I've never read anything by either author Rob Hart nor Alex Segura but I'm always up to read an exciting, new scifi story.
The general setup here was mostly nicely done. We really get to know Carriles quickly and efficiently. We also get to know the dangerous situation. Timony, on the other hand, is rather an enigma. How she comes into play, and why she comes into play, is harder to decipher. (And I'll be honest, throughout the book I was thrown - I had trouble remembering that the name 'Timony' was female. Most likely because I knew a male with a very similar name.) There's a backstory to them, but we don't really get much information on it. It seems rather heavy-handed - you know, they have a back story. It's important. But then it isn't.
Carriles - cool. Easy to identify. Maybe too much of a stock 'starship pilot' character, but the story he's involved in grabs our interest. Timony, on the other hand, is supposed to be some great spy, but if we weren't TOLD this, we'd never know because she doesn't do any super spying.
Once the details to the mystery started to reveal themselves, I lost interest. It's kind of goofy, to be honest. New planet discovered. Oops - the planet maybe has intelligent life. Mankind threatened.
Overall, the Carriles/Timony relationship doesn't work. Their 'past' is only important for one brief moment that I can recall, and frankly, two strangers with similar ethics would have responded the same. The story starts out great but devolves into some pretty standard scifi fare - the sort we might have found in the scifi of the 50's.
Looking for a good book? Dark Space by Rob Hart and Alex Segura is space opera that isn't particularly new and doesn't provide any remarkable characters.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
August 28, 2024
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Blackstone Publishing for an advance copy of this science fiction book about a future where humans have made it to the stars, and have made a mess of it, written by two authors who are really making names for themselves in many different genres.
Science fiction and conspiracy stories seem to me two great tastes that taste great together. One can look at the stories of Philip K. Dick who was sure that people were out to get them, people he wrote about constantly. Many classic shows of science fiction count on conspiracys to fuel their plots. What I've always wanted more of in these kind of stories are a little bit more espionage. A little more of The Circus, as John le Carré called his intelligence agencies, under the shadows of different suns. Rob Hart and Alex Segura two authors I have been reading a lot of recently had the same idea. Their book Dark Space, is a story about the future, space travel, conspiracies, trust, spies, lies, and redemption.
Humans have made it into space, but treating the universe like the planet Earth has consequences. The colonies are showing their age. Things are breaking, and even the most naive of people feel something is going to happen. And not for the good. The starship Mosaic the first of it's kind is traveling to a new world, one that might offer opportunities to the humanity. If it gets there. A strange cascading series of problems nearly destroy the ship. Reports of difficulties are not getting through. And people seem to be dying. On the Mosaic Jose Carriles is getting the feeling that failures he is experiencing, are part of a much bigger problem. The mission that he was brought in might not be the mission he thought it was. And who else might know the truth. Back on New Destiny, a lunar colony retired, not by choice spy Corin Timony becomes aware that strange things are happening. Maybe tied to the death of her love, the pilot that Jose Carriles replaced. As body begin to pile up, and things get darker both Timony and Carriles are getting the feeling they are being lied too, and these lies might be the end of all humanity.
This book starts at lightspeed and keeps going, which I loved. From the first page to the end, one is locked into a gravity seat, flipping pages. Both authors are very good at designing plots and this is a good science fiction, first contact, conspiracy, almost dystopian tale. The world is very rich, and I hope we see more of it, there is a lot of possibilities for stories here, and a few things are dropped that could be picked up in later books. The story like I wrote moves well, jumping from point of view of both characters easily. The characters are interesting, flawed in ways one does not see much, but stronger in ways that become clearer as the book goes on. There' a bit of humor, a lot of adventure, a lot of thrills, and some surprisingly shocking moments. Really everything I want in a story.
As I stated I have enjoyed books by both these authors quite a bit. Again I hope this the beginning of a series, as the characters, the world, and the ideas are well-written and something I wouldn't mind seeing again. Really good science fiction, and a lot of fun.
Science fiction and conspiracy stories seem to me two great tastes that taste great together. One can look at the stories of Philip K. Dick who was sure that people were out to get them, people he wrote about constantly. Many classic shows of science fiction count on conspiracys to fuel their plots. What I've always wanted more of in these kind of stories are a little bit more espionage. A little more of The Circus, as John le Carré called his intelligence agencies, under the shadows of different suns. Rob Hart and Alex Segura two authors I have been reading a lot of recently had the same idea. Their book Dark Space, is a story about the future, space travel, conspiracies, trust, spies, lies, and redemption.
Humans have made it into space, but treating the universe like the planet Earth has consequences. The colonies are showing their age. Things are breaking, and even the most naive of people feel something is going to happen. And not for the good. The starship Mosaic the first of it's kind is traveling to a new world, one that might offer opportunities to the humanity. If it gets there. A strange cascading series of problems nearly destroy the ship. Reports of difficulties are not getting through. And people seem to be dying. On the Mosaic Jose Carriles is getting the feeling that failures he is experiencing, are part of a much bigger problem. The mission that he was brought in might not be the mission he thought it was. And who else might know the truth. Back on New Destiny, a lunar colony retired, not by choice spy Corin Timony becomes aware that strange things are happening. Maybe tied to the death of her love, the pilot that Jose Carriles replaced. As body begin to pile up, and things get darker both Timony and Carriles are getting the feeling they are being lied too, and these lies might be the end of all humanity.
This book starts at lightspeed and keeps going, which I loved. From the first page to the end, one is locked into a gravity seat, flipping pages. Both authors are very good at designing plots and this is a good science fiction, first contact, conspiracy, almost dystopian tale. The world is very rich, and I hope we see more of it, there is a lot of possibilities for stories here, and a few things are dropped that could be picked up in later books. The story like I wrote moves well, jumping from point of view of both characters easily. The characters are interesting, flawed in ways one does not see much, but stronger in ways that become clearer as the book goes on. There' a bit of humor, a lot of adventure, a lot of thrills, and some surprisingly shocking moments. Really everything I want in a story.
As I stated I have enjoyed books by both these authors quite a bit. Again I hope this the beginning of a series, as the characters, the world, and the ideas are well-written and something I wouldn't mind seeing again. Really good science fiction, and a lot of fun.
September 4, 2024
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
This is described as 007 meets Star Trek - and it feels that way but with all the minuses rather than the pluses. The characters didn't feel well developed, the plot was all "Oh no, something is going wrong at the top and I must save the universe!" and I just never got into the people or what they were doing. At about 60%, I skimmed through quickly, trying not to roll my eyes at the big "oh noes!" betrayals and reveals.Story: Jose is an ace pilot assigned to a ship sent to explore a newly discovered Goldilocks planet - a badly needed new habitat for humanity after Earth's resources are failing. But soon enough into the trip, it is obvious that someone doesn't want the mission to succeed. Meanwhile, on New Destiny on the moon, ace spy Corin has been relegated to a desk job after getting busted with Jose for drugs. Jose got off due to family in high places while Corin took the brunt of the sentence. She also soon discovers a conspiracy involving the death of her ex that has her embroiled in the same life and death situations as Jose.
I had a lot of problems with this book. First and foremost, none of the characters were believable or even likable. Jose and Corin's backstory of the drug bust is never discussed and so we have no idea why they did it other than to create a link between the two in the future. Corin is supposed to be this superspy but we didn't really get to see it since she only looks at the obvious and heavy-handed clues; certainly, Jose never really flies the ship much since he's either saving it or fretting about a conspiracy onboard. Don't get me started about the cardboard cutout overly-simplistic side characters that were better suited for a cartoon.
The conspiracy itself was overly silly and I won't get into spoilers so I can't really go into just how ludicrous it got at the end. The Scooby Doo mystery was silly and I guess about on par with a 1970s Bond SPECTRE villain and plot. The only saving grace is that there isn't a love story here between Corin and Jose.
Then there's the sci fi - space travel to a newly discovered distant plant is done in a few pages with no hypersleep or other hyperspeed/crysleep contrivances. It's all about the conspiracy so no one is supposed to wonder why a ship going to see a new planet doesn't have scientists or explorers and instead is packed with typical "Star Fleet" types. Apparently, they took a day to go to a new far planet and were just going to take a shuttle down to explore it. Yeah.
So was it terrible? Perhaps not if your tolerance for sci fi isn't high. But honestly, it was hard not to roll my eyes at either the silly spy plot, the big conspiracy, the bad science, or the cardboard characters. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
October 9, 2024
TL;DR Review: A classic spy thriller…in space! Fast-paced, gripping, and intriguing.
Full Review:
Dark Space is the perfect book for fans of John Le Carre, a slow-burn yet quick-moving thriller that had me blazing through page after page to find out what the heck is going on.
From the beginning, it’s clear that things are NOT all right:
Aboard the Mosaic, a colonizing ship hurtling through space toward a planet that is to be humanity’s hope of the future, pilot Jose Carriles suspects something is very much wrong when not one, not two, but three separate ship systems fail all at the same time. Worse, no one—not the captain nor the head engineer—seems interested in finding out.
Back on New Destiny, humanity’s moon colony, Corin Timony receives a cryptic message from the Mosaic, only to have it immediately canceled. To top it off, she’d ordered to go home and forget about what she saw, only for a mysterious senator to push her to look into matters and for the only other person to see the Mosaic’s message to wind up dead.
Though light years and galaxies separate the two stories, it’s clear from the beginning that they are very much linked. Figuring out how is where the fun comes in.
The stakes are set from the very beginning, and the tension just gets ratcheted up with every new obstacle, enemy, discovery, and mystery. The pacing of each chapter is zippy enough to keep you wanting to read on—I said “just one more chapter” about a dozen times—and the hooks are baited so well that you’re drawn deeper and deeper.
I legitimately had knots in my shoulder as the story drew closer to revealing what the heck was going on, and even then, that’s just the beginning of MORE mystery, more suspense, more danger, and more challenges for the characters to overcome.
The action scenes were fun but short—this isn’t a Ludlum or Clancy thriller, but the sort that involves investigation over ass-kicking, problem-solving and people-handling over spaceship chases and gunfights.
But make no mistake: the book gives you all the excitement, intrigue, suspense, and exhilaration you could ask for. Atop that, the character work done into both Timony and Carriles was excellent, exploring their past screw-ups, present quagmires, and bleak futures in enough detail to make them easily relatable and grounded characters.
There’s even a bit of Star Trek-esque commentary on humanity woven nicely into the story. Through this adventure, we come face to face with both our flaws and fortes as a society. But by the ending, we’re shown a brighter way forward and left with a sense of hope that offers wonderful closure.
I enjoyed the hell out of this book—I read it in one day—and absolutely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a classic spy thriller…but set in space!
Full Review:
Dark Space is the perfect book for fans of John Le Carre, a slow-burn yet quick-moving thriller that had me blazing through page after page to find out what the heck is going on.
From the beginning, it’s clear that things are NOT all right:
Aboard the Mosaic, a colonizing ship hurtling through space toward a planet that is to be humanity’s hope of the future, pilot Jose Carriles suspects something is very much wrong when not one, not two, but three separate ship systems fail all at the same time. Worse, no one—not the captain nor the head engineer—seems interested in finding out.
Back on New Destiny, humanity’s moon colony, Corin Timony receives a cryptic message from the Mosaic, only to have it immediately canceled. To top it off, she’d ordered to go home and forget about what she saw, only for a mysterious senator to push her to look into matters and for the only other person to see the Mosaic’s message to wind up dead.
Though light years and galaxies separate the two stories, it’s clear from the beginning that they are very much linked. Figuring out how is where the fun comes in.
The stakes are set from the very beginning, and the tension just gets ratcheted up with every new obstacle, enemy, discovery, and mystery. The pacing of each chapter is zippy enough to keep you wanting to read on—I said “just one more chapter” about a dozen times—and the hooks are baited so well that you’re drawn deeper and deeper.
I legitimately had knots in my shoulder as the story drew closer to revealing what the heck was going on, and even then, that’s just the beginning of MORE mystery, more suspense, more danger, and more challenges for the characters to overcome.
The action scenes were fun but short—this isn’t a Ludlum or Clancy thriller, but the sort that involves investigation over ass-kicking, problem-solving and people-handling over spaceship chases and gunfights.
But make no mistake: the book gives you all the excitement, intrigue, suspense, and exhilaration you could ask for. Atop that, the character work done into both Timony and Carriles was excellent, exploring their past screw-ups, present quagmires, and bleak futures in enough detail to make them easily relatable and grounded characters.
There’s even a bit of Star Trek-esque commentary on humanity woven nicely into the story. Through this adventure, we come face to face with both our flaws and fortes as a society. But by the ending, we’re shown a brighter way forward and left with a sense of hope that offers wonderful closure.
I enjoyed the hell out of this book—I read it in one day—and absolutely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a classic spy thriller…but set in space!
October 13, 2024
Humans: On the whole we’re pretty awful. That should be a bumper sticker.
The lunar colony of New Destiny, essentially the homebase of the human race, has a lot of the same issues they had when they still lived on Earth. It seems humans never quite learned from their ancestors when they destroyed their home planet. They’ve just achieved a huge milestone, though: The first-ever mission outside their solar system with a fully-manned crew on a massive ship (the Mosaic) is on the way to a planet with hope of a habitable atmosphere.
Former top spy Corin Timony has issues with the pilot of the Mosaic: Namely that he was her childhood best friend who seems to coast on by on his last name and that included getting off with a slap on the wrist when he was caught dealing drugs while she got demoted from top spy to a mere administrator. The other thing? Her former lover was supposed to be piloting the mission before he suddenly died. But it’s her friend she’s thinking about when she gets a sudden distress call from the Mosaic in the middle of the night while monitoring comms, all for the distress call to be canceled only moments later.
A spy’s gotta spy.
Jose Carriles didn’t expect to be tagged in to pilot the Mosaic. He’s not exactly a go-to pilot for the Interstellar Union, being a former drug dealer and all. He’s terrific at his job, but he knows his late friend was tapped first and would’ve been better. All the same, he gives the job his all, even when the whole mission seems like it’s going to fail one night and he has to pull a hail mary maneuver out of his ass to save everyone. Nothing about that night made any sense to Jose, and he can’t just let this niggling feeling go.
Dark Space toggles between two third-person POVs: that of Jose, who is in space on the Mosaic; and of Corin Timony, who is in the New Destiny lunar colony. The timelines for each POV run congruent. This story is this wonderful mix of conspiracy, spy, and sci-fi/space thriller that manages to feel like Cold War spy novel meets Star Trek and makes fraternal twins. The plot is full of twists and turns, like some of the best spy novels, but it’s never convoluted, which is the trap some spy thrillers can fall into. The more sci-fi/space aspects are handled with a little less skill, sometimes feeling a little heavy-handed but nothing so precious it’s insulting. The action scenes are very well-written, as well is the dialogue (especially Jose’s, which I loved).
Dark Space was a very satisfying read. I love Rob Hart’s other works and was excited to pick this up because of the co-write with Alex Segura. I highly recommend it.
I was provided a copy of this title by the publisher and authors via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: Conspiracy Thriller/Espionage Thriller/Sci Fi
The lunar colony of New Destiny, essentially the homebase of the human race, has a lot of the same issues they had when they still lived on Earth. It seems humans never quite learned from their ancestors when they destroyed their home planet. They’ve just achieved a huge milestone, though: The first-ever mission outside their solar system with a fully-manned crew on a massive ship (the Mosaic) is on the way to a planet with hope of a habitable atmosphere.
Former top spy Corin Timony has issues with the pilot of the Mosaic: Namely that he was her childhood best friend who seems to coast on by on his last name and that included getting off with a slap on the wrist when he was caught dealing drugs while she got demoted from top spy to a mere administrator. The other thing? Her former lover was supposed to be piloting the mission before he suddenly died. But it’s her friend she’s thinking about when she gets a sudden distress call from the Mosaic in the middle of the night while monitoring comms, all for the distress call to be canceled only moments later.
A spy’s gotta spy.
Jose Carriles didn’t expect to be tagged in to pilot the Mosaic. He’s not exactly a go-to pilot for the Interstellar Union, being a former drug dealer and all. He’s terrific at his job, but he knows his late friend was tapped first and would’ve been better. All the same, he gives the job his all, even when the whole mission seems like it’s going to fail one night and he has to pull a hail mary maneuver out of his ass to save everyone. Nothing about that night made any sense to Jose, and he can’t just let this niggling feeling go.
Dark Space toggles between two third-person POVs: that of Jose, who is in space on the Mosaic; and of Corin Timony, who is in the New Destiny lunar colony. The timelines for each POV run congruent. This story is this wonderful mix of conspiracy, spy, and sci-fi/space thriller that manages to feel like Cold War spy novel meets Star Trek and makes fraternal twins. The plot is full of twists and turns, like some of the best spy novels, but it’s never convoluted, which is the trap some spy thrillers can fall into. The more sci-fi/space aspects are handled with a little less skill, sometimes feeling a little heavy-handed but nothing so precious it’s insulting. The action scenes are very well-written, as well is the dialogue (especially Jose’s, which I loved).
Dark Space was a very satisfying read. I love Rob Hart’s other works and was excited to pick this up because of the co-write with Alex Segura. I highly recommend it.
I was provided a copy of this title by the publisher and authors via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: Conspiracy Thriller/Espionage Thriller/Sci Fi
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