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The Uncontinented Stars
A queer, science-fiction re-imagining of Moby-Dick.
The year is 2776. When celebrated xenozoologist Abelard Cousteau returns five years after his assumed death following an accident in deep space, he seeks out his former protégé, Noah Starbuck, to accompany him on his first post-resurrection assignment. The two of them and the other six in their crew are tasked with auditing the first batch of humanity's exoplanet research bases, but Abelard's attention is focused elsewhere--on the creature that allegedly caused his accident, the creature he and Noah studied as theory, the creature he now wants to kill.
Still, too, is the issue of the research bases. Founded as part of an effort to backfill extinct ecological niches after averting climate collapse, their purpose appears innocent enough. But as the mission unfolds, darker motives creep to the surface, just as Abelard's quest for revenge tugs too hard at arcane secrets of existence.
The Uncontinented Stars questions humanity's place in the universe as well as our individual places in the galaxy of our fellow humans--and what we owe each other.
The year is 2776. When celebrated xenozoologist Abelard Cousteau returns five years after his assumed death following an accident in deep space, he seeks out his former protégé, Noah Starbuck, to accompany him on his first post-resurrection assignment. The two of them and the other six in their crew are tasked with auditing the first batch of humanity's exoplanet research bases, but Abelard's attention is focused elsewhere--on the creature that allegedly caused his accident, the creature he and Noah studied as theory, the creature he now wants to kill.
Still, too, is the issue of the research bases. Founded as part of an effort to backfill extinct ecological niches after averting climate collapse, their purpose appears innocent enough. But as the mission unfolds, darker motives creep to the surface, just as Abelard's quest for revenge tugs too hard at arcane secrets of existence.
The Uncontinented Stars questions humanity's place in the universe as well as our individual places in the galaxy of our fellow humans--and what we owe each other.
- GenresScience Fiction
448 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 21, 2025
2 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 25, 2025
Fantastic retelling of Moby Dick.
The good— the sci-fi worldbuilding is really good. The author doesn’t spoon-feed you explanations but lets the setting shape through anecdotes and dialogue. It feels realistic! The obvious Moby-Dick analogues are generally well-adapted and the rest of the ensemble are interesting and very concrete. Specifically, Esmail Rostami stands out as one of the best Ishmael adaptations I’ve read, and Savannah’s character and relationship to Noah feels very lived-in. The ConBod storyline started out as a cool way to explore how disability and bodily autonomy will be handled in the centuries to come, and ended up as one of my favorite sci-fi plots in recent memory. The FDL reveal was kind of everything to me, and on that note, a lot of the Moby-Dick plot points and references felt natural to the story. In the last few chapters this devolved into a kind of slow horror, which feels true to the original.
The less good— I really wanted more to Abelard and Noah’s relationship. The POV shift from Ishmael to Starbuck was probably so that the author could explore the relationship between Starbuck and Ahab, but it felt like we got a lot more development of Noah and every other character first. Sometimes it felt like the author forgot the Ahab of it all and was too locked in on other aspects of the sci-fi story, which I’m not exactly complaining about, but means that making this a retelling specifically from Starbuck’s perspective doesn’t do much.
As a retelling of Moby-Dick it has some really strong points that other retellings have missed, and the setting is fantastic. However, it is set up to be an exploration of the relationship between Abelard and Noah, and falls short with this. I do recommend it despite that.
The good— the sci-fi worldbuilding is really good. The author doesn’t spoon-feed you explanations but lets the setting shape through anecdotes and dialogue. It feels realistic! The obvious Moby-Dick analogues are generally well-adapted and the rest of the ensemble are interesting and very concrete. Specifically, Esmail Rostami stands out as one of the best Ishmael adaptations I’ve read, and Savannah’s character and relationship to Noah feels very lived-in. The ConBod storyline started out as a cool way to explore how disability and bodily autonomy will be handled in the centuries to come, and ended up as one of my favorite sci-fi plots in recent memory. The FDL reveal was kind of everything to me, and on that note, a lot of the Moby-Dick plot points and references felt natural to the story. In the last few chapters this devolved into a kind of slow horror, which feels true to the original.
The less good— I really wanted more to Abelard and Noah’s relationship. The POV shift from Ishmael to Starbuck was probably so that the author could explore the relationship between Starbuck and Ahab, but it felt like we got a lot more development of Noah and every other character first. Sometimes it felt like the author forgot the Ahab of it all and was too locked in on other aspects of the sci-fi story, which I’m not exactly complaining about, but means that making this a retelling specifically from Starbuck’s perspective doesn’t do much.
As a retelling of Moby-Dick it has some really strong points that other retellings have missed, and the setting is fantastic. However, it is set up to be an exploration of the relationship between Abelard and Noah, and falls short with this. I do recommend it despite that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2026
4.5, rounded up for GR. This was a great sci-fi / psychological thriller about a descent into madness, and more people need to read it. It's been 14 years since I read Moby Dick, and I probably would have liked this retelling even more if I'd read the classic more recently, since I only recognized some of the references. However, I don't think you to have read Moby Dick to enjoy this book, since it was just a good book! The author does a great job of immersing you in a scene, bringing to life the various planets the crew travels to, and in particular the small ship they spend so much time on. They've made the crew into a bunch of believable, complex, and empathetic characters. This really helps draw the reader in as events turn darker as the plot unfolds. It's also got some solid sci-fi, dealing with issues of artificial bodies, the ethics of recognizing sentience and intelligence in alien species. It also presents a queer-normative world and some great trans rep with a trans masc main character. My only complaint is that it may be a tad too long, but I think that may be a requirement for a Moby Dick retelling? I hope that this author keeps writing, because this debut was great!
November 28, 2025
i lowkey don't know what i was on, but this book felt so hard to finish. The writing felt so choppy and the characters were so confusing. Haven't read moby dick (though i've read things about it) and it felt like you kinda have to? It was just very weirdly lacking a lot as a standalone book.
February 9, 2026
As a fan of the original novel, and particularly as someone who has consumed and formed opinions on various adaptations, I had high expectations for this novel- expectations that it certainly met. The Uncontinented Stars is a work that has a great respect for its source material, while also adding brilliant commentary of its own.
The characters are certainly the heart of this story. The Starbuck analogue, Noah, makes for a realistic and yet still endearing protagonist, who you simultaneously want to shake some sense into while cheering him on. Starbuck is actually my favorite character from the original novel, so I was so delighted to find out about a story where his analogue was the POV character. The progression of his relationship with the Ahab analogue, Abelard, is a highlight of the novel, and as someone who has always loved their analogues' storyline, it was also wonderful to see done well. Besides them, the rest of the crew are a very loveable bunch. You'll stick with them throughout the story- what else do you expect from a team of people in a spaceship together?- and in that amount of time, all of them present something that makes you attach yourself to them.
I believe this is a book that can be enjoyed whether or not you're a fan of the original novel. Having previous knowledge is great for catching various references and analogous scenes, but even without it, the story is compelling enough on its own that one would be able to enjoy it just as much.
The characters are certainly the heart of this story. The Starbuck analogue, Noah, makes for a realistic and yet still endearing protagonist, who you simultaneously want to shake some sense into while cheering him on. Starbuck is actually my favorite character from the original novel, so I was so delighted to find out about a story where his analogue was the POV character. The progression of his relationship with the Ahab analogue, Abelard, is a highlight of the novel, and as someone who has always loved their analogues' storyline, it was also wonderful to see done well. Besides them, the rest of the crew are a very loveable bunch. You'll stick with them throughout the story- what else do you expect from a team of people in a spaceship together?- and in that amount of time, all of them present something that makes you attach yourself to them.
I believe this is a book that can be enjoyed whether or not you're a fan of the original novel. Having previous knowledge is great for catching various references and analogous scenes, but even without it, the story is compelling enough on its own that one would be able to enjoy it just as much.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews