First Fleet #1: Bones

by Stephen Case

The 30-page short story that inspired the First Fleet novella trilogy! With the discovery of faster-than-light travel, humanity has begun its exploration of the galaxy. When a military fleet discovers the ancient ruins of an extinct alien civilization, it is heralded as the first proof of intelligent life away from Earth. However, when a medical regeneration pod accidentally revives alien tissue and awakens something shockingly destructive, the fleet transmits a single terrifying distress call before going silent. ------------- FIRST FLEET - Novella Series Overview In the follow up novellas (First Fleet #2-4) - A team of scientists is assembled to find the casualties, including a young entanglement expert who is struggling with the knowledge her sister is one of the missing. As her team gets closer to the horror that is the remains of the fleet, she realizes that some things are better left unfound.

Genres: Science Fiction

35 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Ann Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclosure: I live in the same area as the author, Dr. Case. My children attended the same school as his. I know of him, but I really don’t know him personally.

I was aware that he wrote a sci-fi novel about ten years ago, and had read a few reviews of it over years, but as a busy working mom I was not in much of a leisure reading phase of my life, and to the extent I was, I had a long backlog on my list.

Years later I am now reading for fun again, and I was pleased recently to find a paper copy of the complete saga at our local independent bookstore. I just zipped through this short story setting up the rest of the tale.

I hate forced dialogue and overuse of background details as many readers do. I am very happy then with this author’s style as he obviously has written something he himself would enjoy reading and most others will too, I think.

I have some travel coming up so I plan to pace myself for the next couple of weeks through part two, and use the longer, later sections for my rather long day of transit to my far off destination.

So far I am easily hooked.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting, yet frustrating, short story. Interesting in the fact it quickly got you engaged in the story line but frustrating as it has a huge cliffhanger that is a teaser you get you to go purchase the real novel. While I do appreciate the fact it is a prequel to a novel, I really dislike cliffhangers and think short stories / books should have a logical conclusion. Given that, I would recommend you give this one a pass unless you are either committed to purchasing the novel or are already a fan of the novel and want to get more of the backstory. Luckily, this one was free – I won’t be purchasing the full novel.

[Kristin Scarbrough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful short story that ends on a great cliff hanger which has made me ready for the next installment, a novella I'll be readind soon. I haven't read pure scifi in awhile and this was a good start back for me.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

“First Fleet” by Stephen Case is a pulp science fiction tale released as serialized novellas by Retrofit Publishing. “Part 1: Bones” is a short story leading into this science fiction horror series.

“Part 1: Bones” sets the stage on a medical frigate that regenerates the bodies of killed soldiers. When one of the res-pods behaves strangely, a medical officer suspects that the Colonists – or an unknown intelligence – have smuggled aboard something dangerous.

In Part 1, Case introduces the reader to some of the hard science fiction aspects of the series by showing us the regeneration process, where stored personalities are downloaded into cloned bodies. We also get a glimpse of the monster who causes the slaughter of the First Fleet.

“First Fleet” is a grim tale of desperation where the characters begin in a vacuum of knowledge and are quickly overwhelmed by events beyond their control.

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I read this chilling short story, it wouldn't leave me alone. The writing is crisp and compelling. It's story itself and the world(s) in which it's housed that's most captivating; you may find yourself mulling over it for days afterward. I did. I would even say it's stellar, but I'd hate to use the pun. I'm pleased Retrofit felt similarly and released an extension to this original story, First Fleet #2 Wake, the first of three parts that will make an entire novel, as I understand it, with Bones as a prologue. However, Bones stands very well alone and certainly worth the download and time spent rehashing. The cover art is fantastic, too; a pleasure to have on my virtual bookshelf. Looking forward to more from this author.

[Matt Upshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quick read. The short-story that sets the stage for the rest of the series. A good mix of creepy and engaging. There's a horror element but I'm also drawn in by the theory of the technology, with soldiers going to war, "dying," and being reconstituted and memories being "re-installed." Filled with plenty of good questions I hope are answered in coming installments.