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Void
Not yet published
Expected 1 Feb 99An intergalactic luxury cruise to a distant port is a world unto itself in this piercing short mystery by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth. Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time. Veronica Roth’s Void is part of The Far Reaches , a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.
Unknown Binding
First published June 27, 2023
About the author
Veronica Roth
60 books465k followersVeronica Roth is the New York Times best-selling author of Seek the Traitor's Son (coming 5.12.26), When Among Crows, Arch-Conspirator, Poster Girl, Chosen Ones, the Carve the Mark series, and the Divergent series. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 672 reviews
July 22, 2023
“She hadn’t realized when she took this job how it would make her into something other, something distinct from humanity yet still technically human, but it had.”
This was the first Veronica Roth story I actually enjoyed. A murder mystery of the “locked room” type — but set on an interstellar shuttle the crew of which ages years while in the outside world, due to the effects of time dilation through interstellar travel at relativistic speed, decades and centuries pass, leaving that crew a sort of a strange time capsule, a museum disconnected from the rest of the universe.
“Out in the void, you know more than most people how insignificant we are. What’s one more bloated body adrift? Just matter converting to matter. Stardust to stardust. […] Only—out here we’re also impossibly big. […] Bigger than time. We watch kingdoms rise and fall. Names change. Fashions change. A thousand tiny cataclysms pass us by, and we see better than anybody, you know? That all things pass.”
It’s pretty simplistic and may stretch cynical plausibility just a bit — but yet something about it can’t help but catch attention. And it’s not about the murder mystery really, but of this disconnect between the people in the flying time capsule and the rest of life, a bubble in the void and the connections formed there, in its own world. Something about it just spoke to me.
“Maybe life in the void should have eradicated her faith in humanity. Separation from time tended to do that to people. All the little struggles of people’s lives—and the great ones—became meaningless. Empires fell and rose, governments rebuilt themselves and collapsed, borders shifted, power flowed in and out, and still the Redundancy flew its endless circuit between star systems. The one thing that was constant was people fucking up what they’d made.
But they kept making things, didn’t they? They kept trying. And so did she.”
4 stars. And obviously the soundtrack to it can’t be anything but “39” by Queen, Brian May’s song about relativistic time dilation effects.
The Far Reaches Collection, in the order read:
— ‘Slow Time Between the Stars’ by John Scalzi: Different than “usual” Scalzi fare. 3.5 stars.
— ‘How It Unfolds’ by James S.A. Corey: Lovely and beautiful. 4.5 stars.
— ‘Falling Bodies’ by Rebecca Roanhorse: Anticlimactic at best. 2 stars.
— ‘The Long Game’ by Ann Leckie: Cute but unsatisfying. 2.5 stars.
— ‘Just Out of Jupiter’s Reach’ by Nnedi Okorafor: Domesticity overload. 2.5 stars.
— ‘Void’ by Veronica Roth: Time dilation murder mystery. 4 stars.
April 4, 2024
In a Nutshell: A murder investigation… on an intergalactic spacecraft! I liked the investigation more than the revelation, but a good short story nonetheless.
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Plot Preview:
This is the second standalone story in 'The Far Reaches’ series, described on Amazon as “a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart.”
The story has a good balance between science fiction and murder mystery, but rather than being restricted to these alone, it also offers an interesting insight into human beings and their emotions.
The sci-fi elements are stunning, whether talking about the spacecraft or the various destinations or the impact of trans-galactic travel on the human body, or even the titular “void” – the dark part of space with limited galaxies or stars.
The murder mystery aspect is also mostly great, considering the constraints of length. We have only a few suspects because of the limited number of characters, but the investigation angle, though straightforward, holds attention.
The only part of the story I didn’t like was the resolution of the mystery, which turned out to be more typical than I expected from such an “stellar” setting. Regardless, I am not a mystery fan anyway, so I am not surprised at this outcome.
What makes the story more interesting is the characters. Right from a main character such as Ace to a minor character such as Abid, the humans on board have complicated personae. This is surprising for a short fiction work, where character detailing usually gets sidelined in favour of plot.
In short, I loved the sci-fi, liked the characters, found the mystery okay. A nice quick read at just 50 pages. Recommended to sci-fi fans, and those scifi-resistant mystery fans who might want to check out an unusual setting for their favourite genre.
3.75 stars.
This standalone story is a part of the 'The Far Reaches’ collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Ace works as a “janitor” on the intergalatic luxury cruise craft called Redundancy. Travelling faster than light, Redundancy transports its passengers within and across solar systems. During the journey through the void, it is effectively cut off from communication and external resources. So when a dead body is discovered in the ship’s “garden”, the upper deck concierge Tertio Polaris takes over the investigation. But Ace knows that she has to get involved. After all, she knew the passenger – a sweet old man; she knows much about murder investigation thanks to binge-watching her favourite detective show; and she doesn’t trust Tertio.
The story comes to us in Ace’s limited third person perspective.
This is the second standalone story in 'The Far Reaches’ series, described on Amazon as “a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart.”
The story has a good balance between science fiction and murder mystery, but rather than being restricted to these alone, it also offers an interesting insight into human beings and their emotions.
The sci-fi elements are stunning, whether talking about the spacecraft or the various destinations or the impact of trans-galactic travel on the human body, or even the titular “void” – the dark part of space with limited galaxies or stars.
The murder mystery aspect is also mostly great, considering the constraints of length. We have only a few suspects because of the limited number of characters, but the investigation angle, though straightforward, holds attention.
The only part of the story I didn’t like was the resolution of the mystery, which turned out to be more typical than I expected from such an “stellar” setting. Regardless, I am not a mystery fan anyway, so I am not surprised at this outcome.
What makes the story more interesting is the characters. Right from a main character such as Ace to a minor character such as Abid, the humans on board have complicated personae. This is surprising for a short fiction work, where character detailing usually gets sidelined in favour of plot.
In short, I loved the sci-fi, liked the characters, found the mystery okay. A nice quick read at just 50 pages. Recommended to sci-fi fans, and those scifi-resistant mystery fans who might want to check out an unusual setting for their favourite genre.
3.75 stars.
This standalone story is a part of the 'The Far Reaches’ collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
June 28, 2023
The Void is a part of Amazon Original Stories series "The Far Reaches Collection" of novelettes (very short books.)
This story is a cruise ship murder mystery that takes place in the space between solar systems ("the Void") and I loved it. It is incredibly dense for a novelette: a fairly large cast, lots of world building, back stories on several characters.
Because it is a murder mystery, I don't want to say a lot about the story itself other than to say if you like a murder mystery it is a very satisfying one.
This story is a cruise ship murder mystery that takes place in the space between solar systems ("the Void") and I loved it. It is incredibly dense for a novelette: a fairly large cast, lots of world building, back stories on several characters.
Because it is a murder mystery, I don't want to say a lot about the story itself other than to say if you like a murder mystery it is a very satisfying one.
July 11, 2023
5★
“She went through the checklist again: suit, boots, helmet, backup oxygen, tether, backup tether. Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy—that was the mantra for space travel, the mantra for which the ‘Redundancy’ was named.”
In times of high unemployment and job losses, the threat of redundancy strikes fear into the hearts of employees. Nobody wants to be told they are surplus to requirements.
But in business, and particularly in a remote environment, you need to have back-ups and spares, and nowhere is more remote than space. Travelling in space is unique in other ways.
“She hadn’t realized when she took this job how it would make her into something other, something distinct from humanity yet still technically human, but it had. The Maintenance Deck of the ship had become a kind of series of time capsules, with each crew member bringing on board relics of their particular age. The ‘Redundancy’ was a museum.”
Travelling through space, the crew works to keep tourists happy and the ship running smoothly. In space, they age slowly compared to passengers from Earth, so a passenger who had travelled on the ‘Redundancy’ recently (in ‘crew years’), may have aged decades in Earth years and be unrecognisable to the crew.
Ace Vance is one of the Maintenance Crew and is called to fix a “waste disposal unit”…”another busted toilet”. Touring through space is not as glamorous as one might have thought.
Later, she gets an unusual maintenance call.
“ ‘I require your presence in the Arboretum. Bring your Code 128B kit.’
Ace had to search her memory for what, exactly, a 128B kit was. She came up empty.
A sigh on the other end, and then: ‘A dead body, Miss Vance. There’s a dead body in the Arboretum.’”
They don’t have police or detectives on board, no investigators, nobody experienced with this situation – a murder! But there are mystery fans on the crew and plenty of opinions.
When I began, I thought I might not enjoy this, but the focus is on characters and story rather than relying on esoteric space tech details to create interest, and I ended up loving it.
This is another from The Far Reaches Collection of short stories. Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the copy for review.
My review of How it Unfolds another in the collection.
How It Unfolds
“She went through the checklist again: suit, boots, helmet, backup oxygen, tether, backup tether. Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy—that was the mantra for space travel, the mantra for which the ‘Redundancy’ was named.”
In times of high unemployment and job losses, the threat of redundancy strikes fear into the hearts of employees. Nobody wants to be told they are surplus to requirements.
But in business, and particularly in a remote environment, you need to have back-ups and spares, and nowhere is more remote than space. Travelling in space is unique in other ways.
“She hadn’t realized when she took this job how it would make her into something other, something distinct from humanity yet still technically human, but it had. The Maintenance Deck of the ship had become a kind of series of time capsules, with each crew member bringing on board relics of their particular age. The ‘Redundancy’ was a museum.”
Travelling through space, the crew works to keep tourists happy and the ship running smoothly. In space, they age slowly compared to passengers from Earth, so a passenger who had travelled on the ‘Redundancy’ recently (in ‘crew years’), may have aged decades in Earth years and be unrecognisable to the crew.
Ace Vance is one of the Maintenance Crew and is called to fix a “waste disposal unit”…”another busted toilet”. Touring through space is not as glamorous as one might have thought.
Later, she gets an unusual maintenance call.
“ ‘I require your presence in the Arboretum. Bring your Code 128B kit.’
Ace had to search her memory for what, exactly, a 128B kit was. She came up empty.
A sigh on the other end, and then: ‘A dead body, Miss Vance. There’s a dead body in the Arboretum.’”
They don’t have police or detectives on board, no investigators, nobody experienced with this situation – a murder! But there are mystery fans on the crew and plenty of opinions.
When I began, I thought I might not enjoy this, but the focus is on characters and story rather than relying on esoteric space tech details to create interest, and I ended up loving it.
This is another from The Far Reaches Collection of short stories. Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the copy for review.
My review of How it Unfolds another in the collection.
How It Unfolds
June 18, 2023
This story is available as part of an Amazon Original Collection called The Far Reaches. The author is famous for her young adult Divergent series. In this story I found that she writes excellent adult scifi too.
The action all takes place on a transport ship in deep space. The ship is designed to move people long distances between planets and is a bit like one of today's cruise ships with luxury cabins, restaurants and even a garden. People occasionally die on such long trips and provision is made for this, but they are not usually murdered.
When an elderly gentleman is found murdered some of the staff members move into detective mode and begin an investigation. A cosy mystery in space - my kind of book completely! Well written, great fun and worth five stars for its entertainment value.
The action all takes place on a transport ship in deep space. The ship is designed to move people long distances between planets and is a bit like one of today's cruise ships with luxury cabins, restaurants and even a garden. People occasionally die on such long trips and provision is made for this, but they are not usually murdered.
When an elderly gentleman is found murdered some of the staff members move into detective mode and begin an investigation. A cosy mystery in space - my kind of book completely! Well written, great fun and worth five stars for its entertainment value.
September 1, 2026
I’ve been fascinated by time dilation ever since watching INTERSTELLAR. The contents of this short really bring new life to the age-gap romance trope.
August 5, 2023
More Please!
I really enjoyed this. A murder mystery on a space cruiser is just my kind of read. Ace was a great character and Tertio Polaris was as well. The way the passage of time played out for the crew of the ship, as they spend most of their time in the void, was unique and interesting.
I haven't read anything by Veronica Roth in a while (but do have one of her recent books on my list) and this made me want to get to that sooner. And if she wrote more of Ace's story, I'd read it! So glad I read this through Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Originals. To date, the science fiction/ speculative fiction options really deliver.
I really enjoyed this. A murder mystery on a space cruiser is just my kind of read. Ace was a great character and Tertio Polaris was as well. The way the passage of time played out for the crew of the ship, as they spend most of their time in the void, was unique and interesting.
I haven't read anything by Veronica Roth in a while (but do have one of her recent books on my list) and this made me want to get to that sooner. And if she wrote more of Ace's story, I'd read it! So glad I read this through Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Originals. To date, the science fiction/ speculative fiction options really deliver.
December 12, 2023
Loved the backdrop of this short- majority of the characters being a part of relative past due to time dilation. It made for an interesting narrative. Though I was invested in the mystery plot, the resolution left me dissatisfied.
August 13, 2023
4 Stars for Void: The Far Reaches, Book 2 (audiobook) by Veronica Roth.
This is my first Kindle audiobook. It’s using a computer voice instead of a living narrator and the text is still shown on the screen. I set the speed at 1.25 and the voice started to sound somewhat natural, but it still had no inflections. I guess it’s better than no audiobooks but I’d much prefer a real narrator.
This is a murder mystery set on a large space ship that’s going across the galaxy. It’s fun to think that this trope can be set anywhere and any time.
This is my first Kindle audiobook. It’s using a computer voice instead of a living narrator and the text is still shown on the screen. I set the speed at 1.25 and the voice started to sound somewhat natural, but it still had no inflections. I guess it’s better than no audiobooks but I’d much prefer a real narrator.
This is a murder mystery set on a large space ship that’s going across the galaxy. It’s fun to think that this trope can be set anywhere and any time.
March 1, 2024
First: finished my 30 days in a row reading a short story a day (well, I forgot one day but made it up the next day with two, and I did not do GR entries for all of them anyway because some had no possible GR entries). I am not stopping though, might keep it going for a bit longer - during the "normal" year I keep collecting stories and then putting them aside for longer length books, it is energizing to catch up on many different ideas and voices. (Finishjed on leap year day though admittedly I had counted when starting the challenge...)
Another story from amazon's Far Reaches series, and like the other 3 I had read before, hey it's pretty good. I had never read Roth, did not know what to expect. In a future universe, with no FTL, a relativistic (the time dilations involved might make no sense, or require huge accelerations and energies, but not going to quibble with that) inter-stellar luxury cruise ship carries passengers, and its staff tries to solve the murder of one of its passengers. It is not very mysterious, but there is a bit of character development, the universe is nicely defined and while it is not my favorite type of hard sf (I like stories which go deeper...), it is well done, vivid and interesting.
Another story from amazon's Far Reaches series, and like the other 3 I had read before, hey it's pretty good. I had never read Roth, did not know what to expect. In a future universe, with no FTL, a relativistic (the time dilations involved might make no sense, or require huge accelerations and energies, but not going to quibble with that) inter-stellar luxury cruise ship carries passengers, and its staff tries to solve the murder of one of its passengers. It is not very mysterious, but there is a bit of character development, the universe is nicely defined and while it is not my favorite type of hard sf (I like stories which go deeper...), it is well done, vivid and interesting.
January 29, 2025
This is another book in the ‘Far Reaches’ collection – I had already read ‘How it Unfolds’ and ‘Slow Time Between the Stars’ and liked them. This is a nice & simple story.
Ace is on an interstellar transport ship named ‘Redundancy’. Harry Magnussen complains about the toilet in his cabin and Ace helps him with it. A few hours after this he is found dead with strangely a ring in his mouth. His wife Nova is also on the ship and Ace must determine if she or anyone else is a suspect in Harry’s death.
This is a very quick one-sitting read. The story flows smoothly has a good character in Ace (whose character is developed well considering that this is a short story). I would have liked a little more novelty in the plot and the resolution.
My rating: 3.5 / 5.
Ace is on an interstellar transport ship named ‘Redundancy’. Harry Magnussen complains about the toilet in his cabin and Ace helps him with it. A few hours after this he is found dead with strangely a ring in his mouth. His wife Nova is also on the ship and Ace must determine if she or anyone else is a suspect in Harry’s death.
This is a very quick one-sitting read. The story flows smoothly has a good character in Ace (whose character is developed well considering that this is a short story). I would have liked a little more novelty in the plot and the resolution.
My rating: 3.5 / 5.
August 31, 2023
On paper this was right up my alley - but ultimately, while I thought it was fine, I wanted more from this than I got. Maybe more cruise ship time, or moments with the characters to embed me just a little deeper.
On the other hand, a murder-mystery on a cruise ship in space is just so cool that I couldn't help but enjoy the parts I did get. I'll definitely check out the rest of this Far Reaches collection.
On the other hand, a murder-mystery on a cruise ship in space is just so cool that I couldn't help but enjoy the parts I did get. I'll definitely check out the rest of this Far Reaches collection.
July 23, 2023
A murder mystery in space! Void is a great short story following a woman on the janitorial staff of a ship that travels outside the normal flow of time. When a passenger is killed, she decides to investigate. I thought this offered a fun twist on a classic.
November 10, 2023
pretty solid just… nothing special for me at least
November 11, 2023
Wow. A space opera murder mystery! Sign me up.
Loved the character of Ace and why she does what she can to find out who murdered a passenger aboard the Redundancy. And I love that we get information of her backstory and what led her to travel aboard the ship as a janitor.
Loved the character of Ace and why she does what she can to find out who murdered a passenger aboard the Redundancy. And I love that we get information of her backstory and what led her to travel aboard the ship as a janitor.
December 12, 2025
Story 3 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Soonela Nankani
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Soonela Nankani
September 27, 2023
3.3 ⭐ Very decent science fiction mystery short story. I thought I detected a nod to 'Murderbot' wherein our heroine, Ace, is inspired to solve the murder in part through her favourite serial, 'Frontier Justice'...but who knows, really? My second Roth story and she's clearly a journeyman writer. I'll have to try more of her stuff, including longer works. A fine, small diversion. Part of Amazon's, 'Far Reaches' collection, available for free for those enslaved to Prime. -30-
July 28, 2023
Another good one in the Far Reaches collection. This was a character driven murder mystery. A little scifi for background/worldbuilding but not necessary to the plot. I liked it.
4 Stars
Listened to Audible. Soneela Nankani was excellent!
4 Stars
Listened to Audible. Soneela Nankani was excellent!
July 25, 2023
3.5 Stars
An interesting concept where a ship travels space, kinda like a cruise ship of the stars, where the staff go through time at a slower pace than reality.
Within this interesting time continuum concept and the oft mundanity of ship crew life, a rare death occurs and soon, murder is the only logical conclusion. Though the investigation was simple, the reveal still had an impactful twist.
Overall, another win for this free series for Amazon Prime members!
An interesting concept where a ship travels space, kinda like a cruise ship of the stars, where the staff go through time at a slower pace than reality.
Within this interesting time continuum concept and the oft mundanity of ship crew life, a rare death occurs and soon, murder is the only logical conclusion. Though the investigation was simple, the reveal still had an impactful twist.
Overall, another win for this free series for Amazon Prime members!
November 2, 2023
'An eternity, really, depending on how tiny you allowed time to be. A millisecond was nothing compared to an hour, and an hour was nothing compared to an eon. It was all relative in the void.'
Review to follow.
Review to follow.
August 25, 2023
‘Void’ by Veronica Roth is about a murder which has occurred in space on an interstellar cruise ship. It is a strange case!
There is an interesting, and peculiar, aspect a janitor on the ship, Ace Vance, the main character, will have to deal with. Time passes differently on a planet than when traveling faster than light on a space ship. A month on an interstellar cruise ship might translate into decades having passed on a planet. A crew member traveling between solar systems might meet a passenger when they are a kid, and a couple of weeks later meet the same passenger as an elderly man! The murder victim is one of those repeat passengers. There is also the fact that a crew member will most likely lose all contact with family and friends forever when they sign up, even if it is for one trip of a month, so workers on a ship tend to be people of a certain sort. The crew can also watch the effect centuries of Time passing have on clothes, politics, hair styles, etc., by observing what the passengers are wearing or talking about. The crew feel sometimes like they are living in a museum since their own personal artifacts, which are things they brought with them a month or a year ago according to ship Time, are often things the passengers haven’t ever seen except in museums or only ever heard about from great-great-great-grandparents. In turn, whatever politics a passenger is currently passionate about seem more like a passing fad to a crew worker. All things pass into inconsequence. But does it?
This short story brings up some interesting points of relativistic time dilation!
I have copied the book blurb:
”An intergalactic luxury cruise to a distant port is a world unto itself in this piercing short mystery by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth. Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time.
Veronica Roth’s Void is part of The Far Reaches , a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.”
‘Void’ is an interesting read!
There is an interesting, and peculiar, aspect a janitor on the ship, Ace Vance, the main character, will have to deal with. Time passes differently on a planet than when traveling faster than light on a space ship. A month on an interstellar cruise ship might translate into decades having passed on a planet. A crew member traveling between solar systems might meet a passenger when they are a kid, and a couple of weeks later meet the same passenger as an elderly man! The murder victim is one of those repeat passengers. There is also the fact that a crew member will most likely lose all contact with family and friends forever when they sign up, even if it is for one trip of a month, so workers on a ship tend to be people of a certain sort. The crew can also watch the effect centuries of Time passing have on clothes, politics, hair styles, etc., by observing what the passengers are wearing or talking about. The crew feel sometimes like they are living in a museum since their own personal artifacts, which are things they brought with them a month or a year ago according to ship Time, are often things the passengers haven’t ever seen except in museums or only ever heard about from great-great-great-grandparents. In turn, whatever politics a passenger is currently passionate about seem more like a passing fad to a crew worker. All things pass into inconsequence. But does it?
This short story brings up some interesting points of relativistic time dilation!
I have copied the book blurb:
”An intergalactic luxury cruise to a distant port is a world unto itself in this piercing short mystery by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth. Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time.
Veronica Roth’s Void is part of The Far Reaches , a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.”
‘Void’ is an interesting read!
May 13, 2024
3.5/5 stars
This is a short story in the Far Reaches collection. It’s an Amazon Original Story.
This story is set in space. Ace is part of the ship’s maintenance staff. She decides to play detective and solve a mystery.
I loved the main character. I loved the setting. I really liked the mystery aspect. However I didn’t really find the last part of the story satisfying. But the story did have amazing potential.
This is a short story in the Far Reaches collection. It’s an Amazon Original Story.
This story is set in space. Ace is part of the ship’s maintenance staff. She decides to play detective and solve a mystery.
I loved the main character. I loved the setting. I really liked the mystery aspect. However I didn’t really find the last part of the story satisfying. But the story did have amazing potential.
August 30, 2024
Short but confusing science fiction murder mystery that does a pretty good job at character development for so few words. I just wish as much had been spent developing the world and technology because I struggled to understand the concepts of the void. The mystery elements are well done though, and Ace as a character is multifaceted and interesting.
October 10, 2023
Another short in the Far Reaches collection. As with most SF short stories, a lead up to a big twist. Pretty good but I kind of guessed where this was heading about half way through.
October 8, 2024
This is a single longish short story in Amazon's Far Reaches collection - and proved pleasantly engaging. I hadn't come across Veronica Roth before (apparently she wrote the Divergent series) but she has a light, readable style in this rather classic setting of 'working class folk on the spaceship'.
This is the home of Elton John's Rocket Man, which was very common in 1950s SF films and lasted through to Star Trek, when the writers were still essentially modelling their crews on nautical vessels, with their inevitably working class characters to do the dirty jobs. In Void, we meet Ace, one of the team who does onboard maintenance on a craft that shuttles between Earth and Proxima Centauri. She and her colleagues deal with everyday problems like malfunctioning toilets. You would probably think that by the time we can build near-light speed ships, we could also make a robot that could mend a toilet - and real life experience of space travel so far is that there is no real role for these figures, but it's a fun return to a classic concept.
Central to the plot, which is a sort of murder mystery, is the reality that because it's a near-light speed ship, the crew are travelling into the future compared to Earth, thanks to time dilation. I think Roth gets the physics a bit wrong - we're told that someone moves ahead decades in a single return trip to Proxima (rather oddly, Roth uses the shortening Centauri, which could apply to all sorts of bodies) - given a round trip is 9 light years, I can't see how the dilation can be more than 9 years - but it's a picky detail.
Like most attempts to do a murder mystery in a short story, there's not enough room to give all the twists and red herrings that really make such a tale, but Roth does a good job of exploring the life of a worker on such a ship, and the way that time dilation can mess around with their worldview. Fun.
This is the home of Elton John's Rocket Man, which was very common in 1950s SF films and lasted through to Star Trek, when the writers were still essentially modelling their crews on nautical vessels, with their inevitably working class characters to do the dirty jobs. In Void, we meet Ace, one of the team who does onboard maintenance on a craft that shuttles between Earth and Proxima Centauri. She and her colleagues deal with everyday problems like malfunctioning toilets. You would probably think that by the time we can build near-light speed ships, we could also make a robot that could mend a toilet - and real life experience of space travel so far is that there is no real role for these figures, but it's a fun return to a classic concept.
Central to the plot, which is a sort of murder mystery, is the reality that because it's a near-light speed ship, the crew are travelling into the future compared to Earth, thanks to time dilation. I think Roth gets the physics a bit wrong - we're told that someone moves ahead decades in a single return trip to Proxima (rather oddly, Roth uses the shortening Centauri, which could apply to all sorts of bodies) - given a round trip is 9 light years, I can't see how the dilation can be more than 9 years - but it's a picky detail.
Like most attempts to do a murder mystery in a short story, there's not enough room to give all the twists and red herrings that really make such a tale, but Roth does a good job of exploring the life of a worker on such a ship, and the way that time dilation can mess around with their worldview. Fun.
November 3, 2023
This is the second instalment in The Far Reaches short story series.
An intergalactic luxury cruise ship is full of all the sorts of wealthy individuals you would expect it to hold. But, beneath the surface, scurry the maintenance staff that go largely unnoticed by these wealthy patrons. When one is found murdered, however, it is both up to them to clean the floors of all traces of him and to find out who ended his life in such a way, as well.
I really enjoyed puzzling out this short murder mystery. It was played out in front of the backdrop of space but Roth ensured we never forgot her setting and the futuristic landscape still had a part to play in the unfurling events. The conclusion was one I did not guess at and provided many sorrowful emotions as the book closed. I would love to revisit this futuristic creation and protagonist, Ace, again.
An intergalactic luxury cruise ship is full of all the sorts of wealthy individuals you would expect it to hold. But, beneath the surface, scurry the maintenance staff that go largely unnoticed by these wealthy patrons. When one is found murdered, however, it is both up to them to clean the floors of all traces of him and to find out who ended his life in such a way, as well.
I really enjoyed puzzling out this short murder mystery. It was played out in front of the backdrop of space but Roth ensured we never forgot her setting and the futuristic landscape still had a part to play in the unfurling events. The conclusion was one I did not guess at and provided many sorrowful emotions as the book closed. I would love to revisit this futuristic creation and protagonist, Ace, again.
July 8, 2024
2.5 stars
This wasn't bad. It was just rather boring.
This wasn't bad. It was just rather boring.
September 19, 2025
A Relative Short
Review of the Amazon Original Story ebook (June 27, 2023) released simultaneously with the Brilliance Audio audiobook.
Otherwise this is rather a simple story of a maintenance janitor who takes it upon themselves to solve the murder of one of the passengers on the vessel. The aging paradox actually does tie in to the solution of the crime.
Veronica Roth is best known as the author of the Divergent series (2011-2017) which was adapted into a trilogy (2014-2016) of feature films.
Trivia and Links
Void is the 2nd of 6 short stories making up the series The Far Reaches, released simultaneously on June 27, 2023 as eBooks by Amazon Originals and as audiobooks by Brilliance Audio. The Far Reaches collection is described as "The universe is bigger than we can imagine. Look outward beyond the stars with six stories from bestselling visionary authors. An AI awakens to its purpose. A researcher seeds a thousand new worlds for one more chance at love. A murder rocks the crew of an interstellar ship. With a sweeping sense of wonder, these stories explore the galaxy...and the horizons of humanity’s potential."
You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Kindle short stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
Review of the Amazon Original Story ebook (June 27, 2023) released simultaneously with the Brilliance Audio audiobook.
She hadn’t realized when she took this job how it would make her into something other, something distinct from humanity yet still technically human, but it had.This is a relatively (heh-heh) short story which doesn't go into any amount of technological detail about interstellar travel but simply accepts it as a reality. The fun aspect is the realization of Einstein's Theory of Relativity that someone traveling at or faster than the speed of light is aging slower than someone who is living their life on a planet. So you have the paradox that the permanent maintenance crew of a interstellar vehicle is aging only a few weeks while someone back at the home planet has aged several decades.
Otherwise this is rather a simple story of a maintenance janitor who takes it upon themselves to solve the murder of one of the passengers on the vessel. The aging paradox actually does tie in to the solution of the crime.
Veronica Roth is best known as the author of the Divergent series (2011-2017) which was adapted into a trilogy (2014-2016) of feature films.
Trivia and Links
Void is the 2nd of 6 short stories making up the series The Far Reaches, released simultaneously on June 27, 2023 as eBooks by Amazon Originals and as audiobooks by Brilliance Audio. The Far Reaches collection is described as "The universe is bigger than we can imagine. Look outward beyond the stars with six stories from bestselling visionary authors. An AI awakens to its purpose. A researcher seeds a thousand new worlds for one more chance at love. A murder rocks the crew of an interstellar ship. With a sweeping sense of wonder, these stories explore the galaxy...and the horizons of humanity’s potential."
You can watch for current and past Amazon Original Kindle short stories which are usually paired with their Audible Original narrations at an Amazon page here (Link goes to Amazon US, adjust for your own country or region).
July 18, 2023
Kept me guessing to the very end!!!!
Absolutely loved this mystery science fiction story. The author managed to drop clues while not giving the ending away till the last page. Awesome!
Absolutely loved this mystery science fiction story. The author managed to drop clues while not giving the ending away till the last page. Awesome!
November 29, 2023
This was a lot of information for such a short book and to be honest and I was glad when it was over.
“No one sought a job on an interstellar transport ship because their life was working out as planned.”
“The one thing that was constant was people fucking up what they’d made.”
There's a transport ship called Redundancy in deep space with the purpose to allow people to move between planets.
Ace is part of the maintenance crew and most of the time is dealing with busted toilets until one day she has to cleanup a dead body.
We get a very silly Law & Order episode of guess who the murderer is in deep space.
The entire reason of why the old guy got killed, was as basic as it could get.
“No one sought a job on an interstellar transport ship because their life was working out as planned.”
“The one thing that was constant was people fucking up what they’d made.”
There's a transport ship called Redundancy in deep space with the purpose to allow people to move between planets.
Ace is part of the maintenance crew and most of the time is dealing with busted toilets until one day she has to cleanup a dead body.
We get a very silly Law & Order episode of guess who the murderer is in deep space.
The entire reason of why the old guy got killed, was as basic as it could get.
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