This Starry Deep

by Adam P. Knave

Jonah and Shae Madison were the best their generation had to offer. Throwing themselves into trouble at every turn, they spent a lot of their time fighting for what they believed in, saving countless lives. But now, somehow having made it into their sixties, they've happily retired. Until they're forced, this time against their will, to save the galaxy. It's one more time into the deepest black, together. Jonah and Shae were already a force to be reckoned with, but this time they're joined by their son, and that doesn't make them LESS dangerous...

In a galaxy pushing them at every turn, all they have are wit, will, and most importantly, each other to keep them all alive.

And gravity packs.

And blasters.

Genres: Science Fiction

330 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Adam P. Knave is an Eisner and Harvey award winning editor and writer who writes prose fiction (This Starry Deep, Stays Crunchy in Milk, Strange Angel), comics (The Once and Future Queen, Amelia Cole, Artful Daggers, stories in Titmouse Vol 2, Outlaw Territory Vol 3, and many more), as well as humor essay collections (NYCWTF, I Slept With Your Imaginary Friend) and used to write columns for sites such as thefoonote, TwoHeadedCat, Comics101, PopCultureShock, Three If By Space, and MamaPop. He worked as one of the editors of Image’s Popgun anthology, also editing many other works along the way.

Currently in Portland, OR after spending 38 years in New York City, Adam knows he should insert a joke or something attempting to be witty here at the end but is too tired to care.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d definitely give this 3.5 stars if I could give halves! It’s a fun, light read, with good emotional beats even if there isn’t too much depth overall. Firmly middle-aged (if not slightly older from how I understood it) Jonah and Shae come out of retirement to face a threat to the human race, but man does all this running around remind them of why they retired in the first place, even if they’re still well capable of kicking ass in space. Their adopted son Mud is trying to find his place as a son of two kick-ass space heroes, and also as a Hurkz adopted by two humans, making him hated by the rest of his alien species. This book had some fun concepts that I haven’t seen a lot of before, mostly in the form of some really cool aliens and alien planets.

While it was fun, it wasn’t exactly gripping, as shown by the long time it took me to finish, mostly because I could put it down for months and forget about it. I also noticed a few grammar/editing mistakes in my kindle copy, though this isn’t something that really bothers me. I’d recommend this for someone suffering from series burnout, as a nice palette cleanser after a heavy trilogy or the like. The feeling of being able to put it down for months and still be interested in the story whenever I did pick it up again was nice, so I might even get the sequel.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read of space action/adventure. If you're willing to overlook things like everybody speaking English regardless of what planet they're from it's a fun read.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pulpy space adventure from my friend Adam. Long-time adventurers pushed back into the mix of things, which is always a great premise for a story. Lots of fun, like all of Adam's writing.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this so much!! I first became a fan of Adam's work reading the Amelia Cole books, and this is just as great! Super entertaining and I want to be friends with the Madison's.

[Lee Betonklotz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, fast sci-fi in a classic style

Larger-than-life heroes blasting the bad guys and zipping around so fast my mind's eye got whiplash! Definitely going to read it over and over.

[Andy Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun little read.