Starship Summer

Starship Seasons #1

by Eric Brown

This is the story of David Conway and his new life on Chalcedony, a planet renowned for its Golden Column, an artifact that is mysterious and strange, no one knowing why it is present there. Conway meets some locals in the town of Magenta Bay and buys an old starship from Hawksworth, who runs a scrap yard in the town full of old and disused starships. Conway sets up the ship on his land and uses it as his home, but the presence of what can only be described as an alien ghost starts a string of events that lead to a revelation that will change everything for humanity.

Genres: Science Fiction, Novella

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Eric Brown was a British science fiction author and Guardian critic.

Reviews

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ring of Tharssos, which at one time had been a dozen moons, but which millenia ago had collided and shattered into a million shards and fragments, arched overhead, colossal and breathtaking in the perfection of its parabola. I was no longer on Earth, on the Vancouver sea front. I was twenty light years distant on an alien planet.

David Conway is a runaway. He has come to the farthest edge of the known space, the planet Chalcedony, to exorcise his inner demons, but his nightmares have followed him through the teleportation devices that have made such star hopping possible. On this new planet, David runs even further from civilization, to the isolated Magenta Bay, with its silvery sea and bright red sands. While searching for a builder for his new house, Conway comes across an unusual scrapyard:

I was ten again, a kid awed at the sublime majesty and latent power of the craft arrayed around me. The sight was not without the kick of poignancy, however - and not just the poignancy of lost youth, but the sadness that these magnificent vessels should end up here, some whole, but most nobbled and spavined, stripped and stacked and sorted into utilitarian piles: here a rickety mound of radiation baffles, there a ziggurat of nose cones, and over there a pile of tail-fins layered like pancakes.

Among the dilapidated former exploration rockets, now made obsolete by the teleportation stations, David Conway lays eyes on one that has an unfamiliar design. Impulsively, he buys it and asks the yard owner to sent it to Magenta Bay to serve as his new residence.

... and that's how the adventure begins. David makes friends with a few of the other local misfits, each driven away from civilization by a secret and dramatic event in his or her past. Hawk, the scrapyard owner, is a former star pilot, now grounded and with his neural implants burned out. Maddie is a mysterious lady who refuses to touch anything or anybody else, wearing gloves and bringing her own cutlery and cups to any meeting. Matt is a renowned artist who hides from his fans and claims to have run out of inspiration.

The starship home is soon revealed to be not only of alien design, but also haunted by the spectres of its former owners - a race that is unlike any of the known space-faring civilizations in the galaxy. Its secret might be related to the major attraction that brings people to the planet a Chalcedony : a massive column of golden light rising thirty kilometers up from the high plains of the inner continent. The artefact is attracting more than its usual share of oddballs, crooks and pilgrims from all over the inhabited planets. David is not very keen on visiting this sort of circus, but the key to the presence of alien ghost points in the Column's direction:

I considered the explorers who had first discovered the Column, and how wonderful it must have been to view the marvel in its pristine state, unadulterated by the meretricious infection of human beliefs and prejudices. It struck me as arrogant that these people had claimed the Column in the name of their own belief systems, and the sight of the massed pilgrims sickened me.

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For all its slim size, somewhere between a novella and a short novel, "Starship Summer" is amazing in the way it captures the romance of distant planets and alien civilizations. Eric Brown pays homage here to the early years of science-fiction, establishing a universe ruled by new technological advances, both mechanical and biological. His prose is evocative and often lyrical, yet manages to transmit at the same time in a clear way the basic new technical concepts that drive the plot. The main achievement for me though is how convincing, how interesting are the personalities of the main actors, so different from the way the early writers in the genre, often carried away by their bright ideas to the detriment of plot or character development. The story here is as much about the mystery of the starship "Mantis" and the golden "Column", as about the personal dramas in the lives of David, Matt, Hawk and Maddie.

David and Hawk are primarily technocrats, who approach problems pragmatically and sistematically. (" It's just that I have the kind of brain that demands rational, scientific explanations. ") . Matt and Maddie are dealing in emotions, aspirations, dreams. The interplay between the two approaches to life is as interesting as the questions of space travel and alien contact.

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I picked the book for my summer vacation, based on its size and on the previous experience with the work of Eric Brown ("The Kings of Eternity" was great). I got out of it much more than the escapist fun I expected - a confirmation of the role of science-fiction as one of the best tools he have to explore the future place of humanity and the meaning of Life.

I knew, suddenly, that I knew nothing, that I was minuscule in the vastness of the expanding cosmos - that existence was a mystery I had no hope of fathoming.
And the odd thing was that, instead of being filled with existential despair at the futility of our collective plight, I brimmed with joy at the fact of my humanity, my ability to experience the day to day wonder of being alive, my friendship for the three people at my side.

I am determined now to continue with the next episodes in the David Conway story.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another work by Eric Brown that I've read this year, and I'll make no excuse for it. I really enjoy his writing and find it difficult to believe that he isn't a more popular author when the quality of his output is consistently high. Starship Summer is a short novella, running to only 120 pages, and is from the excellent PS Publishing, a small press publisher that churns out some great stuff from many genre authors. Those familiar with Brown's work won't find anything different here, but it's a great story that is expertly told.

As the synopsis says, this is the story of David Conway and his new life on Chalcedony, a planet renowned for its Golden Column, an artifact that is mysterious and strange, no one knowing why it is present there. Conway meets some locals in the town of Magenta Bay and buys an old starship from Hawksworth, who runs a scrap yard in the town full of old and disused starships. Conway sets up the ship on his land and uses it as his home, but the presence of what can only be described as an alien ghost starts a string of events that lead to a revelation that will change everything for humanity.

As I mentioned, if you're familiar with Brown's previous work you won't find too much different here. This is a story about the characters, each contributing to the whole in a satisfying way and Brown is able to bring each to life and give them a good depth in such a short space of time. Conway is the main character whose point of view the story is told from and it's through his interactions with everyone else that we discover more about them, and also about the planet and its history. There are no complaints from me at all about the way this story is told and the human side of the story once again reigns supreme, although this does not mean that anything suffers because of it.

The story is set in the same universe as Meridian Days, the Telemass universe, and while it doesn't have any direct relation to the previous story the setting is very suitable and allows the story to unfold in both expected and unexpected ways. The technology isn't that prominent but the Golden Column does play a big role in the story and everything is tied together nicely at the end.

This is a novella that is well worth reading and Brown has already written one sequel to it, Starship Fall, with another two due over the next couple of years. I'd highly recommend picking this one up simply because of how enjoyable and easy it is to read, not to mention that the short series could turn into and excellent set of stories based on this one alone.

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Starship Summer" is a pretty good Science Fiction yarn with a strong reminiscence of Jack Vance. In a colorful novella, four characters become close friends and get involved in a mystery surrounding the aliens on the planet Chalcedony. Each of them has to fight demons from the past and they quickly develop strong bounds between each other.

Aliens, spaceships, technology - it's all there but the focus always remains on the characters and this makes the story so enjoyable despite its slower pace. The perfect book for a rainy Sunday!

The end was a bit too neat for my taste, a soft ripple instead of a big bang. Moreover, these guys have a serious problem with alcohol! Was there any day where they weren't drinking beer or wine? Anyway, I am glad that I have discovered this series and look forward to the next parts!

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very pleasant book to read because it felt like one big vacation and something I would like to be doing when I retire. Beaches, bars, friends and no jobs, it’s just fun and friends. Except that this is a sci-fi tale and it’s on another planet. It tells the story about a man named David Conway who has left Earth and is escaping to a religious planet, not because of the religion but because of the ocean as he feels he needs to be close to the water. He quickly finds an old space ship in a scrap yard and decided to build his home in it. He befriends the man working in the scrap yard, Hawk, and quickly makes friends with two of Hawk’s fiends.

It’s is fun reading of the friendship that evolves on this seemingly vacation type planet, get-togethers at each others house, get-togethers at the local bar, etc.. and then David suddenly starts seeing aliens in his dreams. This is where the plot kicks in and we find out that this scrap yard ship might be a little more than it seems and we find out that not only David but all the four friends have dark pasts.

This was a very enjoyable read – well written, an interesting idea and just plain fun to read.

[david james · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a 100 page novella, the first in a series of four, published in 2007. I've waited a while to read this series of books, as it's proven quite difficult to get hold of all them, and I didn't want to start until I had them all.

I've probably read more than 10 Eric Brown books to date and he's yet to disappoint me, so I'm not surprised that I got through this novella quite quickly. I'm starting the second tomorrow, but I'm guessing that, as enjoyable as this one was, it was also a bit of a scene setter, as well as giving some back story on each of the characters. I'm expecting the others in the series will be a bit pacier, but I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointed.

As mentioned by others, I'm amazed that this author isn't as widely known as he has some really good ideas, has an easy to read style, and tells a good story.

He fits quite a lot of detail into this short book - aliens races, starships, artifacts, 'telemass portals', the obligatory telepath, each character having their own demons - and there's probably enough material in this book alone to make a full novel. Can't wait for the next one.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable book. It reminds me of the old golden age science fiction, except for a bit more drinking. Everything I have read by Brown I have enjoyed. A good solid consistent author.

[Kathy KS · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

A pleasant little science fiction novel that is a definite feel-good story, although some of the characters are struggling with their own demons. Definitely a cure if you're tired of dystopian views of the future.

Influenced by some of the early Heinleins, perhaps. But I also kept humming Margeritaville to myself. Characters are people that you might enjoy meeting; they spend a lot of time together drinking, but not, seemingly, to excess. There is a mysterious structure and the narrator is living in an old spaceship on some beach property. Since I've always been interested in repurposing buildings into homes, I liked this.

The moment when our MC first sets eyes on the spaceship (later christened the Mantis) at the salvage yard, reminded me so much of the first time Mal saw Firefly...

Read this

[Flo Pre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein wunderschönes Slice of Life/Science Fiction Buch mit ner echt tollen Atmosphäre.

Wundert mich das Eric Brown nicht bekannter ist bei der Qualität die dieses Buch hat. Werde mir auf jeden Fall weitere Bücher von ihm kaufen, denn Starship Summer ist jetzt mein Lieblingsbuch 2023 :)

[Tom Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

That feeling of the unknown. The love of space travel. Just a hint of more to come. It's what brought me to sci-fi in the first place.

[Ray Daley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very obviously the first book in a series, suffers for it a bit. Still an okay read.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've said it before, Eric Brown fails to disappoint again with what is probably the best sci-fi novella that I've read to date. I can't quite work out an exact reason why I love this story so much, but maybe it's just the wonderful combination of setting, characters and storyline that does it. I ended up feeling a connection with every member of the cast, people who share a common bond in that they're running from their pasts and the demons therein. Brown relies on his often used 'burnt out' main character that he does so well and I love the way he builds the character relationships. I found myself almost wanting to be a character in this story and therefore was drawn in easily. A bloody good yarn and the perfect length with a great triumphant conclusion, a fine example of why the short forms suit this genre so well. I am now suitably eager to devour the other three novellas of the 'Starship Seasons' series. Eric Brown writes fantastic stuff, it's as simple as that.

[J.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a terrific, fast read. A bit too neat in the way the story clicks to place, and I saw much of what was going to happen from the mechanics of the story. Regardless of those small problems, this is a character-driven, insightful story with aliens, mysterious artifacts, and even one laser pistol. Recommended.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little novella. Aliens, haunted spaceships, tragedy and new love. What more could a sci-fi fan want? This has everything but the space opera battle.