Interstitial

Interstitial #1

by Ann Somerville

Love triangles. Alien monsters. Planetary war. Just another day in space.

Sebastien ven Hester, decorated war hero and captain of the sentient cargo ship Naurus, can face any danger—except his own feelings. Jason North, his pilot, finds out the hard way that Seb’s not ready for a relationship after his recent divorce. And Jatila Kan, their engineer, discovers her feelings for North aren’t returned—because her lover’s pining after another man.

Not the best situation for a crew starting a three-week run across the galaxy.

But there are bigger terrors in space than their messy love triangle. A ruthless, horrifying enemy stands ready to test them to their physical and emotional limits.

Failure means certain death not only to themselves and their passengers, but to the entire planetary alliance.

Genres: M M Romance, Science Fiction, Romance, Menage, M M F, Erotica, Fiction

91 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2008

About the author

Ann Somerville grew up in one of Australia’s prettiest small cities. In 1989, she left Australia with a BA and a burning ambition to see more of the world and its people, and to discover this ‘culture’ thing people kept telling her about. In 2006, she returned home to Southeast Queensland with two more degrees (this time in science and IT), an English husband and a staggering case of homesickness, vowing never to leave Australia again.

Her long, plot-driven fiction featuring gay and bisexual characters has been published by Samhain Publishing and elsewhere.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Posted at Hearts on Fire Reviews

Interstitial is a fast-paced, engaging story that gripped me right from the first page. Seb, captain of a sentient cargo ship, is still grieving over the end of his 10-year marriage to Kurt. Jason North is a pilot who cares deeply for Seb, but finds out he is not yet ready for a relationship. Jatila Kan is an engineer who loves North and learns he is in love with another man.

These three people are stuck together for three weeks attempting to sort out their differences when they learn that deadly aliens have boarded their ship. Fighting them will take all the strength and courage they can muster.

This was a fun story with very creepy aliens, complex characters with serious relationship issues, and an interplanetary space jaunt filled with lots of action and surprises.

I love space operas with a touch of romance. Interstitial brought back some fond memories of the relationships in Sharon Lee's Pilots Choice, the world-building and drama in C.J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station, and the crab-things in Jack McDevitt's The Engines of God.

Highly recommended!

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not really sure why I liked this book as much as I did. It was entirely too short, and there was no HEA, not even an HFN, but only the glimmer of an HFN... Further, so much time was spent with the female character, that I wondered whether this would turn out to be a menage (but it didn't). In addition, there was no sex (only one very brief but VERY HOT flashback to a sex scene), and most of the falling in love happened prior to the opening of the book. AND I felt bad for Jati.

Again - why did I like it as much as I did?

I HAVE NO IDEA...

This is the second book I've read by Ann Somerville, and there is just that elusive something about her writing that I enjoy. Maybe it's the very subtle and artful characterization... Maybe it's the smooth and error-free writing...

I REALLY hope there is a sequel.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novella, a space adventure with gay protagonists, the almost 40 y/o Captain and the 20 something pilot, both sexy and beautiful (of course). Be that as it may, it is primarily an old school Science fiction story with a fascinating alien and a fascinating space ship. I want to know a lot more about Seb and Jason and about the universe where they reside. It would be a good advance copy for an epic SF adventure.

Tell Samhain to put it under SF instead of romance, even though romance sells better (bah!).

[Elisa Rolle]

Well, well, well this book surprised me. Truth be told I didn't buy it as soon as it was out, even if I like Ann Somerville's work, due to the menage matter. You know me well friends, I'm not keen first of cheating men, second of BDSM and third of menage: simple, I don't like a woman between MY men.

But, without give up the book, I need to give kudos to Ann Somerville, since she wrote one of the few menage story I can without problems, say that I like.

Seb is the captain, North the pilot, and Jati the engineering. All of them are embarking for a long mission in a spaceship and it's not the moment to argue. And instead they are arguing a lot. Twenty four hours before Seb and North met in a pub and they spent a night together, but the morning after Seb left mumbling some weak excuses of "this is against the rules", "I shouldn't do it".

Seb is rebounding from a divorce (with a man, in this futurist setting same sex marriage is not an issue) and he has just learnt that his ex spouse is remarrying and moving out from their home. Worst he wants to sell the house and have a clean start. Obviously Seb is not ready, since he is still harboring the hope to reconquer him sooner or later.

North instead thinks that Seb is ready, and when he meets him out of duty, he is willing and ready to give the handsome captain some reasons more for a new beginning. Saved being dumped the morning after and begin to sulk and pout like a teen in heat. Worst, he breaks up quite abruptly a fuck--buddy relationship he had with Jatila, a fellow officer.

Pity that Jatila was thinking that what she had with North could be something more that a friend with benefits relationship. And when North is greatly surprise by her reaction, she understands that he had no idea of what she was feeling.

So these are the very "good" conditions before the journey starts. Add to them an alien's attack to the spaceship and our trio will have to deal with a lot more of what they probably can.

This is a very good mix between sci-fic and romance. Both parts are deeply and satisfyingly dealt, and the characters are complex and interesting, and it says a lot on the author that she manages to do that in a book of less than 90 pages.

Also the end is right for the story, and, I don't know, I feel like the author will give us something more on this trio. Sorry if I give you not more details, but sincerely this is a book you should read discovering things by yourself, to preserve you the same surprise I had.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001892DTI/?...

[Paul Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the things that I've always loved about sci-fi (I guess it is "speculative fiction" these days) is the incredible world building, seeing where authors see our world (or others) being in a hundred or a thousand years. It can be fascinating stuff. What has always bothered me, though, about most "mainstream" sci-fi is the conspicuous lack of gay characters in these future worlds. It is almost as if we don't exist in the future. Now, granted, literature tends to be more inclusive than movies or television shows, but still, even literature is just as guilty most of the time.

Ann Somerville not only gets it right with Interstitial by including gay characters, but she makes them the protagonists! Can I get a cheer? For a change, readers get more than stereotyped minor gay characters. We get fully rounded human beings who are the focus of the story and who just so happen to be gay.

Somerville gives us wonderfully complex characters in a richly detailed future. We have some very cool technology, a ship captain carrying all the baggage of his recent divorce from his husband, a cocky co-pilot who is smitten with him, and the female friend and co-worker who just so happens to have had a romantic relationship with one of them. Add in some witty and smart dialog, a menacing space monster, and a life and death struggle for one of the characters and you get a great romp through interstellar space. These are characters that go beyond the archetypes of sci-fi. It's fun and funny and romantic. Characters I'd gladly visit with again.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

SlashReaders: I had fun with this. It was a nice interlude into another world for a brief period in time. The tension between the characters as well done though I might've wished for a bit more build up to it. I liked the way the mainly featured sex episode wasn't played out in full but bits and pieces of it were thrown in throughout the course of the story. That was a nice touch in building up the tension without going for the obvious sex obsession that seems to grip a great deal of gay fiction.

Two moments where I would've liked to see something a little different or more terms of details.

1. Being the creature's growth, and changes as they mature. I would've liked that to be a little clearer.

2. This is more of a side question. But if the war with these creatures is over and has been over for a while I assume. Why or how did Marta have notes on how to treat the venom? Because the way it was put made it sound like they were her personal notes not just some information or computer file on the subject that was left over from the war or whatever.

The only other thing that I thought might've been nice. Is towards the end some of the conversations between Seb and Jati. But we don't see any of that, which for me gives the ending a bit of a rushed feel. However, I feel like that with a lot of things. Which comes down to the question of what is the best way to end something.

So yeah go read and have fun. It's fun. ;)

[Elizabetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A pregnant alien creature invades Captain Seb’s space ship and all hell breaks loose. Seb's telepathic ability with his ship was cool. Some nice fight scenes but the romance with his pilot, North, was not terribly fetching. This is my first book by the author and I found the writing quite good.

[Bookwatcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT space adventure!
No sex at all
And I dare to say neither a romance. There is a love triangle going on, between two men and a woman, but it's not romanticized! It's all about fight damn ugly scary aliens invading a star ship!
I ADORE IT!

5 stars

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing!

[Michael Offutt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this book and it was kind of a ho-hum experience. The characters are rather one-dimensional. There's hint at a past that we don't see from Seb, the captain of the ship, but we really never get any information. It's just used as an excuse for Seb to treat North bad (who is an attractive younger fella that just wants to be loved by his captain). And then the love triangle with Jati comes across as hokey...again, it is only there so that there can be a woman who gets jilted when North confesses his love for Seb who won't have him.

It really could have been a much longer book. Length might have given these tensions time to slow-build. But because Interstitial is so short...we have North banging Seb and then Jati feeling jilted but there's no descriptions of any banging between those two. Then suddenly aliens attack the ship and they have to defend. These are essentially man-eating spider-like things and they defeat them and then everyone kisses up at the end.

Kind of a waste of time really.

[BTina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a bit to get into the story, with the jumps in time and perspective in the first part. The alien mother saved the day for me. The desperate situation on the ship loosened tongues and the three main characters, captain Seb, pilot North and engineer Jati, began to talk with each other over radio. They realised that their relationships were in a quandry and worked on solving the problems while fighting for their lifes and ship. 3.5 stars.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have rated it higher if the book had been longer. It's not a romance; it's relationship-focused science fiction and there wasn't enough room to explore its setting as well as the relationships of the characters.

Also wondering if the author's familiar with the works of A. Bertram Chandler. I'm always looking for a more modern version of that.

[Asterope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, though it has its flaws. I wish it was longer. I wish there was more focus on a relationship, not just flashbacks and tidbits. It sort of felt like the middle of a book, with the beginning and end missing. The ending was too soon and not really satisfactory as it was more HFN than HEA. That being said, I did like it. I just wish it are, well more.

[DarkHeart "Vehngeance" · Rating 2 out of 5]

A vaguely interesting story, but the writing didn't work for me and I didn't feel a connection between any of the characters. It wasn't horrible story, but I don't feel compelled to read any more by the author.

[Julianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, the world building was good and the creatures evil, but the story was just kind of left hanging. there is no finish for the characters story. Maybe there is a sequel coming but it is not mentioned or anything.

[Barbara Emerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was awful. I bought it because I thought it the subject would be neat to read. Amateur writing. Shallow plot

[Manda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love space sex. I love love triangles. but this was boring and all talk, no action.

[Sandra]

$3.50 on Nook

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent alien attack sci-fi story. Not really a love story, more an adventure and a peek into 3 peoples lives and how they grow through their ordeal. Will read the follow-up books.

[Lady*M]

To re-read.

[⚣Michaelle⚣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 Stars