Galaxy

by Mark Lingane

A cracked-mirror tale of sex-fuelled and blood-soaked revenge.

Spark, an elite Space Academy pilot, barely survived a deadly battle. After years in a coma, he emerges to find a crippled world and his memory in tatters. Humanity faces threats from many sides, often self-inflicted. And a new evil is coming. Something that will wipe out the human race for good.

With a dwindling number of fighter pilots, Spark is forced back into active duty, where he meets another cadet, beautiful and enigmatic. Together they work to restore his memory, and Spark is tested to see if his fragile nerves can face the approaching disaster.

But Spark's world turns into a surreal mystery, and he is caught up in a strange and sinister conspiracy.

A tale of love, jealousy, obsession and revenge.

It's not what you think it is.

177 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 2, 2022

Reviews

[Karen Siddall · Rating 4 out of 5]

An injured former space fighter pilot returns to help train new recruits to defend the Earth from alien attack.

Galaxy by Mark Lingane was an exciting, manic two-part story set in space, the moon, and an Earth in an unknown future time. The first part, called “After,” is the story of Spark, a renowned space fighter pilot who has survived a deadly encounter with an alien being referred to as the “oil-egg.” His co-pilot was not so lucky. His recovery from his injuries has taken a long time; he was in a coma for seven years. After regaining consciousness, he is released from the hospital to return to service on the moon. Recruits are dwindling in numbers and potential, and Spark is needed desperately to re-enter the fight, but he’s barely able to walk under his own power. Lingane employs a minimalistic style to deliver Spark’s point of view. I liked how the almost “stream of consciousness” delivery conveyed the character’s confusion in what he was thinking, feeling, and observing around him. It took a little getting used to, but it worked well for me as the story progressed. At first, there was a fogginess about it, and it mimicked what was going on inside Spark’s head. The story unfolds at an exciting pace, frenetic, tense, sex-fueled, and desperate as Spark’s world devolves into chaos.

Part two, “Before,” is the story of Verum, a social media influencer whose family has a tradition of military excellence; his uncle, until recently, had been the flight brigadier at the Space Academy. Verum has thousands of admiring followers, leading to his overinflated opinion of himself as a superior contender for Space Academy training as a pilot. He is a spoiled, entitled, overgrown brat, yet I still wanted him to straighten up and become the hero he imagined himself to be. The story of his attempt at pilot training is also fast-paced and sex, drug, and alcohol-fueled. With its unpredictable twists and turns, the book was unputdownable.

However, the “After” and the “Before” stories didn’t quite match up for me. There are recurring characters, and one that dies in the “Before” story is alive again in “After,” and I found this confusing. Also, I didn’t get a clear understanding of who or what the aliens were or what had transpired in their war against the Earth. On the other hand, I really liked the world of the Space Academy that the author has created, especially the multistoried accommodations for the pilots and other regular staff with their numbered disk entry keys, the barracks for the recruits, the rec area, and bar. I will probably reread this one in the future and enjoy it all over again.

I recommend Galaxy to Sci-fi readers who have read and enjoyed this author’s works in the past and those who like stories of humans struggling and training to overcome an alien threat to the Earth. Potential readers should be aware that the story contains explicit sex, drug use, alcohol use, and suicide, and is not recommended for a younger audience or those sensitive to these issues.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.