On the Horizon – the vela (Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, S.L. Huang, Rivers Solomon)

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this sci-fi eARC from Serial Box in exchange for an honest review.  Here be me honest musings. . .

Title: the vela

Authors: Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, S.L. Huang, Rivers Solomon

Concept created by Lydia Shamah

Publisher: Serial Box

Publication Date: TODAY !!! (e-book/audio book)

Source: Publisher

Well mateys, do I have some absolute treasure to share with the crew.  Settle down because I have a yarn to spin.  Ye see I have been avidly reading everything Becky Chambers writes because she be awesome (new novella coming in 2019!).  And recently I read some of Yoon Ha Lee’s work and he be awesome.  Book one of his machineries of the empire series is on me 19 for 2019 list.  S.L. Huang’s novel zero sum game has been glitterin’ in the hold waiting to be read at the first spare moment.  Plus I have me eye set on Rivers Solomon’s lovely looking novella about denizens of the deep coming out later this year.  This be a talented bunch o’ scribblers.

So shiver me timbers was I was extremely surprised when a company called Serial Box contacted this salty Captain to ask if I would be willing to read the vela.  I wasn’t sure exactly what Serial Box was but took one look at the list of authors and immediately said “Aye!”  Oh ye scalawags, rascals, and reprobates why didn’t any of ye tell me about Serial Box sooner?  Me spy network apparently needs a shakedown but, luckily fer ye, Serial Box be savvy enough to approach yer Captain first!  For those of ye knuckleheads that still don’t know by now, Serial Box nicely informed me that:

Serial Box brings everything that’s awesome about TV (easily digestible episodes, team written, new content every week) to what was already cool about books (well-crafted stories, talented authors, enjoyable anywhere).

Like TV, we release a new episode of our serials every week and serials typically run for seasons of 10-16 weeks. Easy to pick up, episodes are enjoyable on their own but build over the course of the season to tell a bigger story. Each episode is available in ebook and audio and takes about 40 minutes to enjoy.

Serial Box was generous in their terms and offered me the entire series of the vela in one go.  Seriously how sublime is that?  So I stole some time and settled in for a whopping good tale.

The Vela is a missing spaceship filled with refugees from a dying planet.  Asala Sekou is a soldier-for-hire who has been tasked with finding the missing ship in the name of politics.  However Asala wants nothing to do with this assignment or to be saddled with the President’s youngest child in tow.  Asala knows the life of the refugee and that dying planet all too well.  She has put that past behind her in the name of survival and has no wish to return to said planet in person or in memory.

But of course she gets sucked into the madness.  I absolutely loved Asala and her toughness, intelligence, and tactics.  She really floats me boat and I would be happy to have her on me crew any day.  Even the President’s kid Niko managed to get some sea . . . er space legs and grew on me in time.  But while the characters are fantastic, the plot be even better.  It seemed like every single person’s plans went sideways at every opportunity.  And what a debacle and fun it be!  Seriously by the end I didn’t really know what was gonna happen or who to cheer for besides Asala.  And her choices were awful and worse.  The plot kept me guessing and the writing by four authors was practically seamless.  I was just hangin’ on fer the ride and grinnin’ like a madwoman.  I refuse to spoil it by giving more details but I want more seasons of what happens next!  Avast ye swashbucklers!  Go out and listen to this fantasic tale.

So me hearties, I raise me grog in toast to Serial Box and this fantastic season.  May we continue to savour this truly wonderful partnership.  Arrrr!

So lastly . . .

Thank you Serial Box!

Side note: I read the ebook version of the vela but am certainly going to look into their back catalog of audio books beginning with Sarah Gailey’s the fisher of bones.  Have ye read her hippo westerns yet?  Arrr!

Serial Box’s website has this to say about season 1 of the vela:

Orphan, refugee, and soldier-for-hire Asala Sikou doesn’t think too much about the end of civilization. Her system’s star is dying, and the only person she can afford to look out for is herself. When a ship called The Vela vanishes during what was supposed to be a flashy rescue mission, a reluctant Asala is hired to team up with Niko, the child of a wealthy inner planet’s president, to find it and the outer system refugees on board. But this is no ordinary rescue mission; The Vela holds a secret that places the fate of the universe in the balance, and forces Asala to decide—in a dying world where good and evil are far from black and white, who deserves to survive?

To visit the authors’ websites go to:

Yoon Ha Lee – Author

Becky Chambers – Author

S.L. Huang – Author

Rivers Solomon – Author

To buy the delightful series go to:

the vela – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List