Ahoy me mateys! Grab your grog! Here be book 1 of the eighth installment of the 3 Bells trilogy showcase featuring the crew’s very own Matey Sarah! Arrrr!!!
running out of space (S.J. Higbee)
Well, all ye scalawags should be familiar with Matey Sarah’s blog and wonderful book reviews. But some of ye may not be aware that she also be a writer. (What be wrong with ye wretches?) When the first book was published years ago in 2017, I bought me a copy. And then bought the next two in the trilogy as each was released. But shame on me, I didn’t read them right away. So with this Sci-Fi Month celebration, I thought I would finally give Matey’s Sarah’s work the time it deserves in return for all those sparkly treasures she be constantly adding to me ports for plunder list.
This novel follows Lizzy Wright whose dream has always been to join the naval officer training program. She serves on the merchant freighter, the Shooting Star under the command of her hard-nosed Captain who just happens to be her dad. But life in space is proving different from what she imagined so she and a group of friends decide to ditch their chaperones and sneak off the ship to visit the space station. What should be a fun little adventure turns into a big ol’ mess.
I have to admit that I was hesitant at first because ye get tossed right into the action on the station with little explanation and where insta-lust makes an appearance. It was a little hard to get me bearings and insta-lust tends to be a major turnoff. At the same time, I was quickly intrigued by the four girls’ situation and wanted to know what they were doing. Being naive, making a massive mistake, and getting caught is what.
Once the women are back on the ship, I began to get thoroughly engaged in Lizzy, life on the ship, and the craziness of the plot. I ended up growing to really like Lizzy. The plot be full of twists and turns and I was surprised over and over again. Plus the insta-lust actually evolved into a rather lovely romance with many unexpected consequences. Lizzy doesn’t always fight for what she wants and let’s others steamroll over her but her personal growth ends up being wonderful by the end of the novel. I am looking forward to seeing what happens with her next.
The two things I loved best about this book were the ship culture and the ship’s language. I can’t help but love ship life (Arrrr!). The ship’s crew are descended from the British empire. Space life is hard and has taken a toll on fertility, especially that of women. Being fertile is valued but women who can have children are treated as fragile and precious creatures to the detriment of their personal wants and needs. Rules, chaperones, and lack of agency abound. Of course Lizzy can have children but doesn’t want to. The shipboard politics of this issue was fascinating. The delight was increased when ye get to meet more of the fleet and see how other ships be run.
I can’t do the language of the ship justice but I will try. There is just enough slang in the language that it feels like English has evolved and speech patterns have changed. Yet ye still can guess what the words were derived from. Add in a bit of ship jargon and it made the language fun while still being understandable. I approve.
The minor negative for me is how some family abuse is handled. It isn’t explicit and makes sense in the context of the story but I was rather uncomfortable. I didn’t like how Lizzy treated her guilt over it. The story is still ongoing so it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. I don’t know if, or how, it will dealt with in future books.
That aside, by the end I was very much wanting to know the future for Lizzy. She has matured and the set up for the next section be intriguing. Check in tomorrow for what me thinks of book two. Arrrr!
Side note: Sci-Fi Month is hosted by Matey Lisa of Dear Geek Place and Matey Imyril of One More. Check out their blog links for more info and join the fun!
Goodreads has this to say about the novel:
Lizzy Wright has yearned to serve on the space merchant ship Shooting Star for as long as she can remember – until one rash act changes everything…
Lizzy and her friends weren’t looking for trouble – all they’d wanted was to prove that fertile English girls could handle themselves when on shore leave without being accompanied by a sour-faced chaperone and armed guard. Looking back, maybe taking a jaunt off-limits on Space Station Hawking wasn’t the best idea – but no one could have foreseen the outcome. Or that the consequences of that single expedition would change the lives of all four girls, as well as that of the stranger who stepped in to save them.
Now Lizzy has more excitement and danger than she can handle, while confronting lethal shipboard politics, kidnapping, betrayal. And murder.
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Thanks so much for sharing SJ’s work!
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Thanks for visiting matey!
x The Captain
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Great review! And also a very necessary reminder, since I did buy this first book some time ago but I have still to get around to reading it (ok, shoot me now… 😀 ). But I promise I will amend that soon…
Thank you so much for sharing!!!
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Thanks for readin’ matey! I be glad I finally read the series given how long I had been stringing Matey Sarah (inadvertently) along. It was fun.
x The Captain
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I’m reading your reviews out of order – lol! ditto my last comment.
Lynn 😀
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I be responding to comments out of order. Can’t wait to see what ye wrote. Arrrr!
x The Captain
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Sounds like a lot of fun!
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Arrr!
x The Captain
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Fabulous review! Sounds like a lot of awesome elements at play between the slang and the politics.
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Lots of twists and turns in this one. Hopping.
x The Captain
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Wonderful review! Lizzie sounds like someone I need to get to know😁
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I sure like her!
x The Captain
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Thank you so much for your lovely review, Cap. And I’m delighted that you GET the language – it isn’t something that has been mentioned much in previous reviews:))
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I really did like the language. I was sad it didn’t play as big of a part in the later two books though it made sense why it didn’t. I loved yer version of life aboard the ship. Though I certainly don’t run me outfit like that.
x The Captain
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Yes… I did alter the language to fit the differing settings, hence it was a lot more military in the last 2 books. And I’m very glad you thought the shipboard life worked. I’ve thought a lot about how a family-run ship might work – and what the variations could be… And I’m very glad you don’t run your own crew like that – or you’d be heading for a mutiny!
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I like to avoid mutiny. Nasty business. Part of why I love sci-fi so much is for the different shipboard descriptions. I prefer the sea but wouldn’t mind being a space tourist in the far (safe) future. I know most are set on military type backgrounds but I also love the weirder ones like in Becky Chambers works. Later this month I am hoping to read the entire central corps trilogy thanks to yer recommendation. Arrr!
x The Captain
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Oh good! I’m so glad you are giving the Central Corps trilogy a go – I’m really looking forward to hearing your take on it, Cap!
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I just realized I have a week until they are all due back at the library. Crunch time!
x The Captain
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Fingers crossed you get through them, Cap. I’d love to hear what you think of them:)
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Reblogged this on Brainfluff and commented:
The Cap at Captain’s Quarters has just released this review of RUNNING OUT OF SPACE…
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