The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

⭐⭐⭐/5

An action-packed sci-fi novella, which is light on character development.

This is a compact action adventure with everything you need for a great sci-fi story. We have a generation ship heading back to Earth after a failed colonization attempt elsewhere in the galaxy. We have aliens, a missing captain and a de facto leader trying to do her best. The story moves quickly as the ship's crew is being stalked by aliens, while the ship is in the middle of a generations long trip back to Earth.

However, the book drops character development in favour of plot. I'm not sure why our acting captain is such an accomplished leader, or what in her past has equipped her teams to trust her (shaky) judgement. As we start to lose crew members, I didn't really care, because we never knew them, which tones down the horror element for me.

This book is best read at night while looking out at the stars.