Station Eternity

Mallory Viridian is a murder magnet. When she's around, murders happen, and she's the only one who can solve them. She tries offering assistance to the police. She'd like to become an investigator herself. But her efforts are repeatedly blocked, and it isn't long before she becomes the top suspect in all the crimes that happen in her vicinity. This is a problem, and to Mallory, claiming sanctuary on a sentient alien space station where she's only one of three humans seems like a perfect solution.

Until the station decides to allow other humans to come there. The shuttle arriving from Earth is destroyed on its approach to the station, and humans and aliens both are dying, and Mallory is trying to figure out what the heck is going on before the station loses control and destroys them all.

It took me a minute to really get into Station Eternity. The different character arcs unfold through current episodes and flashbacks, and it felt a little convoluted at first. But if you start the book and feel that way, don't get discouraged. I promise it's worth it in the end!

Lafferty does a great job conveying how the few humans struggle to function in a space station built with no consideration given to them at all. The furniture isn't sized correctly, the food may or may not be agreeable, things we take for granted in our daily lives are a challenge for Mallory. Even communication with the different alien species can be difficult, translation bug notwithstanding.

I also enjoyed the descriptions of the different types of aliens aboard Eternity, as well as Eternity herself. The insect-like Sundry, the Gneiss who seemed like giant sentient rocks, the inscrutable Silence, each alien species had its own unique characteristics.

The human charaters were engaging, too. Calliope was one of my favorites, with her general attitude of badassery and nonchalance. I found it fascinating, too, that she could fail at multiple individual skills in military testing, but when you put them together, she was a juggernaut. And Mrs. Brown! She is the absolute best. She is proof that age doesn't have to be an obstacle to, well, anything you put your mind to.

When all the threads of the story came together, when relationships were revealed and the mystery was unraveled, it was glorious. I read past the end of my lunch break so I could see what happened. I normally don't like a cliffhanger, but in this case, I'm tickled. It means I get to dive into Eternity's universe for at least one more book, and I can't wait.

Five stars for a good mystery, solid sci-fi world building, well-written characters, and a story I'm clamoring to know more of!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.