Ahoy there me mateys! I picked this sci-fi novella up from a local library as soon as I saw it was published by Tor. I adore their novella line. Five out of the six novellas nominated for the Hugo this year were published by them. I have read four of them so far and highly enjoyed them all.

This particular story was published in 2017. I have heard of Dave Hutchinson and have his work on me ports for plunder list but have not read any of it yet. I have to admit that the author’s name didn’t even register when I saw this. I saw the sci-fi sticker and the Tor logo and snatched it up.

The premise is that a group of colonists, led by scientist Isabel Potter, fled Earth due to its restrictions on genetic engineering. The problem was that they stole a ship with colonists on it when they left. Potter and the colonists’ descendants have been trying to eke a life outside of Earth’s influence for generations. Duke Faraday, a lawyer, has been drawn into the conflict. Why is Earth still hunting Potter and her gang? Will they ever give up? And what is Duke going to do about it?

It was a quick, fun read and I devoured it. I absolutely loved the whole story, the set-up, the conflict, the ending, the writing style, the plot, and Duke himself. A fabulous novella that ye should read if ye can. I will certainly be picking up more work by Dave Hutchinson. Arrr!

Side note: For lists of the 2015/2016 novellas released by Tor click below. I kinda want to read them all! If any of me crew knows of a definitive list of novellas released after that please let me know! Me search was fruitless.

Tor.com Publishing 2015/2016 Novella Lineup

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/