FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile
Listeners wake up with crew members on a spaceship bringing settlers to a new home to find that several travelers haven’t survived the journey. From that springs a sci-fi murder mystery in which solutions are a lot more far-reaching than anyone is prepared to handle. Narrator Clifford Samuel has a mellow presentation that gently leads listeners closer to the drama. He lets the text provide the highs and lows of the story. His voice often comes off as impartial and calculated, which adds to the overall eeriness of the novel. Filled with twists and turns and plenty of excitement, this locked-room mystery is sure to keep listeners glued to their earbuds. N.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
07/05/2021
After the AI fails aboard the colony ship Ragtime, first mate Shell Campion must figure out who’s responsible for a string of deaths in this inventive tale from Arthur C. Clarke Award–winner Thompson (the Wormwood trilogy). Starship AIs are supposed to be infallible, but when the Ragtime arrives at the colony planet Bloodroot, Shell wakes to find the ship in backup mode. The AIs are barely maintaining the ship, and 31 of the 1,000 sleeping passengers are dead. Thompson builds intrigue through clever story structure and shifting perspectives when Shell’s distress call to Bloodroot is answered by investigator Fin and his AI assistant, Salvo—and Shell jumps to the top of their suspect list. A fun dynamic emerges between logical Fin and no-nonsense Shell as it becomes clear that the ship AI is not just faulty but severely compromised, and a new question arises: how did a wolf get aboard the Ragtime? Though the resolution is rushed, with some details of the mystery arising too late to be truly satisfying, Thompson’s appealing take on long-distance space travel, subversion of typical AI tropes, tender characterization, and cleverly constructed suspense makes this worthwhile fare. Readers looking for a smart sci-fi mystery should snap this up. Agent: Alex Cochran, C&W. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Gripping and skillfully told, with an economy and freshness of approach that is all Tade Thompson''s own. The setting is interstellar, but it feels as real, immediate, and lethal as today's headlines. Whatever he does next, it's bound to be interesting.”—Alastair Reynolds
"This character-driven, locked-room murder mystery set in space is as intriguing as the title… With aliens, androids, too-curious politicians, and a rogue AI, this new novel from Thompson manages to be both a romp and a puzzle.”—Buzzfeed
“Simultaneously brutally grounded and wildly imaginative. The twists keep on coming.”—Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award winner
“[A]n intriguing mix of real space science and mystery: It’s “Gravity” meets “The Murders in the Rue Morgue"....completely engrossing." —New York Times
"[I]nventive, exciting and compulsively readable...This book is like the Tardis, larger inside than out, with a range of ideas, characters and fascinating future settings making it probably the best science fiction novel of the year."—The Guardian
"This energetic thriller features compelling characters, believable space logistics, dreadful consequences, and horror leavened by humor."—Booklist
"A real treat. It's a gripping space opera with the characters fighting for their lives aboard a dying starship. I enjoyed it so much and can't wait to see what he does next.”—Martha Wells, New York Times bestselling author
"[A] book brimming with big ideas, imaginative flair, and memorable characters." —Locus
"Inventive. Thompson’s appealing take on long-distance space travel, subversion of typical AI tropes, tender characterization, and cleverly constructed suspense makes this worthwhile fare. Readers looking for a smart sci-fi mystery should snap this up."—Publishers Weekly
Previous praise for Tade Thompson:
"Smart. Gripping. Fabulous!"
— Ann Leckie, award winning-author of Ancillary Justice on Rosewater
"Mesmerising. There are echoes of Neuromancer and Arrival in here, but this astonishing debut is beholden to no one."
— M. R. Carey, bestselling author of The Girl with all the Gifts on Rosewater
"A magnificent tour de force, skillfully written and full of original and disturbing ideas."
— Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award winning author of Children of Time on Rosewater
"A sharply satirical, ingenious thriller about an alien invasion that's disturbing familiar. Tade Thompson has built a fascinating world that will suck you in and keep you guessing. This book will eat you alive, and you'll like it."
— Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous on Rosewater
"Part thriller, part mystery and part phantasmagoric journey across a strange yet not-too-distant future, and reminiscent at times of both Roger Zelazny and Nnedi Okorafor, Rosewater is the hardboiled, Nigerian alien invasion story you always wanted."
— Lavie Tidhar, award winning author of Central Station
Library Journal
★ 10/01/2021
Thompson ("Wormwood Trilogy") leans on research to create a high-stress story set in the vastness of space. The giant colony ship Ragtime, controlled by AI pilots, left Earth 20 years ago with a thousand sleeping passengers on board who would start a new life in the far-off Lagos system upon awakening from their years-long journey. Among them is Michelle "Shell" Campion, on her first interstellar trip as first mate and contending with the legacy of her presumed-dead father. When the Ragtime arrives in the Lagos system, Shell awakens to find that the ship's AI is down and 31 of her passengers are dead. Investigator Rasheed Fin arrives to help Shell learn what happened to the Ragtime; the decisions they make will impact not only themselves but all future space colonies. Shadowy politics, corporate secrets, and interstellar migration collide in a fast-paced enclosed murder mystery, filled with delightful details about medicine, murder, and the psychological effects of space. Multiple points of view keep the action current. VERDICT A clever, haunting read from Arthur C. Clarke-winner Thompson.—Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton
FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile
Listeners wake up with crew members on a spaceship bringing settlers to a new home to find that several travelers haven’t survived the journey. From that springs a sci-fi murder mystery in which solutions are a lot more far-reaching than anyone is prepared to handle. Narrator Clifford Samuel has a mellow presentation that gently leads listeners closer to the drama. He lets the text provide the highs and lows of the story. His voice often comes off as impartial and calculated, which adds to the overall eeriness of the novel. Filled with twists and turns and plenty of excitement, this locked-room mystery is sure to keep listeners glued to their earbuds. N.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-08-18
A seemingly routine interstellar mission goes terribly wrong—of course.
Michelle “Shell” Campion, first mate on the ship Ragtime, expects to take a fairly nominal role in the journey to the planetary colony of Bloodroot; after all, the ship’s AI will handle everything. But she wakes from 10 years of cold sleep at the end of her journey to discover the AI stripped of its higher functions and 31 of the slumbering passengers murdered and dismembered by the service bots. Her mayday call is answered by Rasheed Fin, a disgraced investigator from Bloodroot, and his Artificial partner, Salvo, who wonder if Shell herself might be the guilty party. Certainly, the killer still appears to be onboard and is continuing to sabotage the ship’s systems. Aided by the investigative team and a more recently arrived duo—Lawrence Biz, a retired astronaut, old friend of Shell's family, and governor of neighboring space station Lagos, and his half-human daughter, Joké—they must somehow find the murderous saboteur, secure the ship, and ensure the safe arrival of the surviving colonists. Although the story bears some elements of a locked-room mystery, Agatha Christie fans will be disappointed: The author doesn’t provide readers with sufficient clues to solve the crime, instead preferring to provide the majority of the revelations midway through the book. As such, the novel is less of a puzzle and more of a genuinely exciting race against time with some mystery elements, a thriller/horror-aboard-a-spaceship in the vein of Greg Bear’s Hull Zero Three, Sean Danker’s Admiral, and, of course, the classic film Alien. Thompson also has some sharp and relevant things to say about technocrats with less than savory sources for their wealth who engage in messy personal relationships, enjoy showy toys, and try to buy themselves out of trouble. Considerably less drenched in the hallucinatory than Thompson's Wormwood trilogy, the story does veer unexpectedly toward the supernatural at the end, giving it an open-ended feel. Other aspects of the plot could use more fleshing out. Given Thompson’s penchant for series, might subsequent books be expected?
Gripping and bloody as a beating heart but with a strong need for follow up.
