Void All The Way Down

Sliding Void #1-3

by Stephen Hunt

Captain Lana Fiveworlds has a hell of a lot of problems. She's sliding void in an ageing seven-hundred-year-old space ship, scrabbling around the edges of civilised space trying to find a cargo lucrative enough to pay her bills without proving so risky that it'll kill her. She's got an alien religious freak for a navigator, an untrustworthy android for a first mate, a disgraced lizard for a trade negotiator, and a deserter from the fleet acting as her chief engineer. And that was well before an ex-crewman turns up wanting Lana to rescue a barbarian prince from a long-failed colony world. Unfortunately for Lana, the problems she doesn't know about are even more dangerous. In fact, they just might be enough to destroy Lana's rickety but much-loved vessel, the Gravity Rose, and jettison her and her crew into the void without a spacesuit. But there's one thing you can never tell an independent space trader. That's the odds...

Genres: Science Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Stephen Hunt is a British writer living in London. His first fantasy novel, For the Crown and the Dragon, was published in 1994, and introduced a young officer, Taliesin, fighting for the Queen of England in a Napoleonic period alternative reality where the wars of Europe were being fought with sorcery and steampunk weapons (airships, clockwork machine guns, and steam-driven trucks called kettle-blacks). The novel won the 1994 WH Smith Award, and the book reviewer Andrew Darlington used Hunt's novel to coin the phrase Flintlock Fantasy to describe the sub-genre of fantasy set in a Regency or Napoleonic-era period.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great premise.

The Gravity Rose and Lana Fiveworlds have more secrets that they don't know. Zeno a trusted AI knows more than he is saying what are the secrets of Lana?? A small crew with their own problems drawn to the Gravity Rose family. Want to read more and find out all the secrets.

[Jeffrey Schmieder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, good pulp science fiction. Interesting mix of barbarian royalty, smugglers, aliens, and secrets. Want to read more. Quibbles? Set way too far in the future for 20th century pop references to still be used, even with a former movie star android centuries old.

[Philip Dickinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really confused when, partway through, I found myself reading what seemed like a fantasy fiction. "I'm sure it was sci-fi when I was reading last night!" I exclaimed, and I was not wrong. There's an interesting mash-up that actually works. Anyway, Void All the Way Down is actually three novellas glued together to make one decent sized story. Lana Fiveworlds (yeah, the name did annoy me a tad) is the captain of an FTL freighter. She and her crew of five misfits operate as an independent trading company finding dodgy work on the outer edges of Alliance-controlled space. Think 'Firefly' (if you remember that TV series), but bigger, and in a whole lot more trouble from the get-go! 'Tales of the Ketty Jay' is another vaguely similar book series (which I loved), but that one is set on a steampunk world.

It's lite sci-fi, but fun, and Stephen Hunt peppers the book with physics terms and science jargon in a way that makes you believe it could all happen...almost! ;-). Look, honestly, I should probably give it 3 stars, but it came along at a time when I needed a thrill-packed ride, fluffy and undemanding, and so to heck with it...4 stars, sir!

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sliding the Void

Stephen Hunt’s utterly creative interplanetary tome marries the joy of teamwork with the thrill of encountering an ancient civilization, capped off with an unforeseeable twist at the end. The first book leaves you wanting more: to spend time with the inimitable captain and her multi-species crew as they seek new adventures among strange worlds. This story kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

[Kerry Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

The universe is skillfully created and maintains its logic.
Hints that there's more than appears on the surface appear early, the hook to the next book is more explicit but this tale is complete.
Characters are well formed with room to grow. I will be looking at the next in the series

[C.A. Knutsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced action and lots of fun developments

The characters that were introduced in the initial chapters are part of this exciting follow through. In addition new characters new developments and new intrigues are introduced. A fun, exciting read.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn fine read

I enjoyed the story so much that I have already decided to purchase the next installment of the story. Excellent sci-fi writing with a pesky background story waiting in the wings

[Barrie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!!!

Absolutely Brilliant, Awesome characters, amazing storyline and a world scape so good it's real, highly recommend this is a must read, Baz

[Mike Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Space opera

Great Space Opera. A vivid cast of Characters with an amazing plot. This story is part of a series. A Very Good Read. Santa Mike

[Hmr28 · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'd. Pretty bad. What the shizzle??? If i read that word one more time...

[Fiannawolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ship was filled with lovable misfits. It gets my vote of awesome. *please be advised: Most times I am fairly easy to please when fun characters are involved.