The first book in the Salvagers science fiction series.
A BIG SHIP AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE is a pretty intriguing start to a new series. It is a future in which magic exists (not something I recall seeing, often). The two protagonists are pretty well-drawn and engaging, and the story moves at a decent clip. I confess I didn't *love* the novel, but I enjoyed it enough to consider giving the next book a try.
If you're looking for something a bit different, give this a try.

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe was packed full of action. It was a lot to take in, and I found myself reading a lot slower, but the scenes Alex created were amazing and I didn't mind slowing down to ensure I didn't miss anything. The twists and turns kept me thoroughly engaged through the story, and I was shocked at the main reveal which is always a bonus. I do think pacing wise, a little improvement could of been made to the flow as the story was constantly fast paced, and gave no time to recover or understand situations completely before moving on. I am a big believer that the slower times in a book should be equally as impactful as the fast paced moments, and I do think that wasn't done as well.

Moving on to characters and WOW what a wonderful, complex, diverse and unique set of characters! It was really easy to become attached to the characters within A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe. Each character was well developed and complicated which I enjoyed exploring throughout this novel. Our two main characters Boots and Nilah were so different, both of their perspectives were fantastic to read from although they can come off as unlikable. I felt very attached to both of the main characters, but the side characters were equally as important. The dynamic between all the characters was really great to read, and I definitely can't wait to dive into the next novel to see where the story takes them.

"We are everywhere. Even when you think you are untouchable, we can pluck you from this universe.”

Overall, A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe was a great start to this sci-fi series. I definitely recommend this one to sci-fi fans who like non-stop action scenes and kickass female characters.

I got this from NetGalley/Orbit and I was really excited but I'm late for my review - sorry I got way behind schedule there for a little bit. 

I didn't know what to expect from this, I didn't even read the blurb before opening it so when the first scene was about racing futuristic sci-fi cars with wings that run on magic I was sort of taken aback. It was fast paced and fun but took a sharp turn when one of the main characters, Nihla, is on the track and gets attacked. A creepy animalistic type woman ensnares her car in a time-spell and kills her co-pilot over information regarding a map. The attack itself was surreal and trippy, while stuck in a time spell Nihla feels like she can't breathe or move, the air feels thick and almost like molasses, sounds are distorted and colors are wrong - they're either faded to black and white or hyper-exaggerated. It created a very creepy and memorable scene. The map supposedly locates the legendary warship known as The Harrow, it's rumored to have been powerful enough to destroy cities or countries but many don't believe that never existed. 

Mother believes it exists though, and she came after Nihla's friend and crushed his skull - Nihla barely escapes with her life and hunts down a name she heard her friend say before he died - Elizabeth "Boots". 

Boots is a washed up celebrity of sorts, she made it big a number of years ago with a show called "Finding Hana". She was a treasure hunter and still is, but she's long since fallen out of the public's favor. She's a "dull" or a "none", meaning that she's completely without magical abilities. It's a rare condition and those afflicted with it have a lot of difficulties fitting into society. She's older now and sells maps and star charts that supposedly lead to treasures of different sorts. However, her merchandise is starting to lack in it's quality, many people are going on adventures and coming up empty-handed after expensive expeditions out to the middle of nowhere. 

The two POV's collide around 10% in, so it's obvious from very early on how these two will be connected in the story. 

Nihla tracks down Boots, right as Boot's debtors find her and they both end up captured and on a spaceship called the Capricious - once upon a time Boots used to serve on this spaceship and these captors used to be peers. It makes for an interesting dynamic and things start getting tense when Mother finds them and attacks the ship with multiple cruisers. 

The crew of the Capricious, willing or not, are now on their way to try and track down The Harrow before Mother can get her hands on it. 

The world building in this was really unique, there are lots of different types of magic, healing magic, mechanical magic, data magic, life magic etc. Each person is typically born able to tap into one of these sorts of magic and sometimes people take on physical attributes that give away what kind of magic they use. I really love that things like crystal balls exist in the same world as holograms and spaceships - it creates a very fresh and unique atmosphere. Nihla's magic is based around machinery, she has the Mechanist's Mark and she's able to almost meld with her car, she can feel the gears shifting, the tires heating up and wearing down, the pistons in her engine etc. There are tattoo's that change color based on your emotions and a lot of other really neat stuff I haven't seen done very often - big points for this book on originality. 

I liked one of the characters, but I never entirely warmed to the other. Not surprising given my tastes though, I tend to prefer older characters and worn down characters so Boots appealed to me much more than Nihla. Nihla has grown up sort of pampered, she has enough money to own a small colony, and she's sort of emotionally distant. She's pretty self-centered and is absolutely obsessed with her racing which made it hard for me to identify with because I've never liked racing of any kind, not even really in video games. One exception being Mario Kart.  So when Nihla was being chased by Mother with two battle cruisers trying to kill her, and all she could think about was the race she was going to miss, I sort of fell out of the moment. I did start to sympathize with her when she was being demonized in the media and her friends were turning against her, thinking she was capable of killing her co-pilot. Boots was much more my style, she has a lot of experience under her belt, she understands the situation they're in and she's capable of taking command and getting them out of bad situations. 

This was very fast paced, there was something going on in every chapter almost from beginning to end. That's to be expected I guess when the storyline is about racing, warships, and a crazy woman named Mother. There was a lot of humor in this, although it didn't always land for me this would definitely qualify as a funny book for some. The humor was often juxtaposed with darker events including character deaths, so maybe it was a tone thing that didn't work for me, I'm not sure, honestly. There were also a very distinct writing style, words like "holy cats, beat feet, heater" were used a lot and I didn't totally connect with it. 

Overall, I'm really torn on this one, there were parts I really liked and others that just didn't work for me. I would suggest trying it out and seeing if it's for you, the world building certainly was fun and it was very original and fresh. 

Audience: 

Science Fantasy 
Lots of magic 
lots of tech 
space battles 
multi pov
female pov 
fast paced 


Ratings: 
Plot: 11/15
Characters: 10/15
World Building: 13/15
Writing: 11.5/15
Pacing: 12.5/15
Originality: 13.5/15
Personal Enjoyment: 6.75/10

Final Score: 78.25/100

First off, I want to thank the publisher and the author for an ARC of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe. Receiving this ARC, in no way, shape, or form, determined my overall opinions or review.

When I received this book in the mail a few weeks ago, I was already interested based off of the stunning design on the cover. It is absolutely breathtaking.
The second thing I noticed were the blurbs. Nicholas Eames, author of my #1 Read of 2017, Kings of the Wyld, has TWO blurbs. Yes, you read that right. DOS.
Not only that, but in his review, he absolutely LOVED the novel. Not to say I have anything in common with Nicholas (except maybe our love of the written word), but that automatically moved this book up Mt. TBR.

Boots Elsworth (hell of a name) is a washed up treasure hunter selling fake salvage adventures to enjoy a lasting meager existence. When she stumbles upon the story a famous warship known as the Harrow, a ship known for its devastating past, Boots may be in for more than she bargained for.
Nilah Brio is one of the top drivers in the PGRF (Pan Galactic Racing Federation) and has quite the following, at least until she witnesses the murder of a fellow driver in the middle of a race. Now the key suspect and forced to go on the run, Nilah has only one person she can turn to: a woman by the name of Boots.
When the two women find one another, they are brought on board a smugger’s ship; one that Boots has a past with and one that will lead them to the justice they seek.

I really enjoyed this one from start to finish and it will go down as one of my top reads this year. The author’s ability to spin science fiction and fantasy together so seamlessly is quite astounding. What is really going to keep you engaged are the characters. While Nilah and Boots do share some screen-time together, we generally follow them separately on their own missions, each with their individual obstacles and goals but all of which intertwine. Their consistent sarcastic nature with one another and the secondary characters is, for me, reminiscent of Michael R. Fletcher’s ‘Manifest Delusions’ series. You are constantly in the minds of these characters and are able to see just where their loyalties lie, and what their motives truly are.

Having said that, I really stayed for all of the action. Space battles, magical duels, and whiplash filled racing keeps this novel going at rick-roaring speed. You really feel like you are in the midst of all of the action and are left bloody and sweating by the time the battles are over. There is also the overarching mysteriousness of the villain, simply named Mother. Who is she, why is she killing everyone, and whose Mother is she? (That last one is a joke and a bit ridiculous, even for me).

If you enjoy fast-paced novels chock-full of warring space cruisers, magic infused race cars, and tons of killing, this novel is right up your alley. I for one am excited to see where this story goes as we have two (2) more books to look forward to. Keep an eye out for White as he will become a household name here soon, bank on it.

A Big Ship At the Edge of the Universe had first caught my eye with its fantastic premise--a space opera featuring a treasure hunt, two women on the run, and a F/F romance. What's not to like? And I'm pleased to say that the story lives up to my expectations. It combines high-octane action and charming characters to create a summer scifi that's perfect for fans of Firefly and the Borderlands games.

Here's the quick rundown: a cocky young woman crosses paths with a mouthy veteran. Both get kidnapped by the veteran's former captain and are thrust into a hunt for a legendary ghost ship. Space battles ensue. Romances are had. Hand-to-hand combat is considered foreplay. And things get very, very dangerous.

Nilah is as privileged as they get. A bigshot racer with a rich father and utterly naive when it comes to the wider universe. Then, during one race, she bears witness to the murder of a fellow racer and she soon finds herself on the run with a hefty bounty on her head. Her life thus far has revolved solely around driving and trying to get her name inscribed in the racing history books. So this whole murdering and ship hunting business? Not a fan. At all.

In enters Elizabeth "Boots" Elsworth. An older veteran woman who now makes her paltry living as a treasure map maker and seller. Most of her maps are conjectures (i.e. junk), but every so often she happens on the real deal, which, unfortunately, turns out to be the case here.

Boots and Nilah are fantastic together. Nilah reminds me of a bratty princess (who can also throw a hell of a right hook), and Boots a world-weary gunslinger with a penchant for sass and sarcasm. We've seen this dynamic plenty of times with male characters in every genre of fiction, so it's exciting to see it played out between two women. Boot's sarcastic quips never failed to make me smile and Nilah's reckless, daredevil spirit is nothing less than infectious. They're both characters you can't help but want to be best friends with.

The side characters are also varied and interesting--especially Orna, the hot-tempered quartermaster and Nilah's love interest. Their romance will appeal to fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope; there's enough friction between them to light up an entire city and I loved every bit of it.

What's also impressive is the magic system. Yes, there's magic in this story, and though it's strange saying this about a space opera, it's very cool. When most scifi stories try to incorporate magic into their world, they don't call it "magic", they give it scientific-sounding names, a la "Biotics" from Mass Effect. But we all know they're just wizards in space. Here? No such coy winking. Alex White blatantly calls them "wizards" and "mages" and their abilities are literally just spellcasting. I love that. Magic and future tech seamlessly interact in ways that are inventive yet highly plausible, which, for fantasy and scifi lovers, is truly the best of both worlds.

What's even more fascinating is that this is a world in which magic is the norm. The majority of people are all born with the ability, and being a non-caster is considered an incredibly rare defect. Thus "non-casters" are often treated with pity and distaste. It's an interesting societal characteristic that I would love to see explored deeper in the sequels.

The story isn't without a few problems. I couldn't get a good sense of what some of these planets looked like beyond the basics, which was a little frustrating. And throughout the second half, I found myself craving a bit less action and a bit more character interaction. Nilah and Boots' burgeoning friendship is put on hold in favour of moving the plot forward and we get less scenes of them together. Nilah and Orna's relationship also seems to skip several steps in the middle--moving from "I'm going to bash your head in" to "I love you" a little too quickly for my liking.

All in all, though, A Big Ship is a lovable story--full of crazy action scenes, an eclectic cast of characters, and a myth to chase--and I had a ton of fun with it. Book two will be dropping later this year and I very much look forward to seeing what adventures these characters will face next.

(Review forthcoming on Nerds of a Feather in June 2018)

So, let's get this out of the way first: Yes, the title of this book is super reminiscent of Becky Chambers, and the cover also looks a bit like a mash-up between the UK and US editions of A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. Yes, both books involve crews of misfits with vague Firefly overtones travelling the length of the galaxy to find the mysterious object in the title. Yes, I may have mentally replaced the actual blurb of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe with the words "like Chambers?", which made for a lot of mental adjustment when I actually started reading. Because aside from the Firefly-esque touches, there's really not much of the Wayfarers in White's high octane everything-but-the-kitchen-sink fantasy sci fi mashup, which feels more like Rachel Bach's Fortune's Pawn or the gunrunner-y parts of the Indranan War series by K.B. Wagers while simultaneously bursting with its own flair.

In White's world, space travel and advanced AI technology mix with magical powers which almost all humans are innately born with. These powers, or glyphs, are apparently fixed at birth and can be highly specific, meaning everyone is superpowered in one narrow area while having normal human capabilities everywhere else. The powers we see range from "practical but not exactly cool" (like cleaning magic) to mechanists able to talk to machinery and snipers who can magically enhance their accuracy, right through to hardcore supervillain stuff like shifting people into slow-moving pocket dimensions and large-scale mental manipulation. A few people are born with "deformed" glyphs which, for example, turn what could be unstoppable healing magic into just the ability to sense life, and a very few are born with "arcana dystocia", unable to conduct magic at all. While this doesn't prevent them from moving through the world entirely, it prevents these people from interacting with various technologies that require magic, as well as being a stigmatised and misunderstood condition.

Elizabeth "Boots" Elseworth is one of those people, although she's got by for forty years without any magic. Boots develops salvage maps for a living, most of which are fake. She might have stumbled on something good, though, with the discover of information leading to the Harrow, a Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe with an enormous salvage prize for anyone that finds it. Unfortunately, Boots discovers this information at a point when her past is about to catch up with her in the form of the Capricious, an old warship she used to serve on, complete with her former captain Cordell. At the same time, almost-champion racing driver and arcane mechanist Nilah Brio is in the middle of the race when another driver is killed in the middle of the track by a mysterious character known as "Mother", who also teleports Nilah off of the track and out of the running for the race. Nilah, understandably outraged by this, attempts to call in some of her copious privilege to secure her safety, but ends up in the middle of a firefight between corrupt security officers. Somehow, this leads her to Boots and Cordell, and onto the Capricious, which takes her in and takes on the task of salvaging the Harrow and discovering the mystery behind the ship, Mother and the other events coalescing around their crew.

Big Ship is fast paced almost to a fault, with fight scenes, chase sequences, character development moments and plot advancements all happening in lightning quick succession. At several points, I had to go back and reread passages after it became clear I'd missed key information from apparently reading too fast. It's no fault of the prose -- everything was always perfectly clear the second time around -- but I think the book's fast paced action sequences encourage speedy reading and it can be hard to switch gears back down to pick up details of the complex and sometimes slightly convoluted plot. Character motivations can also be quite hard to keep straight: Nilah is not particularly interested in military history and is basically on the Capricious by coincidence, but wants to find her friend's murderer and ideally avoid being murdered herself, while Boots and Cordell are primarily interested in the Harrow for salvage but get dragged into the conspiracy when they realise it links to the traumatic events that drove them apart twenty years ago. It feels like a set of coincidences that the plot then retroactively justifies, which is somewhat unsatisfying and, again, led to several moments where I felt I'd missed information about why the characters were invested in particular incidents. I think I'll be approaching future books with a pen and paper to hand so I can take notes on key happenings.

And despite making me weirdly defensive about my reading comprehension, I suspect I will be picking up future instalments of this series. I found a lot to like about Big Ship, from the magical elements that add a really neat twist to the setting to the hints of conspiracy and history throughout the book. The crew of the Capricious are also fascinating, although I didn't feel we got to really know anyone beyond Cordell and Nilah's love interest Orna. By the end, Big Ship had presented a satisfying conclusion to its central mystery while also leaving plenty of elements open for the sequel, A Bad Deal for the Whole Galaxy, coming at the end of this year.