Fearless by Allen Stroud
I would like to thank Flame Tree Press for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Flame Tree Press
Published – Out Now
Price - £20.00 hardcover £5.67 Kindle ebook
AD 2118. Humanity has colonised the Moon, Mars, Ceres and Europa. Captain Ellisa Shann commands Khidr, a search and rescue ship with a crew of twenty-five, tasked to assist the vast commercial freighters that supply the different solar system colonies.
Shann has no legs and has taken to life in zero-g partly as a result. She is a talented tactician who has a tendency to take too much on her own shoulders. Now, while on a regular six-month patrol through the solar system, Khidr picks up a distress call from the freighter Hercules…
Often these days science fiction likes the crew to be very dysfunctional. The weird dynamics of the Guardians of the Galaxy; the humour and rivalries of Firefly or filled with tension as in the Expanse. But one of my favourite films is Wrath of Khan. There we have a tight competent crew being pushed to the max in an extreme situation. People very good at what they do putting it all on the line. When I read Fearless by Allen Stroud, I definitely got that latter vibe in an excellently tense deep space adventure where a captain and her crew put themselves up against a powerful enemy all alone in the night.
In the early twenty-second century humanity is just pushing the edges of colonising the solar system. Colonies are being created but are still very reliant on supplies being slowly sent across space by freighters. And with that traffic comes the potential for disasters for which the crew of the Khidr led by Captain Ellisa Shann take regular six-monthly patrols of space forever on alert. A distress call is intercepted but rather than the usual engine failure or computer breakdown the crew find evidence of violence and for the first time in human history signs that another ship was violently involved – the first ever space battle. Their investigations trigger a series of strange events, betrayals and ultimately a new front line in space which Captain Shann and the crew need to investigate before the mysterious hidden enemy can ensure no one escapes alive.
What really leapt out of me is that this story starts fairly routine. This is a small effectively space coastguard vessel on patrol – not a warship; not a flagship just a good crew arriving in the wrong place at the wrong time. The vast majority of the tale is narrated by Captain Shann and the worldbuilding here is subtle but very textured. Space travel is fairly routine in terms of cargo runs but still dangerous and as becomes clear this crew all love the idea of working in space – doing something few others can do. Shann’s highly competent crew is what is required to save lives but Stroud throws this crew into a very different situation than they’ve ever faced before. Refreshingly rather than people questioning orders or playing out long standing feuds this crew’s job is to evaluate the situation, work out options and try to fix them. Stroud creates some engineering/space logistics challenges that make the tension ratchet; but then nastily (yay) throws two different elements into the mix to really make the crew suffer – a powerful enemy lurking nearby in space and a potential betrayal on the ship.
At this point the story gets even meatier and we start to have other points of view come into the narrative. A coast guard style crew against a highly powered and smart adversary hiding in space gives the story the kind of bite you get in a naval adventure (hence why Wrath of Khan came to mind reading it) – despite the vast distance between the vessels the sense is of the enemy weirdly looming and oppressive impacting decision making. The enemy gets closer and they can’t warp jump out of their so other innovative solutions are needed. Some people end up taking very dangerous risks which added to the crew’s realisation that there is a traitor on board starts to raise doubts about who the reader can trust. Stroud very skilfully creates this mystery and the payoffs are personal, powerful and rewarding. This crew are changed by what they go through.
Character wise we are not going for the big characters you may find in more snarky space operas. These are professionals but Stroud delivers quite a good level of depth especially as we get to know them. I had three favourites worth highlighting – Captain Shann is a standout. Extremely focused, , tactically minded dedicated and also someone for whom space offers a very interesting challenge. It is revealed she was born with no legs and in gravity relies on prosthetics and in zero gravity gets more movement than most people. But I was pleased Stroud showed that gravity transitions posed a bigger challenge for her than most (rather than imply in space disability wont; mean anything) and also Stroud is very much putting this highly professional Captain in a situation where they are tested – their ship and crew are being hurt. Her tale is very much is about trying to deal with the consequences of her orders and the stresses a Captain has to suffer. She is a fascinating character to get to know.
Two others also jumped out at me. I really liked Ensign Johannson an ambitious junior officer who is looking for that next promotion and initially sees this adventure as one for advancement and instead finds this a dose of realism and learning to work for the crew. In contrast Sellis is very much someone who sees space as a job and not one for bravery – rarely volunteers and would be much happier playing with cards than battles. Each of these characters gets pushed into places they were not expected to go and our views on them change smarty over the story. This is a group where characters are subtle but over the novel, they have all been impacted by events.
In summary Fearless offers the reader a great piece of smart science fiction that fans of space opera and spaceship battles will enjoy immensely. Expect lots of tension and a group of characters you soon get invested in. There is also some foreshadowing that this small crew has got themselves involved in a much bigger moment in human history than anyone has yet recognised but this first adventure for the crew is quite rightly focused on getting to know them.
