Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
Welcome to my tour stop for “Under Fortunate Stars”! I have been toying with the idea of spending Sundays focusing on my love of Science Fiction as whenever November comes round for @SciFiMonth (ie. #SciFiMonth) I have the tendency of being unable to get into all the lovelies I want to read during that singular month. I felt expanding my focuses to be curated year-round whilst doing a concentration of SciFi during November might be the better route to take moving forward! Therefore, I’ll be either sharing reviews, features, interviews (such as this one!) or spotlights – or other such posts during my newly established #SciFiSundays showcases on Jorie Loves A Story.
This weekend, I had hoped to read and focus on the story ‘Under Fortunate Stars’ however, my copy from the publisher hasn’t yet arrived – though, I did recently find out there is an audiobook edition which released ahead of the hardcover this June. I will have to keep you posted on which edition of the story I read which is why I changed my tour stop from a review to a spotlight. I would have loved to have assembled an interview for you all to enjoy today however, my May was wrecked with a lot of difficult work days whilst my health suffered a bit as well. I’m thereby thankful there was an extract I could select and feature instead of being able to absorb myself into this world myself.
The reason I wanted to read or listen to “Under Fortunate Stars” was due to my previous readings of “The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet” (see also Post) and the expansively engrossing The Clan Chronicles by Julie E. Czerneda. (see also Reviews) I enjoy becoming invested in a story or series set inside a ship environment whilst also focusing on the characters who either have circumstances they have to overcome or have a unique situation happen to them and you get the joy of taking that journey alongside them.
Whilst you might have noticed I’m focusing on Fantasy throughout the month as well – as I’m co-hosting @WyrdAndWonder. There will be loads of new content featuring those stories as well as we move into our final week and a half of the event. Everyone has been gracious providing content for everyone to enjoy this year across socially bookish channels and we’re all delighted to see the event grow into such a larger and expansive community; similar to how Sci Fi Month found its own wings to fly several years ago.
Under Fortunate Stars
by Ren Hutchings
Source: Publisher via Lola's Blog Tours
Narrator: Ayesha Antoine, Alex Magliaro
Two Ships. One Chance To Save The Future.
Fleeing the final days of the generations-long war with the alien Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven’s freighter the Jonah breaks down in a strange rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue—until they encounter the research vessel Gallion, which claims to be from 152 years in the future.
The Gallion’s chief engineer Uma Ozakka has always been fascinated with the past, especially the tale of the Fortunate Five, who ended the war with the Felen. When the Gallion rescues a run-down junk freighter, Ozakka is shocked to recognize the Five's legendary ship—and the Five's famed leader, Eldric Leesongronski, among the crew.
But nothing else about Leesongronski and his crewmates seems to match up with the historical record. With their ships running out of power in the rift, more than the lives of both crews may be at stake...
Places to find the book:
ASIN: B09TCLRST7
on 7th June, 2022
Format: Hardcover Edition
Length: 15 hours and 13 minutes (unabridged)
Published by: Solaris Books
an imprint of Rebellion Publishing (@RebellionPub)
Converse on Twitter via: #SciFi, #ScienceFiction & #UnderFortunateStars
Enjoy this extract from:
“Under Fortunate stars”
SHAAN
Research Vessel RV ZC-2812 ZeyCorp Gallion
Shaan sat at an empty table in the Gallion’s canteen, staring at the urgent message alert blinking on her bracelet. She weighed up the consequences of ignoring it like she’d ignored the first one, and the second. But this was Director Barnabyn’s third message, and after three would come the voice-call. She didn’t want to wait for that, not with the Director of Administration in such a foul mood.
She sighed and fished in her pocket for her ZeyCorp badge, wiping a smudge from one corner before she clipped it to her collar. The company logo gleamed brightly over her uninspiring title: Facilities Coordinator. Shaan hardly ever bothered with the badge unless she was leading a formal tour, but the captain’s directive had been clear: full uniform, at all times. Everything had to be kept in perfect order for their diplomatic visitors.
As if a Felen Ambassador would care about a corporate badge. Shaan couldn’t understand what the Ambassador was doing on a ship like this in the first place. The Gallion was a mobile research facility for hire, a corporate science ship that delved long months into deep space so the researchers who paid for ZeyCorp’s services could run experiments. The decks usually teemed with people: scientists and their entourages, interns, engineers and equipment techs. But between rotations, there was a turnover when the ship was nearly emptied. Now, the Gallion was stripped down to its core crew, and the only guest apartment in use was the one occupied by the Ambassador.
The Ambassador was on the way to a summit in mainspace, and ZeyCorp had leapt at the opportunity for one of their ships to ferry a Felen dignitary. A hundred and fifty-two years had passed since the Peace of Etraxas and the end of the war, but Felen were rarely seen by human civilians. Diplomatic matters were normally conducted out in the border sectors—not on corporate science ships.
The week before the Ambassador’s arrival had been filled with frenzied preparations. Everyone in the Gallion’s core crew got a lesson in Felen diplomatic protocols, and Director Barnabyn had insisted that they all recite the list of rules aloud.
Always address the interpreter, never the Ambassador directly.
Do not walk beside the Ambassador.
Do not turn your back to the Ambassador.
Do not touch the Ambassador.
Do not eat or drink in front of the Ambassador…
Shaan had repeated the protocols to Barnabyn’s satisfaction, then promptly deleted the list from her lightpad. She intended to avoid the diplomatic visitors altogether. Even though she usually led the ship’s tours, on this occasion Director Barnabyn wanted to take care of every detail himself, and Shaan had barely tried to feign disappointment.
This would be over soon. The Gallion wasn’t far from its next scheduled stop, where more crew and new researchers would come on board. There, the Ambassador would disembark, and she’d never have to think about any of this again. Soon.
That is, if the ship’s engines ever started working again.
Shaan pushed the thought of the Felen Ambassador from her mind. She tapped her bracelet to acknowledge Barnabyn’s message, then called the nearest lift and descended to the Engineering deck.
Some small part of her still hoped that the Engineering team had overlooked something obvious, that this engine malfunction wasn’t as bad as it seemed. But hours had passed since the incident, and the ship remained disconcertingly silent. No one had uploaded an incident report yet, much to Director Barnabyn’s chagrin.
Shaan emerged from the lift on the upper level of the Engineering deck. There was no one in sight. The consoles that controlled the ship’s scientific arrays were switched off, and the oblong meeting-table sat empty, its projection surfaces dark. She walked to the edge of the upper deck’s outcropping, looking over the rail into the Engineering pit.
Arranged around the lower level were more semi-circular banks of workstations, each with a garish purple seat that swung out sideways. Most of those seats were empty, too, and only a half-dozen consoles were in use. The engineers were engrossed in scrolling columns of glowing diagnostics, and no one looked up as Shaan walked down the stairs into the pit.
I selected this particular extract because of how it gives you an inside glimpse into what is happening on one of the ships – how Shaan isn’t exactly down for the duties assigned to her but it also felt like it was a harbinger of concern for something else which might be happening at the same time? Or I might have read into this snapshot of the scene a bit more than necessary but it just felt like there is a bit of suspense percolating in the background and that was quite attractive too. I look forward to finding out what happens before this extract and of course, what happens once Shaan goes further into this part of the ship – what she discovers and why all those protocols are in place as it felt like this was a step out of the norm due to the kind of ship this is and what its actual purpose is as well.
I hope this might have intrigued you as much as it did me and again, I look forward to reading and/or listening to this story when I have the chance. Especially as I’ll gather a copy myself – either directly or through my local library if the copy from the publisher doesn’t arrive or was lost in transit.
About Ren Hutchings
Ren Hutchings is a Speculative Fiction writer, writing mentor, and history grad. She spent most of the past decade working in game dev while also plotting twisty space novels. She loves pop science, unexplained mysteries, 90s music, collecting outdated electronics, and pondering about alternate universes. Ren always drafts out of order, and almost everything she writes ends up involving a dash of time travel.
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NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{Sources: Book Cover for “Under Fortunate Stars”, synopsis, author biography and photograph (of Ren Hutchings), the extract from “Under Fortunate Stars”, blog tour banner and host badge were provided by Lola’s Blog Tours and are being used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #SciFiSundays banner as well as the Comment Box Banner.}
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Whilst celebrating the launch of a new focus on #SciFi on the weekends, I'm sharing an extract from #UnderFortunateStars by @voidcricket💫
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