Generation Ship

A Novel

By: Michael Mammay

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

In this riveting, stand-alone novel from Michael Mammay, author of Planetside, the beginning of a new human colony must face tyrannical leaders, revolution, crippling instability, and an unknown alien planet that could easily destroy them all.

In 2108, Colony Ship Voyager departed Earth for the planet of Promissa with 18,000 of the world’s best and brightest on board. 250 years and 27 light years later, an arrival is imminent.

But all is not well.

The probes that they’ve sent ahead to gather the data needed to establish any kind of settlement aren’t responding, and the information they have received has presented more questions than answers. It’s a time when the entire crew should be coming together to solve the problem, but science officer Sheila Jackson can’t get people to listen.

With the finish line in sight, a group of crewmembers want an end to the draconian rules that their forebearers put in place generations before. However, security force officer Mark Rector and his department have different plans. As alliances form and fall, Governor Jared Pantel sees only one way to bring Voyager’s citizens together and secure his own power: a full-scale colonization effort. Yet, he may have underestimated the passion of those working for the other side...

Meanwhile, a harsh alien planet awaits that might have its own ideas about being colonized. A battle for control brews, and victory for one group could mean death for them all.

©2023 Michael Mammay (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

solid generation ship soap opera

this is more a story of the individuals on a generation ship rather than a sci fi of alien contact, which riffs also is. the characters are finely detailed and the inner life of the half dozen major characters covered maybe even in excess. the generation ship technology is a few decades out - entirely believable with very little wow factor to it. the alien world is well enough realized but i wanted more. the ending feels a little abrupt and i wished it had gone on longer.

It was good

this was good but not great the story was a little predictable but well done

Not bad

I would love a sequel though. Left the ending open for one. I don't understand why authors do that sometimes.

Interesting but not much fun

Very different from previous reads from Michael Mammay. The story was interesting but also frustrating, with too much political machinations and individual agendas, and not as much action and hard science. Too much time at sea for me to accept the role that the Captain played on this ship.

Shortsighted decisions in the pursuit of personal political power are not new concepts in society. You are always going to have those who seek power at all costs convinced they know better. Youth is often accompanied by the innate belief that all the answers are obvious so what would happen if we recycled our elders? While time and reality typically temper expectations, we can see that even in today's society, social media and small group dynamics can in fact polarize thinking instead of facilitating moderation and greater acceptance. Who knows what would happen if a small group were to be isolated from society for 150 years?

I would not be surprised if someday a Generation Ship is not part of mankind's future. One would hope that if we were preparing a generation ship, we would construct a governing system that limited our self-inflicted wounds, but the covenant employed seems central part of the crews' problems. In the end, I would have enjoyed the story more if the plot concentrated more on science and less on politics. Some of the concepts swayed my overall assessment of the book to give it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

An interesting read

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. The performance was excellent and the story was interesting. My only critique is that there were parts where the story seemed to drag a bit, but that didn’t affect the story as a whole. Would definitely recommend.

Nice start to a new series..

I hope this is the start of a new series by Mammy. Good story, well written, very enjoyable.

Great story with great characters!

Good pace, wasnt predictable, and had all the sci-fi goodness I've come to enjoy from his books.

No fights and that’s alright.

Not a single fight or action scene. But somehow I was still on the edge of my seat. A good fun read.

More Socio-Political Fiction tan Science Fiction

Books exploring social/political issues in an otherworldly context are an important type of science fiction. The good books in this genre are well written; this one is not. The story is simplistic and predictable.

Disappointing conclusion

I really enjoyed the story until the very last chapter. This was a long book that, with a little development of a couple of characters, probably could have been made into three books. When you get to the final chapter and particularly the epilogue, it felt like the author had had enough and just wanted the story to end. As the final chapter ended without some important storyline conclusions, I checked the time remaining and knew I was going to be disappointed since the epilogue was only three mint. Please, in the future, invest the time to wrap up storylines appropriately. This review would be five stars if you had invested the time for these characters.