The Space Between the Stars

By: Anne Corlett

Narrated by: Mary Woodvine

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

When the world ends, where will you go?

In a breathtakingly vivid and emotionally gripping debut novel, one woman must confront the emptiness in the universe - and in her own heart - when a devastating virus reduces most of humanity to dust and memories.

All Jamie Allenby ever wanted was space. Even though she wasn't forced to emigrate from Earth, she willingly left the overpopulated, claustrophobic planet. And when a long relationship devolved into silence and suffocating sadness, she found work on a frontier world on the edges of civilization. Then the virus hit.

Now Jamie finds herself dreadfully alone, with all that's left of the dead. Until a garbled message from Earth gives her hope that someone from her past might still be alive.

Soon Jamie finds other survivors, and their ragtag group will travel through the vast reaches of space, drawn to the promise of a new beginning on Earth. But their dream will pit them against those desperately clinging to the old ways. And Jamie's own journey home will help her close the distance between who she has become and who she is meant to be.

©2017 Anne Corlett (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“The Space Between the Stars is, ultimately, a kind novel. Strikingly written, with very human characters and a deep concern with human frailty, it is an excellent debut.” (Tor.com)

"Anne Corlett has taken the themes of apocalypse, people attempting to create Utopia but unleashing Armageddon, population engineering and breeding programs, and put her particular stamp on the familiar. The Space Between the Stars is a sci-fi story laced with homey details like e-readers and jigsaw puzzles - there are no esoteric descriptions of warp drives or biodomes or aliens. But there is adventure, there is romance, there is self-discovery.” (Shelf Awareness)

“With its unique plot and luminous prose, it’s hard to believe that The Space Between the Stars is a debut novel. Anne Corlett understands the complexities and frailties of the human heart and captures it brilliantly on the page. Don’t let the setting fool you - this is a story for any age, combining love, loss, grief, hope, and possibilities all in one delicious book. Definitely one for my keeper shelf.” (Karen White, New York Times best-selling author of The Night the Lights Went Out)

good choice for book club

interesting premise. Thought provoking. should create some good discussion at book club. I liked the characters.

Great sci-fi story from a female perspective.

this book had mixed reviews, but I gave it a shot, it was a very unique story, very well written. The only issues with the story was there was very little detail on technical issues like space travel and things like that, but all in all it was a very solid story with with detailed characters who are actually interesting people.

Sci fi without wars

I just wanted some sci to that wasn't all wars, interstellar battles or YA fiction. This fit the bill. The protagonist does get a bit bothersome, there are some cliches, but it's end of the world done in a quieter, more contemplative way. Not a fabulous book, but I'm a getting a little tired of military space thrillers, grimdark monotony, YA books and rehashed that anything a bit more character based and written for an adult is refreshing. Plus, loved the narrator. Can anyone recommend science based sci to that isn't military and has some original premises????

Struggles of life after human race is nearly gone

I enjoyed the main character and travel companions as well as the story's evolution through the stars.

Touches on topics like what would happen if there was a mass outbreak that decimated humans, how would society function, who would want to do that/benefit from it.

As well there is the emotional side of it, how would we mentally cope with being alone, isolated, possinly so spread apart that we'd be unable or unwilling to reproduce, etc. How would we treat each other.

Much food for thought and a satisfying enough finish for my taste.

Interesting.

You know how it is when you are younger and you are too shy or too loud and awkward or just don't fit in for whatever reason? You tell yourself (or at least I did) that when you grow up you will figure out how to fix your oddities and everyone will do the same for themselves so then things will be better you will fit in. However, when you do grow up, you find that you and everyone else is much the same. Your psychosis or mal-adaptations still exist. Well, this book is finding out that even at the end of the world we are all much the same as much as we would think we would change and get over our obsessions because death and survival are that much more pressing. Interesting.

Space Between the Pages...

If you could sum up The Space Between the Stars in three words, what would they be?

Came up short.

What about Mary Woodvine’s performance did you like?

I hear a lot of narrators as I have been listening to audio books for many years. Her reading and interpretation of the book was perfect, she did not distract from the story at all, but instead made the journey very enjoyable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Although I feel something came up short on this book and I can't put my finger on it, I actually really enjoyed the book. I was really expecting a bit more drama then was given, but in all honesty it was nice to see that not every post-apocalyptic story has to be full of evil humans. There seems to be some unfinished business in this book. I am guessing saving room for a follow up book. Yes... I will definitely be reading that one too!

Might be better as a movie with special effects

The Author is very talented and sensitive in nature and I liked the writing style. The story just needed more action or cliff hangers for me. Narrator has a very calming voice and easy to listen to however all the impressions of the characters were not very good.

14-18, young girls book

This book would be wonderful for a young women. It deals with many of the things that go through the minds of young women.
This is not a great book for middle aged men who the many and changing emotions of women. I am not sure why I finished listening to this book.

Literary fiction with a sci-fi veneer...

…that fails miserably at both.

I read both sci-fi (especially fond of the post-apocalyptic, which this purports to be) and literary fiction so this could have been a winner for me. Instead, it ties with Roanoke Girls for the worst novel I’ve read this year.

When I dislike a book this intensely, I feel like I should give examples to illustrate why it’s so bad, but nobody likes spoilers. Check out some of the reviews on Goodreads if you want concrete examples.

What worked: Good writing.

What didn’t work: Everything else.

The main character, Jamie, is just insufferable. She’s dislikes most people (and 99.9999% of the population is dead) yet is a huge crusader for human rights. She obsesses endlessly over her miscarriage. The world ended. Is this really what someone would think about? Wouldn’t worrying about survival be a little more top of mind? She’s standoffish, *itchy, irrational, prickly, overwrought. What else? She also obsesses about whether or not she love the man she was with for 13 years.

Her behavior toward just about everyone is appalling. She does like the autistic teenager. Because every book must have someone autistic these days. I could forgive her behavior towards the religious fanatic. Though I wish the author had done a better job with the fanatic who was also wholly unlikeable and crazy. So tiresome.

Jamie's reactions to so many things are just ridiculous and unbelievable. I said no spoilers, so here’s an analogous example. You’ve had a dog for years, and then one day you totally freak out at the sight of your dog, kick it, and go running from the room. And somehow someone watching you is just supposed to say, “Oh, normal reaction”?

The happy or not so happy “coincidences” are utterly unrealistic. Couldn’t suspend my disbelief. And some of the decisions that are made are…well, a ten-year-old would have made better decisions.

The author chose to write this with a first person narrator. Very unfortunate since I detested Jamie. If it had been third person, at least the reader could be in someone else’s head too. Instead, there’s endless descriptions of her confusion, spiraling thoughts, etc. etc. Again, so tiresome.

The first 80% of the book was tiresome, really. The last 20% was ok.

Last is the audio narrator, who clearly is not all that familiar with American English accents. Well, I should say the accent she did (for the ship captain) wasn’t bad, but there are so many words where the stress falls on a completely different syllable in British English and American English. So all the mispronunciations pulled me out of the story. Just one more annoying thing.

Don't waste your time.

The main character is insufferable. Do not waste your time. The narrator has a nice voice.