Synopsis:
USA Today Bestselling author Rebecca Thorne delights in a brand new cozy science-fiction series…for fans of Martha Wells and Olivia Waite! Features original inside art!
Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now… but it’s Torian’s ticket to freedom, regardless of what her ex… ah, captain… said.
Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of “stealing” the ship.
It’s entirely possible that Amelia was right about this meteoric stupidity.
Review:
Cozy books are everywhere these days. Not that I mind — I love to kick back with a book that might be just a slice of life or an adventure without world-ending stakes or a sweet little romance. I still have numerous Cat Who… books on my bookshelf from the years when I devoured the stories about Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats who solve murders in rural Wisconsin. And after I read You Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, I was totally down for a nice sci-fi cozy with Rebecca Thorne’s latest Moss’d in Space (an absurdly cute pun title).
With Moss’d, Thorne is taking a page from the cozy playbook, but also incorporating the sci-fi elements and personality from Martha Wells’ Murderbot books. While it is an enjoyable read (and I’m totally down for the sequel whenever it hits bookshelves), it feels at times like there might be a little too much happening in the plot. For me, it feels as if Thorne would have taken out a plot point or character, the book would have flowed just a tad better in the end. Even then, Moss’d in Space is a highly enjoyable sci-fi read with friendly and approachable characters that don’t get too caught up in the sci-fi universe they inhabit.
The best part of the book is right there in the title — Moss. He is…well, he’s Moss. You know…plant life? He just so happens to be a sentient organic computer who (by the time she buys it), completely inhabits and basically is Torian Razner’s new ship. Moss, as a non-human computer, is very similar to Murderbot in many ways. Its mannerisms and ways that it doesn’t like to be touched are all nods to one of the best sci-fi characters of the last decade. But here, Moss has some growing to do (literally and figuratively) as it struggles to cope with being abandoned by its creator over a hundred years in the past.
Throughout the book, Moss goes from a character who spent over a century alone to spending virtually all his time with Torian and also getting to know an entire other cast of characters (including parts of his own ship which may or may not be acquiring their own sentience). Found family ends up being a significant aspect of Moss’d in Space.
For me, the romance subplot with Torian and Amelia was a little confusing at times. When the book first gets going and Torian is buying Moss’ ship, it feels like Amelia (Torian’s boss), is almost a throw-away character who we meet once and then don’t see again. But, after she kept popping up, I figured she was now an essential character to the story. I did like her as a character and her motivations, but it was difficult to grasp where Thorne was taking their relationship in the beginnings of the book.
As for our protagonist Torian, as with a number of female leads in cozy books, she does come across as whiny a little but overall I enjoyed her character. She had more than a little maturing and growing up to do as she jetted off across the universe, but I found her arc to be worthwhile and natural.
From the audio side of the production, we have two fine narrators — Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick and Natalie Naudus, depending on if the chapter is from Moss or Torian’s POV. Both did great on the book. Fitzpatrick wonderfully embodied the voice of the clinical and detached Moss, while Naudus is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators, putting emotion and variation into each voice she works on.
The recommendation is this — if you enjoy cozy books and non-human characters who are exploring their own “humanity,” then Moss’d in Space is for you. I think Rebecca Thorne has a potential hit series on her hands with it and will gladly line up for the next entry in the adventures of Moss, Torian, and their entire found family.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Leave a Reply