You can’t cry in space. But I was giving it a good go.

After all, I’d just been THROWN OUT OF AN AIRLOCK by a horde of ALIENS and had about three minutes left to live. So you can’t blame me for trying.

But as it turned out, that was just the start of my adventures . . .

Because very soon it became clear that if I was ever going to get back home, not only would I have to NOT DIE, but me, my friends and our floating robot goldfish would have to SAVE THE WORLD. No, scrap that. THREE WORLDS. All at the same time.

Easy, right?

Please note; if you haven’t read Mars Evacuees this review does contain spoilers for that most excellent of novels.

Alice is back, and our heroine is just as witty and as brave as ever. With the Morrors and native Humans living peacefully, Alice is bored. She won’t admit it, but she is. Having gained a degree of notoriety after publishing a book on herself and those ‘plucky Mars kids’ (essentially Mars Evacuees as Alice writes in the first person), Alice get invited to go into space aboard the starship ‘Helen of Troy’, to visit her friend, Thsaaa’s, home planet.

What could go wrong?

Well, everything really. The galaxy is a big, big place and Sophia McDougall is filling it with wonders and terrors. The writing is crisp, polished and punchy. The set pieces are gripping and the visual imagery in Sophia’s descriptions get the juices flowing.

While setting the scene you’re lulled into a false sense of security so when the title event of the novel happens, its a shock to the system.

The villain’s of the piece, the Krakkilluk’s are a vibrant, crabby sort of race and their language reflects this. Sophia’s world building is second to none and surprisingly realistic. Helen of Troy, the sentient spaceship is a wonderful character is her own right. I found myself missing her, long after I finished the novel.

I’m hoping for a third and fourth in the adventures of Alice Dare, the Dan Dare with heart and soul for the 21st Century. Space Hostages is wonderful. Go get yourself a copy.

Sophia McDougall (born 1979) is a British novelist, playwright, and poet, who studied at Oxford University in England.

She is best known as the author of the series of books: Romanitas in which she creates an alternative history, one where the Roman Empire still exists in contemporary times.

@McDougallSophia
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