Published: March 2023
Pages: 421
Summary
When Merlon’s parents disappeared, his world fell apart. When his best friend died, he lost the ability to enjoy life.
For Captain Merlon Ricosta, Lanier’s death, two years prior, feels like yesterday. But when a map from his parents is discovered, he decides to push aside his grief to get closure and follow the route they vanished along eighteen years ago. Despite political trouble, Merlon leads his crew into the unknowns of strange galaxies in his quest to find out why his parents never returned.
In River in the Galaxy Merlon fights to keep his crew alive and suppress his prolonged grief and depression. But he must face his own struggles in order to protect the ship and the people aboard.
My thoughts
This was such a delightful surprise. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you’ll know I’ve been spending more time trying to find hidden gem indie authors. And I’ve found another hidden gem that needs to see the light!
This book has fantastic characters and I was immediately drawn to them. There is such a range of personalities, humour, behaviour and it keeps the life on the ship exciting. This crew know their stuff and they’re a hardy bunch with soft centres! Merlon keeps his crew in check but treats them far more fairly than other Captains would, earning him their respect and loyalty. Which is going to be needed for the journey he’s about to take them on..
Dealing with the loss of his best friend Merlon is battling his own inner demons. Anxious, depressed and recovering from his addiction this trip is a piece of hope that has been long lost for him.
“We’ll meet again beyond the stars.”
I didn’t know what to expect going into this but I was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of the well-loved silliness we see in Terry Pratchett books. Characters and situations which are so crazy they work, I never would have seen them coming. We definitely got that here. No spoilers so I won’t mention them but they were a mysterious delight.
What I loved the most was how this book tackles really important themes. Our main characters emotions and addictions are detailed accurately and handled with grace. We see all sides, how it effects a person and the ones around them. The loyalty that his crew paid to him during his lowest moments and how that was the care that this young man needed. Perhaps what he didn’t realise he already had.
He has many regrets that he works to resolve. His growth from the start of this book to the end is a huge but realistic leap. The sacrifices he and his crew made were heart-breaking yet heart-warming.
The worldbuilding is a brilliant feature of this book. I’ve mentioned before that I struggle with picturing a map in my head for sci-fi books since they mostly always span galaxies. I had no worries with this story, the worldbuilding was done clearly and well articulated. It was brought to life in my mind and I didn’t have any troubles trying to follow along. That’s always bonus points for me because I struggle to follow a journey if I can’t visualise it.
Wooden ships sailing the hidden depths of the galaxy!
At it’s core though, inside Merlon is just a little boy crying out for his parents. He is desperate to find out what happened to them and the journey he goes through is an emotional ride. With the support of his friends and his crew, they start the beginning of a wild ride in search of answers.
Would I recommend?
Yes, this was such a lovely find and I now have another author to keep my eye on for future releases. I will be picking up book two and reading more about Merlon’s travels with his crew!