Today I’m reviewing Voyage of the White Cloud, but I’m also previewing Giftmas.
Whatmas? Giftmas! You can look back on last year’s event to get the gist of it, but there are some special things about this year’s event. It starts on Tuesday, but my post for it is next Saturday – and there’s some serial flash fiction involved, too.
But let’s start with the book review, which gives me my penultimate entry in the Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge… and as I haven’t located an X entry, could well be the last entry for it this year.
The Voyage of the White Cloud
by M Darusha Wehm
Can home be a place you’ve never been, a place no one has ever been?
The White Cloud is the most audacious experiment the human species has ever undertaken—to search for a new Earth. The ship and its crew exist for a solitary purpose—to reach a distant planet and establish a colony. However, the vast majority of people undertaking this journey will not live to see its result, nor were they part of the decision-making process to leave.
A novel-in-stories, following the many generations who make the journey, The Voyage of the White Cloud asks how you can find meaning as a slave to destiny, a mere stepping-stone in history.These are the stories of the most ordinary people on a most extraordinary journey. [goodreads]
My Review
A space ship, travelling away from Earth, to a pre-arranged destination, which virtually none of the people inside have any knowledge of, other than it’s their new home. As far as the majority of the inhabitants are concerned, they have to do their jobs, have families, die, all as part of a plan. They are a cog in a wheel, or rather, a generation in the gene pool.
This amazing piece of writing explores the lives and loves, desires and needs, hopes and fears, of a variety of inhabitants, at different interim stages of the journey. Some link together, some examine the same issue from a different angle. Some build on solutions others have found. Others find the solution is not at all what it was cracked up to be.
This is not a shoot-em-up scifi epic. It’s a traveller’s tale, an examination of humanity–about what makes us human. It’s a wonderful piece of sociological speculative fiction. It features situations you’ve been in, and those you glad you escaped. It’s hard not to think ‘what would I do?’ and ‘where would I fit in?’
It’s my favourite type of space opera–thought-provoking and reflective. If you like Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers (especially the later books) you’ll love this. I gave it five stars.
Book Review | Voyage of the White Cloud: 'If you like Becky Chambers' Wayfarers (especially the later books) you'll love this.' #scifi #spaceopera #sociology @darusha Click To TweetGiftmas 2021
As I said at the start: there’s Giftmas with some flash fiction next Saturday. But it’s a serial, being written day by day on different blogs – a blog hop story. I have no idea what the people after me have written.
It all starts with Rhonda Parrish on Tuesday. Please pop over and follow the story as it unfolds, and support Rhonda’s Charity, the Edmonton (Alberta) Food Bank.
- December 7th — Rhonda Parrish http://www.rhondaparrish.com/home/
- December 8th — Jennifer Lee Rossman http://jenniferleerossman.blogspot.com
- December 9th — Iseult Murphy https://iseultmurphy.com/reviews-book-news-and-takeovers/
- December 10th — Beth Cato https://www.bethcato.com
- December 11th — Jemima Pett http://jemimapett.com
- December 12th — Stephanie A. Cain https://www.stephaniecainonline.com/blog
- December 13th — Pete Aldin https://petealdin.com/blog-and-podcasts/
- December 14th — E.C. Bell www.eileenbell.com
- December 15th — JB Riley https://jbriley.com/
- December 16th — Laura VanArendonk Baugh http://LauraVAB.com
- December 17th — Rhonda Parrish http://www.rhondaparrish.com/home/
Cool! There’s one for me to start my Space/Time challenge with!