Review: Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes

3 stars for Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes.

I have always been on the lookout for a good science fiction story. I cannot remember where and how I came across this book but it must have been raved about by someone or many someones, such that it captured my attention enough for me to add it to my reading list.

This book is all about space travel, space disaster and space mysteries. A team of five, led by 33-year old Claire Kovalik, detects a ghost signal on an old emergency channel while on an assignment to fix the last of the commweb beacons in sector K127. Well, what happens next is rather predictable as there will be no story to tell if this small commweb maintenance team does not check it out. As it is, bulk of the story is the grisly account of their findings of the Aurora, the famous luxury space cruiser that went missing twenty years ago with five hundred passengers and a hundred and fifty crew on its maiden voyage for a tour of the solar system.

I enjoy reading this first person story even though it is revealed right from the start that there is only one survivor - the narrator. The writing is good, the world building is fascinating and the plot flows fluidly. Above all, there is much mystery surrounding the protagonist and the adventure and unchartered space territory that she is leading her team into. The protagonist, Claire, is not just a survivor in this ill-fated expedition, she is also the only survivor in a previous incident that happened at the Ferris Outpost years ago. This alone shroud the protagonist in darkness and puzzlement as she suffers constantly from terrifying hallucinations with memories and visions all jumbled up.

This novel reminds me of the 1997 science fiction horror film, Event Horizon. Though it's been more than twenty years, I still remember watching this movie in the theatre and loving the storyline much. Event Horizon is about space adventure and exploration. The crew members all take turns to hallucinate in the abandoned aircraft they found. As I read on, I am progressively affected by the uncanny similarites between the movie Event Horzion and this book Dead Silence. There was also a Claire in the movie though I cannot recall if she was a main or side character. Seriously, what's the odds of a movie character having the same name as the protagonist in this book? Perhaps this book is somewhat a tribute to that motion picture? The more I read, the less impressed I am with the story and plot developments. Of course, this could all be a coincidence but somehow, it cast the story in the shadow of the old movie and the book comes across as less original after that.

I have other gripes. One, a character that is terrible and horrible to the extreme. In reality, no one person is completely good or totally bad. Though I understand the need for such a character, one so rotten to the core does not do justice to the entire story. Two, unnecessary repetition. Three, long-winded at times. These are minor gripes, however.

On the whole, Dead Silence is a worthwhile piece of work. It is not exactly what I expected but it is good fun reading this spooky science fiction novel.


Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Publication date: 24 Jan 2023

*** Favourite Quote ***

Once you’ve been in a position to watch everyone you’ve ever known die, the light go slowly out of their eyes, transforming them from this magic assemblage of quirks, habits, preferences, and dreams to an inert pile of spent flesh and bone, you realize not only that life is precious but also that death is absolutely inevitable. No matter what you do. The people you love will die one day, and sometimes it happens sooner and faster and more horribly than you could imagine. Sometimes it’s even your fault.

~ Dead Silence
S. A. Barnes

@}--->>--->>-----

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick trip through the Aurora reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Words scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold onto her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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