![]() Yes, there are bad people who do horrible things, but they are in the minority. Modern media, and news reports, make it easy to be cynical and think the worst of the 7 billion inhabitants of this planet. It aims to demonstrate that despite our differences, most of us are decent and honest, and will always attempt to support what is right and ethical. The Space Between Us is a moving novel that very much espouses the idea that there is a hero inside us all. A journey across the rugged beauty of Scotland, to preserve something out of this world, lays bare the strength and frailties of humanity. Ultimately the book is about what makes us human, told through a Close Encounters of the Third Kind type of narrative. This is not one of those books where you want to skip over one narrative so you can go back to the one you prefer. No thread outstays its welcome and each is as vital to the plot as every other. The story arcs contained within are pitched perfectly moving, compelling, and very real. ![]() I’m struggling to articulate why The Space Between Us is such a good novel without spoilers. The George Harrison of the novel, if you will. For me, Ewan is the glue in the binding that holds the book together (possibly just because he was close to me in age and obsolescence). Determined to find the truth, he too comes under Sandy’s sway, becoming a fourth person helping the cause. Disillusioned by how social media is eroding good journalism and pushed to the margins by obsolescence, Ewan senses an opportunity for a big story. Ewan is a veteran local newspaper reporter. There’s a wonderful 4th human character too. Every chapter is filled with hooks that keep you reading, long after you should have put the book down and gone to sleep, done some work, or fed the kids. The story of each character in the book is extremely compelling. Firstly, it’s effortless reading I inhaled the book over a couple of days. There’s lots of great stuff going on in this book. In order to save Sandy, this unlikely trio has to face the troubles and failures in their own lives. They also discover hidden reserves of determination and come face to face with their own inner demons. As the journey continues they learn more about the alien, its home planet, and the rest of the hive. Inevitably, darker forces also want to investigate Sandy, so the three take drastic action that leads to a chase across Scotland. They all discover a deep and gentle hive mind. As they approach, each of them can commune with Sandy, each in a subtly different way. Together they are drawn towards Sandy, the creature washed up on the beach. Ava is 8 months pregnant and trapped in a coercive relationship. ![]() Lennox is a teenager, approaching his majority, a long-term ward of the care system. Drawn together and to an Edinburgh beach where a mysterious octopus has washed up. Though completely different, all with their own troubles, the three find themselves drawn together, after leaving hospital. Three of the people affected, however, suffer no ill effects. ![]() Nobody goes blind but it does cause an unprecedented number of catastrophic strokes. Like many great sci-fi novels (well, Day of the Triffids) the novel opens with a meteor shower. The Space Between Us is the literary embodiment of the late Jo Cox’s statement that “we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us” In this case, the “we” is a disparate group of people from Scotland and a sentient hive-mind of alien cephalopods. Continuing my love-in with the remarkable stable of authors maintained by indie publisher Orenda Books, I’m looking at The Space Between Us, a heartwarming alien-contact novel, reminiscent of Stephen Cox’s Our Child of the Stars. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |