Can't-Wait Wednesday: Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes & A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins

   

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are:

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
Publication: April 9th, 2024
Tor Nightfire
Hardcover. 377 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Space exploration can be lonely and isolating.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of ERS—a space-based condition most famous for a case that resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. When she's assigned to a small exploration crew, she's eager to make a difference. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that crew is hiding something.

While Ophelia focuses on her new role, her crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie, ancient planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizer's hasty departure than opening up to her.

That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. Is this Ophelia’s worst nightmare starting—a wave of violence and mental deterioration from ERS? Or is it something more sinister? Terrified that history will repeat itself, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out what’s happening. But trust is hard to come by… and the crew isn’t the only one keeping secrets."

I'm excited for some new space horror! I also had a good time with Barnes' previous release Dead Silence, so I'm really looking forward to this one!

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins
Publication: April 2nd, 2024
St. Martin's Press
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"From renowned underwater archaeologist David Gibbins comes an exciting and rich narrative of human history told through the archaeological discoveries of twelve shipwrecks across time.

The Viking warship of King Cnut the Great. Henry VIII's the Mary Rose. Captain John Franklin's doomed HMS Terror. The SS Gairsoppa, destroyed by a Nazi U-boat in the Atlantic during World War II.

Since we first set sail on the open sea, ships and their wrecks have been an inevitable part of human history. Archaeologists have made spectacular discoveries excavating these sunken ships, their protective underwater cocoon keeping evidence of past civilizations preserved. Now, for the first time, world renowned maritime archeologist David Gibbins ties together the stories of some of the most significant shipwrecks in time to form a single overarching narrative of world history.

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks is not just the story of those ships, the people who sailed on them, and the cargo and treasure they carried, but also the story of the spread of people, religion, and ideas around the world; it is a story of colonialism, migration, and the indominable human spirit that continues today. From the glittering Bronze Age, to the world of Caesar's Rome, through the era of the Vikings, to the exploration of the Arctic, Gibbins uses shipwrecks to tell all."

As someone who loves history and who likes reading about shipwrecks... this sounds pretty much right up my alley! Very curious to learn about some more historically important shipwrecks.

Review: Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

Tor Nightfire

Publication Date: February 8th, 2022

Hardcover. 352 pages.

About Dead Silence:

"A GHOST SHIP. 

A SALVAGE CREW. 

UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS. 

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."

Dead Silence is a riveting and terrifying journey in the outer reaches of space where the remains of a decades-old luxury cruiser that disappeared with a ship full of passengers is discovered. This was an unpredictable journey featuring an extremely unreliable narrator and cast of characters that made this book an edge-of-your-seat experience. This book did not end up being quite what I expected and I would probably describe it as more of a psychological thriller with hints of horror than a pure horror novel.

In Dead Silence, we follow Claire Kovalik, team lead of a repair crew that ends up shooting off into the outer depths of space after picking up the beacon of a random, unknown distress signal from a ship nearby. After reaching the origin of the distress signal, they discover the long-lost luxury ship Aurora and decide to go on board to bring back proof of its existence. While exploring the Aurora, what they find are unspeakable horrors–horrors that are made even worse by the fact that everyone on board from the repair ship seem to be having varying degrees of hallucinations that only seem to be getting worse.

The story is told via two timelines, both narrated from Claire’s unreliable POV. The first section is told in the present timeline to create a sort of frame story for Claire’s retelling of what happened on the Aurora with her own crew and how she ended up where she currently is, complete with the many hallucinations that make her own memory and experiences exceptionally unreliable. We also get to hear a lot about Claire’s previous experiences on an abandoned ship as a child that has left her with a great deal of present-day trauma and PTSD, and although I really appreciated how well Barnes captured this struggle, I did feel that there was a bit too much time spent on this that took away a bit from the rest of the story. I always enjoy an unreliable narrator, but I will admit that I don’t care as much for the hallucination trope unreliable narrator, and since this book was very much based on that, I didn’t end up loving it quite as much as I’d hoped. Still, Barnes does a great job of using this narrative device and I think it worked perfectly for this story.

One of the best and most successful aspects of Dead Silence was Barnes’ ability to create a truly ominous, unsettling, and creepy atmosphere. The fear and terror of what was on board the Aurora combined with the crew’s own fears and uncertainties were palpable and I found myself completely sucked into this setting. I loved Barnes' ability to create such a tight, tense atmosphere that left me feeling as claustrophobic and unsure of what I could trust as the characters in these pages.

The pacing of Dead Silence was a bit on the slower side overall, but Barnes’s compelling writing was enough to keep me following along with the flow of the story. That being said, I do feel like we spent a lot of time thinking about things and focusing on Claire’s trauma and past to the point where I sort of just wanted to move on at times. I appreciated the author’s interested in developing a complex and multilayered character, but at times it just felt as though it was overtaking the rest of the plot. This isn’t probably a huge issue for a lot of people who enjoy really getting into the minds of characters, but for some reason is just stood out as being overmuch for me at times.

Overall, I've given Dead Silence four stars! Dead Silence is a haunting space horror/thriller that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat, so be sure to check it out if that sounds like something you think you might like. 

*I received a copy of Dead Silence courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes, The Haunting of Las Lagrimas by W.M. Cleese, & The Great Witch of Brittany by Louisa Morgan

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
Publication: February 8th, 2022

Tor Nightfire

Hardcover. 352 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"A GHOST SHIP. 

A SALVAGE CREW. 

UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS. 

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."

Everything about this book sounds absolutely perfect for me. Space horror is one of my favorite niche subgenres, and the "ultimate haunted house story, in space" blurb from Alma Katsu just grabs me even more. So excited for this one!

and...

The Haunting of Las Lágrimas by W.M. Cleese

Publication: February 22nd, 2022

Paperback. 384 pages.

Pre-order: Book Depository

From Goodreads:

"Argentina, winter 1913. 

Ursula Kelp, a young English gardener, travels to Buenos Aires to take up the role of head gardener at a long-abandoned estate in the Pampas. The current owner wishes to return to the estate with his family and restore the once-famous gardens to their former glory. 

Travelling deep into the Pampas, the vast grasslands of South America, Ursula arrives to warnings from the locals that the estate is haunted, cursed to bring tragedy to the founding family of Las Lágrimas. And soon Ursula believes that her loneliness is making her imagine things – the sound of footsteps outside her bedroom door, the touch of hands on her shoulders when there’s no one there. Most strangely of all, she keeps hearing the frenzied sound of a man chopping down trees in the nearby forest with an axe, when all her staff are in sight. 

As the strange occurrences intensify – with tragic consequences – Ursula questions if there’s truth in the rumours about the cursed estate. The family’s return is imminent – are they in danger? And the longer Ursula stays at the estate, the more she realises that she too is in mortal danger."

I realized as I was putting this post together that I think this is a UK/AU (?) only release as of now, so I don't know how easy it is to get a hold of, but... does this not sound amazing? I love a haunted estate, the historical setting, and the gardening/nature elements that seem to be involved. Hopefully I can get my hands on this one somehow!

and...

The Great Witch of Brittany by Louisa Morgan

Publication: February 15th, 2022

Redhook

Hardcover. 400 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:

"Return to the world of A Secret History of Witches with the bewitching tale of Ursule Orchiere and her discovery of magical abilities that will not only change the course of her life but every generation that comes after her. 

Brittany, 1741 

There hasn’t been a witch born in the Orchière clan for generations. According to the elders, that line is dead, leaving the clan vulnerable to the whims of superstitious villagers and the prejudices of fearmongering bishops. 

Ursule Orchière has been raised on stories of the great witches of the past. But the only magic she knows is the false spells her mother weaves over the gullible women who visit their fortune-telling caravan. Everything changes when Ursule comes of age and a spark of power flares to life. Thrilled to be chosen, she has no idea how magic will twist and shape her future. 

Guided by the whispers of her ancestors and an ancient grimoire, Ursule is destined to walk the same path as the great witches of old. But first, the Orchière magical lineage must survive. And danger hovers over her, whether it’s the bloodlust of the mob or the flames of the pyre."

I have loved every one of Louisa Morgan's wonderful witchy stories, and I have a feeling this one will be no exception!

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?