C+

Wreck of the Nebula Dream

Wreck of the Nebula Dream is a fun science fiction adventure romance. While it’s inspired by the Titanic disaster, it reminded me more of Indiana Jones crossed with The Poseidon Adventure– lots of action and derring do. Also space pirates!

The Nebula Dream is a giant luxury liner that is being touted as the best, the most luxurious, and the fastest of its kind. When disaster strikes, Nick, a Special Forces Officer, discovers that there is no evacuation plan, there aren’t enough lifeboats, the ship’s officers have all either abandoned ship or been killed, and the ship is off course and in enemy territory. With the help of Mara Lyrae, a levelheaded businesswoman, Nick has to figure out how to save a small band of survivors.

This story has an old-fashioned feeling, with Mara being one of those spunky sidekick heroines who lacks the combat skills of the hero but is competent and daring enough to be an able assistant. Because of all the action, the sexy times are kept to a minimum (there are a couple of kisses) but Nick and Mara make a solid if not especially memorable couple. There’s a real sense of excitement and a solid sense of place to this story. The slow opening, in which Nick gets a tour and wanders, bored, through the ship, helps ground the rest of the narrative so you feel like you know where the survivors are at any given time.

There’s nothing groundbreaking about this story, and it’s not going to stick in your head long after you read it (hence the C+ grade). The characters are pretty stock (military guy with trauma, wise older woman, flaky socialite, two plot moppets, love interest, mysterious alien dude). However the characters are also likable, the plotting is clever, and the adventure is a heck of a lot of fun. It’s a good, quick, entertaining read for when you need a pulpy space adventure fix.

– Carrie S

A reimagining of the Titanic disaster set in the far future among the stars…

Traveling unexpectedly aboard the luxury liner Nebula Dream on its maiden voyage across the galaxy, Sectors Special Forces Captain Nick Jameson is ready for ten relaxing days, and hoping to forget his last disastrous mission behind enemy lines. He figures he’ll gamble at the casino, take in the shows, maybe even have a shipboard fling with Mara Lyrae, the beautiful but reserved businesswoman he meets.

All his plans vaporize when the ship suffers a wreck of Titanic proportions. Captain and crew abandon ship, leaving the 8000 passengers stranded without enough lifeboats and drifting unarmed in enemy territory. Aided by Mara, Nick must find a way off the doomed ship for himself and several other innocent people before deadly enemy forces reach them or the ship’s malfunctioning engines finish ticking down to self destruction.

But can Nick conquer the demons from his past that tell him he’ll fail these innocent people just as he failed to save his Special Forces team? Will he outpace his own doubts to win this vital race against time?