“Draft:In Between the Stars”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

In Between the Stars is a science-fiction space opera novel by A.A. Ripley aimed at middle-grade and older teenagers, published by

Troubador Publishing Ltd^[1]. It features an alien protagonist, an adolescent girl named Inan. Inan is a part of a reptilian race called izara which live in a tightly-structured matriarchal society with a clearly-defined gender roles. Inan dreams of adventure and space exploration even though the customs of her race forbids females to engage in both. However things are about to change and Inan dream unexpectedly comes true, even that it might be more than she can handle.

Summary

Inan, is an adolescent female izara (a reptilian humanoid), living on her species home-planet in her family compound. She is a naïve dreamer and has a romantic view on space travel. She learns that she is to be married off-planet as a part of a business deal. Inan travels by a space-ship towards her new home. There is a disaster onboard the ship and Inan becomes trapped in her cabin. Hijinks (an alien creature she met earlier) comes to her rescue. They escape doomed ship and are adrift in space. Finally, they are found, but instead of being rescued, they are kidnapped. They are taken to a warship that Inan recognizes as a remnant from the recent Human Wars. Inan and Hijinks meet Cochrane - the rogue captain of the ship. He is a bitter man that refused to honour the galactic peace treaty and still wages war on the ‘enemies’ of humanity. By necessity, he turned to piracy. Inan and Hijinks are imprisoned. They meet Alan- a young man that is a captive servant onboard the ship. Inan befriends him and he helps them to stage an escape. While escaping, Inan accidentally activates Gloria- the demented AI of the ship. Gloria gives Inan a strange black disc of unknown purpose or origins. They escape n a stolen spaceship, but not before receiving a message from Cochrane, promising to hunt them down and take back the disc. They arrive at the nearest spaceport. Inan considers going home, but decides against it. Not only she now has what she always wanted- a space adventure, but also realizes that she might bring danger home, as long as she has the mysterious disc. She decides to uncover the mystery of the black disc, what it is and why Cochrane is after it. Hijinks arranges a meeting with an information broker. He gives them location of Ure- the xenoarcheologist for hire. He warns them that Ure is a character of questionable morals. They travel to the planet where Ure was to be found and track the man to a hospital. The man was condemned to serve as a host for a hatching alien brood. He is dying and in no condition to help them. However, they come across Ure’s personal effects, a strange box among them. The box turns out to contain a robotic replica of Ure- made by him just in case of his capture or death. Ure refuses to help them as they are unable to pay him for his services. In a spaceport bar, the trio debates what to do next, but none of them can come up with a viable plan. The pirates catch up to them and try to take them into custody. A brawl erupts. The heroes manage to sneak outside in the confusion. Ure comes back and says that he changed his mind and that he will help them with their quest. Ure tells them about an archaeological expedition that has left in search of an origin of a similar artefact. Following Ure’s instructions, they set out to catch up to the expedition. They track it to a small planetoid but find their base empty. They start looking for the members of the expedition and explore the excavation nearby- a large alien structure. During their investigation they come across an entrance to underground passages where Hidden Dwellers live. The Hidden Dwellers are a race of energy-based aliens that evolved beyond the physical universe. Hidden Dwellers reveal that the disc is a part of Actuality Regulator- a mechanism that allows manipulation of time and space but it is unpredictable and dangerous. They give the coordinates to the machine and depart from the universe. Ure is waiting for the protagonists outside. He reveals that he was hired by Cochrane. He takes the coordinates and leaves them stranded. Alan finds a possible escape- via a nearby sky-lift. After a trek through the planetoid’s wilderness and a shaky ride, they find themselves on an orbital station. There they find a small ship with the FTL engines damaged and operating at half capacity. They arrive at the nearest inhabited system and land on a backwater planet. Hijinks spots Ure’s spaceship. Inan asks around for him and learns that he was seen going to an abandoned settlement. The trio pursues Ure there. They find him but hear somebody approaching and decide to remain unseen. Cochrane arrives with the pirates. Cochrane tries to convince Ure to part with the disc and coordinates in the name of humanity, but Ure demands his money. Cochrane shoots Ure and orders his people to search the area believing that Ure hid the prize nearby. Having found and claimed it, the pirates leave. Before he dies, Ure gives Inan a copy of the coordinates for the Actuality Regulator that he made. But they won’t be able to beat Cochrane to it with their crippled ship. The only way to do so is through an unstable wormhole. Hijinks tells the story of Jumbob the Very Very Insane that tried it and was never heard from again. There is no other choice if they want to stop Cochrane from using the Actuality Regulator. They travel through the wormhole to the coordinates of the Actuality Regulator. They find an alien space station, but Cochrane and his people are already there. The station’s security reacts to the intruders and opens fire. In the ensuing firefight, Inan becomes lost. Trying to find her way out, she finds a corpse of Jumbob and his journal, explaining how he found and studied the Actuality Regulator and how to turn it off. Inan follows his instructions to the Actuality Regulator’s failsafe. In the meantime, Cochrane finds the Actuality Regulator and is ready to change the reality in the humanity’s favour. Inan engages the failsafe but it malfunctions. The Actuality Regulator’s interface destabilizes and kills Cochrane. Inan attempts to take control of the Actuality Regulator. She is forced to make choice between three possible reality outcomes: One with humanity as a dominant species, one with humanity erased out of existence and one blank. Inan hesitates but then refuses the first two choices and takes the blank option. Inan’s choice causes the Actuality Regulator to overload and the station begins to disintegrate. The trio escapes the doomed station. Now only the three of them know what really happened and how their galaxy was almost changed to the whims of a madman.

Main characters

Reception

Finally, there is an interview with the author of 'In Between the Stars' published in a book-reviewing blog Luna's Little Library.^[2]

References

1. ^[https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/young-adult/in-between-the-stars/ "Troubador Publishing Ltd"]. Matador. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018
2. ^[https://lunaslittlelibrary.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/qa-with-a-a-ripley-in-between-the-stars/?fbclid=IwAR274G0WZ2zxnh4d0FIXp1JfJtQWZor7nFjtuGfNm-DwOrDULEKgN3Zsajk "Luna's Little Library"]. Luna's Little Library Blog. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018

In Between the Stars

Summary

Main characters

Reception

References

External links