Life ain't easy for a pilot in the Void. An easy score turns into a whole lot of trouble, and the race is on to unload some very problematic cargo.
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Out of fuel and captured by pirates in his beat up chimera of a ship, Maurice "Moss" Foote is having a bad day, until he gets a lead on the score of a lifetime. Easy pickings, if his crew doesn't mind doing a bit of pirating themselves.
Moss certainly doesn't. His ship's computer, Violet, might. And his co-pilot, Hel, definitely will. But one tiny little lie might get them both on board.
What's the worst that could happen?
Roy Herzog is having a worse day. He lost everyone he could stomach working with, then crossed paths with the Silver Legion, the very organization he deserted to become a pirate.
Unfortunately for him, the Legion does not forget, and does not easily forgive. But there might be a way out, and perhaps a shot at revenge against the pilot who nearly killed him.
A pilot who flies a chimera.
Read an excerpt here
As I said in my review of LOST SOULS, the first book in the “Get Lost” series, if you loved Firefly or any science fiction out there with a sense of humor, but a serious story line, you need to dive into this series!
While the story is set in an exciting fully-fleshed out ‘verse, with all manner of intriguing alien races and culture, Noah keeps the focus on his delightful characters and their predicaments (some brought on themselves – looking at you Moss!)
And I LOVE that Noah had me laughing right off the bat in Chapter One. It reminds me that the story may have tense moments and uncertainty, but it’s gonna be fun. “Make the ship go” – LOL! If ANYONE thinks humanity would make it into space without a sense of humor and fun (and wit and sarcasm)… well, most people these days have trouble traveling on a plane with other humans, much less heading into the stars with them.
Despite the fact that Moss gets himself (and his crew and compatriots) into sticky situations most often with a profit motive, he always does the right thing ultimately, while getting out of them. And he just keeps going, like the Energizer Bunny, even in the face of some pretty unnerving circumstances. Moss and his folks will find a way out, by hook or mustelid (made you look it up!)
I grew up during the Golden Age of Science Fiction and graduated to McCaffrey, Norton, Schmitz, and SO many others. My “keeper” shelf is full of these, and Bujold, of course! This book reminded me of the best of those. Exciting, suspenseful, and droll humor – authentic human beings (and other not so human beings and some beings you just aren’t sure of at the moment) in space –and hope in the face of adversity and what sometimes seem to be unsurmountable challenges. FUN!
I am still hoping someone will discover this series and turn it into a streaming series! It is creative and complex and fast-paced and exciting. Noah is a great story-teller and his characters are engaging and fun. I am waiting anxiously for MORE in this ‘verse!
As a direct sequel to “Lost Souls”, “Lost Cargo” picks up the action straight away with our protagonists in a bit of a bind… literally.
The alternately serious and then tongue-in-cheek writing style is different to most space opera works I’ve come across. It’s a potentially difficult mix to get right and could easily go too far in either direction, but the author strikes a clever balance. The humour is well mixed and the pop culture references are ‘in universe’ (i.e. the characters know about Earth history) rather than just being dropped in for fun, which makes for the occasional chuckle and a nod to the author with an “I see what you did there.” 😉
There’s some deep topics mixed in with the adventure, the nature of consciousness and identity, the ethics of concealing your intentions for the good of the whole and the consequences of your nefarious schemes being turned into good intentions by random chance.
Our protagonists from the first book: Moss, Hel and Violet, return with added backstory, character development still trying to make their way in universe that has danger hidden around every transit jump, the mechanism by which space ships travel long distances in this universe. The mechanics of this are explained in principle, but without diving into tedious detail. In short, it works and it’s well thought through.
There’s some amazing set pieces and a particular highlight is the ‘Great Race’, an almost Formula1-esque or Nascar style race with customised spacecraft, which also serves as turning point in the story.
Antagonists are provided by a mix of characters this time round. Roy makes a return and is playing a very long game throughout the story. There’s Nekkar, whose bully boy antics are only leading in one direction and Commander Miram, who rather straddles the middle ground here.
Mixed in with this are little bits of lore about the universe, painting a rather grim future for the humanity amidst vastly more powerful aliens and a series of synthetic beings. Some of this is done by reference to in universe history texts such as the appropriately named tome “And then things got worse.”
Hel also brings aboard a side-kick, which, like most side-kicks, does deliver quite a bit of comic relief. However this one is a refreshing take on the concept… let’s just say… it’s trouble.
As a sequel this expands on the universe, fleshes out the characters and works just fine as a stand alone novel too. You’re obviously best served by reading the first book as well, but this is another satisfying space opera from an enthusiastic writer in the genre.
Excerpt from Ottawa Review of Books:
Lost Cargo is the sequel to Lost Souls. I gave Lost Souls a positive review (February 2023 issue of ORB), but Lost Cargo cements Chinn as one of my all-time favourite writers.
Lost Souls was a good, solid space opera that combined mystery, comedy and action. My only caveat was that the reader had to get past some potentially distracting backstory early on. If I’m honest, though, I only tripped over the backstory in Lost Souls because in my day-job as an editor, ‘too much backstory’ is something I have to watch out for. Having now read Lost Cargo, I realize that the mystery is all about the backstory and that Chinn totally knew what he was doing.
You can read the rest of the review here:
https://www.ottawareviewofbooks.com/single-post/lost-cargo-by-noah-chinn
Excerpt from On Spec Magazine:
What Chinn delivers is a rocking good tale of hijinks, misdirects, foibles and fascinating concepts, a universe in which humans are pretty much relics, where their creations of hybrid human cyborgs, and synthetic humans, are the ruling species. There are mirrors of our present society in which ethnicities seek asylum. And the AI which Chinn introduces, while not entirely a new concept, is delivered in such a way to present a fresh take on the trope.
You can read the rest of the review here:
https://onspec.ca/book-reviews-page-lorina-stephens/