A novel written as a cooperation of several authors sounds like a phenomenal idea until you discover that you’ll only like it if you connect to all of the different writing and storytelling styles.

To begin with, this didn’t turn out to be my kind of plot. It’s a space adventure where action and revelations are the center of the story, and, while I’m biased, it didn’t seem like a very original telling of such a story, even if bringing the refugee issue into science fiction sounds interesting and relevant. My actual problems, however, were the characters: they were “on the nose” stereotypes. I could get to like Asala, former refugee finding a place in society while trying to suppress her past, even if with the “getting things done” attitude there wasn’t much place for original characteristics, but I was so annoyed every time one of the authors beat the reader with the hammer on the head about how privileged and sheltered but well-meaning Niko is. I get it without whole paragraphs about it every chapter.

The authors styles were very different, but not in the way it would pull you out of the story if you liked them all. As for me, there were massive differences in my enjoyment. I only knew Becky Chambers before reading this, and hers were my favorite chapters: more character and feeling driven, bringing in neat ideas beyond what is expected from the plot and avoiding the more annoying aspects of the main characters, unfortunately still not managing to make me like them. The only new-to-me author I would try something else by was Rivers Solomon, since the writing was very engaging, and I also feel the characters were budding heads less in these chapters. Yoon Ha Lee I don’t really have an opinion on: it was fine for the content given but it didn’t stick out to me. Lastly, I´m sorry to say that I did not enjoy SL Huang´s parts: They were the most blatant concerning characterization, the writing was much to designed for action to be for me and all of my problems with the book were so much more emphasized here.

While I didn’t like this book, if you are a fan of most of these authors you should check it out. It probably wont be your favorite book by any of them, since the story and characters aren’t that strong, but you’ll get a fun collaboration and can experience how they handle the same content differently from each other, which is probably the most exiting part if you are into the art of writing.

What an excellent story with an engaging cast of characters written by some of my favorite science-fiction authors! I really enjoyed the episodic aspect of The Vela, and the format really allowed for excellent world and character development. Thank you to Netgalley and SerialBox for a copy of this in exchange for a review!

Asala Sikou hasn't been back to her home planet, Hypatia, since her family bought her passage on a ship. She hasn't heard anything from them since then and has felt no need to re-visit the planet. It's dying anyway; the whole universe is. But when the president of Khayyam hires her to find the Vela, a refugee ship that has gone missing, Asala is forced to confront her home, her past and her future, while keeping Niko, the president's kid and her companion, safe. But Niko has plans of his own, and they don't always coincide with hers.

This book surprised me in the best way. It's a fabulous space opera that reminded me a bit of The Expanse in how it's set up, but is much better written and also features a female MC. Speaking of...

Characters
The characters in this book are amazing, and I'm not just talking about the two main characters. Even the side characters are interesting and make you want to find out more about them. I'm also happy that so many of the powerful characters were women, and they all kicked ass. Asala was an instant favourite, not in small part because of her deadpan humour which I love. It took me a bit longer to warm up to Niko because at first they just come off as a young, inexperienced kid trying to please their parents, but after they run into their first real hiccup their character really starts to blossom. I also really appreciate the representation in this book.

Story
I don't think the plot is all that mind-blowing but it's everything around it that made this such a good read for me. At the centre of it is humanity and morality. The issue of refugees is really relevant to the world today and I thought it was tackled well. The way different nations dealt with the refugees felt real and politics is as dirty in the world of the Vela as in our own.

Writing
Becky Chambers has been an insta-buy for me since I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I wasn't familiar with the other 3 authors but am happy to say the writing was amazing throughout. There are differences between the writing styles but they compliment each other well and it's made easier because the author doesn't change within a single chapter. I liked some styles more than others; there are 2 chapters that are written more from Niko's POV that I liked a bit less than the rest.

What a fantastic read! I was initially drawn to this book because of the star-studded list of authors, all of whom have written some of my favorite science fiction in recent memory. Their combined talents have resulted in a grandiose space opera with a deeply emotional bent that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

For those unfamiliar with Serial Box, the way this novel worked is each author published an "episode", or a chapter, each week, resulting in a full "season" in which each chapter of the novel was written by a different author. I think this is a really cool way to create a story, especially when you have such a talented group on board.

The story follows two main protagonists. There is the mercenary assassin Asala, a former refugee from a dying planet who has found herself in the service of the President of the prosperous planet Khayyam and Niko, the President's child, a talented hacker with a passion for justice and a desire to help the growing body of desperate refugees. The two made a strong pair and provided a wide berth of insight into different aspects of the novel, expanding the world-building through the own experiences and developing one another through their interactions. The side characters were also solid: General Cynwrig was a dynamic villain, Soraya provided a powerful perspective into life in the refugee Camp Ghala, and even President Ekrem represented the misguided priorities of so-called "good" people in power. I also loved the casual representation present in the novel: Asala is a trans woman, and Niko is non-binary, not to mention the broad cast of queer secondary characters.

The premise of the story is is also fascinating; it takes places in a solar system in which the sun is rapidly dying, turning distant planets into uninhabitable frozen wastelands and forcing their inhabitants to flee inward, where they are faced with rampant racism and xenophobia from the prosperous inner planets who have (for the time being) escaped the creeping cold.

More than anything though I was struck how much the story felt like a parable for our own society: not that we have to worry about a dying sun, but the growing climate crisis and war have already displaced millions of people globally, many of whom face the same harrowing levels of animosity as the asylum seekers in this novel. To me, the heart of truly good science fiction is that it makes insightful commentary into the problems in our own society using a theoretical or futuristic lens. The Vela absolutely succeeds in this, and had me thinking hard about issues of xenophobia, the migrant crisis, cultural erasure, and even white saviorism and performative activism. Furthurmore, the examples of isolationism and resource hoarding present in this novel are all too pervasive on our society today, and in many ways the reality of the novel is one that i could see coming to pass in our own futures if society does not improve.

This book wasn't great for me, I tried really hard to get It, but it just made me got bored, it needs something else for me to get better.

I can't believe this book was written by so many different authors! Maybe I'm just a completely unsophisticated reader, but the book seamlessly flowed - I couldn't have picked out any specific voice if it weren't for the author labels above each chapter. In the same vein, I didn't really understand why it was divided up like "season 1 episode 9", aside from switching authors. It didn't seem to me to be particularly divided by character POV, setting, or plot points. It didn't mess up the flow of the book or anything - just couldn't nail down a reason for the separate "episodes".

There was quite a bit of space action and battles (which I don't generally care for), but you also get robust character development. Everyone is fundamentally flawed, but also granted room for sympathy. Their literal universe is falling apart as their sun dies, so it's understandable that not everyone will display perfectly grace. The book is also very matter-of-fact in its inclusive elements, which is amazing! Lots of parallels to be made to our current political climate ...but I read to escape the news, so I tried not to dwell too long on making those connections :)

Just didn't grab my attention. I tried over several nights. I am not sure what was missing but I'm not going to finish it. One thing that stood out was the tone of the protagonist. It was weird. It seemed to jump in age. I am not sure if the book is for teens or adults.

When I requested this one, I was intrigued by the premise, and curious as to how this serialised series with multiple authors would work – brilliantly as it turns around. The Vela hooked me right from the beginning, and while I could pick up on the shifts in writing style, they were subtle. I found the chapters for the most part seamlessly weaved together a complex, wide-reaching space opera, in a way that I was always rushing to pick up the book as soon as I had a moment spare to continue reading.

Firstly, I loved the complexity of the worldbuilding. The Vela is about a dying solar system, with the complexities of relationships and experiences of planets at different ends of the crisis. You have the ones in the inner ring, who are most distant from the threatening climate change and planetary death that has come about from the people harvesting hydrogen from the Sun to point where it is now dying. At the other end, you have the peoples from planets that have already died, or which are dying and becoming uninhabitable, triggering a system-wide refugee crisis that has been ongoing for decades. This people-induced climate change, and the detailed, heart-breaking tale of refugees risking everything to escape. Forced to make lives in a camp because the richer planets won’t allow them to land on their surface, shutting their borders apart from when they need good publicity or there is a tactical reason, all resonate very strongly with the current situation our world is in today. Grounding the narrative firmly and painfully in reality without losing that wonderful, otherworldly feel of being in space.

There was a rich sense of culture, and not just from the inner-ring planets that still existed and were clinging to normality, with the overhanging threat of climate change, but amongst those fleeing the dying planets. Stories passed on, songs shared, tattoos as well as physical items smuggled/salvaged while fleeing, woven together with the memories of one our main characters Asala, allow us to build a sense of the worlds and lives that have been lost, even without seeing them in their full glory, and that creates a real sense of loss.

The two main characters Asala – a sniper from one of those dying planets, whose family had sent her to safety years before – and Niko, the child of an inner-ring President made for an odd pairing that worked brilliantly. They’re tasked with finding the titular ship when it goes missing following a rescue mission, something of a publicity stunt in Niko’s father’s push for re-election. These two characters drive the narrative of The Vela, and they are fascinating, complex and flawed, bringing together the experiences of both sides of the divide in the solar system, even though their motives and paths are incredibly different.

From this starting point though, The Vela becomes something of a thriller, because there are twists and turns from start to finish, conspiracies and complications both from the pair themselves, but from the real motives behind the rescue mission, to the relationships between the inner-ring planets themselves, as well as their relationships with the refugees trying desperately to reach them. I had so many suspicions, and most of them were proven wrong, and I loved that because this book kept me on my toes from start to finish. Even better, it did and had wonderful action scenes, without losing the heart of the story at any point – the fight for survival, tragedy and hope, injustice and a search for justice, family and friendships.

The Vela touches on so many things that it is impossible to encompass in a single review. It has wonderful LFBTQIA+ representation, with a non-binary main character and sapphic relationships, as well as dealing with characters including Asala with disabilities, without resorting to advanced tech to erase that – and most importantly, those aspects are part of them, but they’re not explained or excused, it is as natural to the characters and story as it would be in real life. All of this, along with a wonderful secondary cast, was woven into a world undergoing changes and challenges, with political and social manoeuvring, and threats that are very relevant today to create a living, breathing narrative that consumes you.

I adored this book from start to finish. It wasn’t perfect, and I will admit that. There were a few shifts between chapters, particularly towards the start that I found a little jarring until I got into the rhythm. There were also a few places where I questioned Niko’s hacking abilities, as they felt a little overpowered in places, although they were largely balanced out by their other abilities. Still, this was a fantastic, consuming read that I would highly recommend, and I live in the hope that there will be a second season.

I super wanted to love this because of the awesome premise, but the writing style is just not clicking. Wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished and rated it lowly. DNF.

I really loved this, it had all the aspects of space sci-fi that I enjoy, fast-paced plot, hidden conspiracies, technological advances etc. I found the environmental degradation of the solar system very intriguing, as it's a plot I haven't come across much in sci-fi. The only thing that put me off this book was Niko. I loved Asala, found her an interesting MC that I was actively rooting for and cared about. Niko on the other hand just got on my nerves. Their idealism without critical thinking and the way they talked down to Asala about her own culture just bothered me too much and brought this down from a 5 to a 4 star for me.

Unexpectedly great. I've read other offerings from Serialbox, some hits, and some misses. This started off slow, but really got going. I love a good sci fi set in space.

What a lineup of authors! This, and the format of a serial space opera where every author wrote a chapter a week in a round robin fashion, drew me in. Serialbox publishes books like a streaming series: one season consists of ten episodes, and the second season of Vela takes off right now.

The star of a solar system is at the very end of its lifespan, outer planets are freezing and a refugee crisis hits the inner planets. Spaceship Vela is one of the refugee transporters, but it's gone lost.

The series starts with a loud bang - a visiting General is threatened to get assassinated and has to be rescued. The main protagonists, sniper Asala and hacker kid Niko get introduced and shine in their heroic roles.

After this short interlude, they get the real mission to find The Vela again and lead it to rescue. A journey through the solar system starts with many twists and turns, a prison break-in, a whole war and mysterious technology.

I'm no stranger to serial narrations, as I've been invested for several years into the longest running SF serial Perry Rhodan which produces 64 pages each and every week since 1961. Those guys know how to evolve a tension arc over several issues and separate work between authors. I have a certain expectation with this format.

And it wasn't met, sadly. First of all, each of the ten episodes tells a conclusive story, and I found them to be equally fine. The setting is interesting, though I had to scratch my head somewhat over the idea of harvesting a star leading to bleed it out of energy within the next hundred years. The topic of refugee migration is relevant in our days, and the thriller oriented plot is interesting with its twists and turns. Having a non-binary character with Niko in a prominent role is to be expected with theses authors, and feels like a must these days.

But some elements annoyed me seriously - first of all the tension arc: Every chapter needed its own micro arc and used a cliffhanger for more tension. This doesn't turn out well in the novel form that I read. A natural tension arc with relaxation in between wasn't installed and the read was bumping heavily through the whole season.

Secondly, some chapters had continuity problems - the previous chapter left me in an unresolved state and I wasn't picked up by the next chapter at that place but found a strange jump in time and space.

Also, the planetary settings don't get enough visual impression, they feel abstract and and lack a sense of being there.

Lastly, that hacker kid Niko, a real Mary Sue / Gary Stu - hacking each and everything, starting from prison A.I.s up to planetary defense systems within minutes, conveniently surpassing every obstacle. Surely, people in a highly advanced civilization plastered with A.I.s will have passwords like Dog1234. The whole hacking explanations where just ridiculous bad.

After three chapters, I started skimming through the text, and the book didn't draw me back to slow reading, which is always a bad sign.

So sorry to be the party pooper here, but this format didn't meet my expectations and the quality of the authors. I rather read single stories or novels from them and won't continue the next season.

I've wanted to read The Vela since the second I heard about it - a queer space opera co-written by some of my favourite authors? Yes please! I was privileged to receive an electronic copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I could barely stand to put The Vela down, and finished it within 48 hours of picking it up. When I finished reading the final episode, I had to spend a long minute or two silently staring at the end of the page, reading the final sentence repeatedly. I could probably go right back to page 1 and re-read it immediately. I'm desperate to read Season 2.

The Vela is sci-fi at its finest. The authors seamlessly weaved together the complexities of multiple inhabited planets in the same solar system - each planet had its own culture, and its own opinions of its neighbouring planets. Those in the "inner ring" are the most privileged, with access to more resources - one of the most precious of which being heat, since the people in this solar system collectively mined so much energy from their shared sun that the planets furthest away can no longer support life. This extreme climate change has triggered an interplanetary refugee crisis, and the world leaders of the inner planets are dealing with it about as kindly as our leaders here on Earth (I am writing this from the UK, and our politicians' frankly disgusting views of refugees have been all over our mainstream media this week).

The characters leading the narrative of The Vela are all complex, with their opinions and motivations shaped by their drastically different backgrounds. None of them are flawless, but I was emotionally attached to many of them regardless.

In terms of diversity, I have mentioned already that this story is queer; the main characters are trans (specifically a sapphic trans woman) and nonbinary. Other characters are LGBT+, too - there are other characters referred to with they/them pronouns, and female characters attracted to women. There is no misgendering, transphobia, or homophobia at any point in the book.

The Vela also benefits from (I think) very good disability representation. One of the main characters is deaf; she uses hearing implants which can enhance her hearing, but these have similar drawbacks to hearing aids in real life (e.g. they amplify ALL noise, making them painful and overstimulating to use at times). Another character is a wheelchair user. There is (albeit briefly) a character who is partially blind. The futuristic, high-tech setting of this story was not used to magically make all characters abled.

Many of the characters are explicitly described as having dark skin. This story has no connection at all to Earth, so the societal structure is completely different in terms of race and ethnicity, but the experiences of these characters does reflect the experiences people of colour face in our world - e.g. racial stereotyping, verbal abuse (including slurs), structural racism. This is tied to the treatment of the refugees from the outer planets, and to the content warning for genocide I've included below.

Overall, The Vela was a gripping story which I did not want to put down. The writing was excellent from start to finish, regardless of which author wrote each episode, and the planning that must have gone into the plot is simply amazing. The characters were diverse, complex, and developed. I can't think of anything more I could want from this book except more of it - so I'm very pleased that Season 2 is being released soon!

I highly recommend The Vela and also urge everyone to read more of all four authors' work after this, if you haven't already. You won't regret it!

Content warnings: racism, genocide, graphic violence, mentions of child sexual assault, death

This book struck me as different from other scifi. It seems to take a dimmer view of humanity than others. The entire solar system is dying because the people have been harvesting hydrogen from the sun. That's been going on long enough that climate change has become an inescapable force. Entire planets are freezing to death.
The story centers on Asala, who is tasked to find a missing spaceship. Of course, there's more to it than meets the eye and she finds herself trapped in larger and larger moral dilemmas. The story never gets bogged down, but it does make you think.