Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty is the second book in a cozy sci-fi genre mix set in a world so complex I found myself wishing I had read Book 1 before venturing into Book 2. I definitely recommend reading this series in order.

However, I did love the characters. Chaos Terminal is a character-driven story full of wonderfully developed characters - some human and some alien - that are so unique and authentic that they can easily carry the reader through the complex world-building. Mallory, the main character, is a human stung by aliens as a child. This causes the aliens to be able to see the world through Mallory’s eyes, and the aliens apparently love a good murder mystery.

I also enjoyed the lock-room-style murder mystery (and the shoutout to North Carolina and UNC Chapel Hill, which are both near and dear to my heart). The mystery led me down the wrong path more than once, and I never guessed who did it until it was revealed. I enjoy a well-thought-out classic murder mystery. And the sci-fi setting only makes it more complex.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4.5 hearts

I was thrilled to continue with the Midsolar Murders. The characters and world had a good foundation laid in the first book Station Eternity which is where Mallory and Xan and several aliens live. The station itself is sentient, bonded now with Mrs. Brown.

Mrs. Brown decides to take a trip and leaves Mallory to handle things. But Mallory is having her own health issues and doesn't have the authority to tell others on the stations what to do really. A delegation arrives from Earth with many people Mallory knew even before the sundry. It includes her high school best friend, Amy and Amy's brothers Parker and Reggie, along with Reggie's husband and boss, Oscar. But also Agent Draughn who accused Mallory unjustly. There's also the new ambassador to the station, Jessica.

Oscar is the first dead body to turn up, but others are injured. The communications on the station aren't working, security just keeps saying everything is fine and med-bay can't access its databases. Luckily Mallory has friends. Tina for being a bit of a weirdo is strong and more than willing to help. The others see the issues and while they may not want to work with Mallory, they don't want the problems to continue.

Most of our point of view is from Mallory but we do get some of the other characters like Parker, Draughn, Xan and Tina. Mallory, slowly but surely, talks to people and gathers ideas to narrow down the problems. I really enjoyed all the steps she takes and how she used her own skills even when she lacked help. It was great to learn more about Mallory's early years and a bit about the new ambassador.

I especially liked learning more about the sundry and other aliens. The series is a bit quirky and fun. The chapter headings are definitely witty: "Law, Order and Tina" "Not My Cat, Not My Rocking Chair" " Have You Tried Rebooting?" and "Operators Are Standing By." Tina provides a lot of comic relief in sometimes dire situations.

I really recommend this series if you like like murder mysteries, aliens and quirky fun. I would read the series in order because of the world developments. Chaos Terminal lives up to its name. I can't wait to see what happens next in this world.

Chaos Terminal, by Mur Lafferty, is the second installment in the authors MidSolar Murders series. Mallory Viridian's talent for solving murders has ruined her life—and even driven her to space—in this speculative take on the classic mystery series. When she was 8, Mallory was stung by an alien species known as Sundry (hive-minded, wasp-like aliens), giving her the ability to be drawn towards pockets of high probability of Murder. Yet, murder has followed her to the sentient space station called Eternity where she is now a reluctant detective helping people find lost items, stolen things, and of course, solving murders.

The leader of Eternity is Mrs. Brown. Brown killed two men in self-defense when she was a young woman, and a few decades later, she had murdered her second husband. She'd killed him in self-defense, but then had tried to cover it up. Coincidentally, her case was the first murder one Mallory had ever solved. Mrs. Brown went to prison for ten years. Currently she is connected to Eternity like Mallory is connected to the Sundry. Mrs. Brown may now be the most powerful human in existence. Mallory is tasked with taking care of things while Mrs. Brown is gone, which is a huge ask, considering the chaos that ensued when Eternity’s former host was found murdered.

Alexander (Xan) Morgan is a human who is connected symbiotically to Eternity's daughter Infinity. Xan is a fugitive from Earth, but some actually think he is a hero. Xan and Mallory are best friends, and after Mrs Brown leaves Eternity to head to a planet known as November for training, Mallory leans on Xan for help while awaiting a new ambassador from Earth whose arrival triggers more chaos and lots of trouble for both Xan and Mallory, including yet another human murdered.

Tina is an alien species known as Gneiss along with Stephanie and Ferdinand, and is the apparent new Queen of the Prison Planet Bezoar. Gneiss are giant, rock aliens that can take infinite forms as they mature or eat the bodies of the dead. Gneiss communicate through vibrations, and can do so across the entire space station. Curiously, Tina warned Mallory that something was really wrong with Eternity, but the warning was ignored because she said things were going Cuckoo. It appears yet another alien species has invaded the station, and with a new shuttle expected to arrive soon, this is really bad timing.

To make matters worse for Mallory, the shuttle contains a contingent of people who she knows very well. North Carolina SBI agent Donald Draughn, the man who made Mallory’s last years on Earth a living hell, has come to Station Eternity. Her high school crush Parker Valor is also here. (She can’t believe she didn’t remember Parker! She had such a huge crush on him in high school, but Amy wouldn’t let her get close). Mallory’s best friend from high school, Amy Valor, who is allegedly here on Eternity studying quantum physics. And, the new ambassador & WNBA star Jessica Brass who comes out with surprises of her own.

Mallory doesn’t believe in coincidences, and so she’s not at all surprised when someone in the latest shuttle from Earth is murdered. It’s the story of her life, after all. Only this time she has more than a killer to deal with. A new threat arising from the Sundry hivemind which leaves them nearly wiped out of existence, and the alarmingly peculiar behavior of the sentient space station they all call home, even Mallory’s deductive abilities are strained. If she can’t find out what’s going on (and fast), a disaster of intergalactic proportions may occur.…

*Thoughts* Station Eternity did all the hard work of establishing all the main players like Mallory, Xan, Amy, Stephanie, Ferdinand, and Adrian. Please consider starting with that book first. This book is not like the first book. This book kind of puts Mallory off screen for a large chunk of the story, while the author does a repeat of certain characters and their pasts which led them to arriving on Eternity and causing huge problems for Mallory and everyone else on Eternity. One of the positives is that Mallory has accepted her fate, and her connection to the Sundry, so maybe now she won't take them or her abilities for granted. In the end, I ended up downgrading my review because there were way too many people who the author chose to give parts in the story to. Mallory is the main character, ergo, she should have had more story lines and participation.

Really fun detective story, but in space!! This book is primarily a detective murder mystery that happens to be set on a space station. Sure, that space station (and some of the ships) are sentient aliens with psychic bonds to the main human characters. Just go with it. It's fun. Some of the detective-ing logic leaps were a bit too much of a stretch for my tastes, but that's a minor gripe. The whole story is quick and fun with enough stakes and heart to suck you in.

Mallory Viridian attracts murders like she’s Jessica Fletcher. In the second installment of the Midsolar Murders series (yes, love the Midsomer Murders reference!), more murder is coming her way aboard sentient space station Eternity. It’s a cozy sci-fi murder mystery!

This series is great. I say series because I realllly hope there will be more. It was fun to be back with Mallory and her friends and meet some new people (and aliens) along the way. I enjoyed this a lot. It’s a quick, fun read that I highly recommend. It comes out November 7. Thank you to Ace Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

This is the second book in the Midsolar Mysteries which take place on Space Station Eternity. The station is filled with aliens of all varieties and just a few humans. Mallory Viridian came to live on the space station because she wanted to get away from murders. They happened around her all the time on Earth.

She learned in the first book of the series that she was stung by wasp-like aliens called the Sundry who made her part of their hive. It ws this that gave her the ability to solve murders.

Now the station has a new host - a human named Mrs. Brown - who takes off in a sentient spaceship to learn more about her new duties and leaves Mallory in charge. Unfortunately, Mallory is losing her ability to solve murders, the blue and Silver Sundry are being attacked by the green Sundry who act as cuckoos in the hive, and humans she has known since middle school are coming to the station along with the new ambassador.

The green Sundry are the least intelligent of all Sundry which causes a problem since they are in charge of the systems that run the space station and they are not listening to her or any of the other aliens except Tina who is Gneiss and who has problems with impulse control. Tina is slated to become queen of a prison planet, but she has broken Gneiss laws in regard to transforming herself and her government wants to arrest her.

This was a wonderful story filled with adventure, intriguing aliens, and even a possible romance. Oh, and Mallory solves a murder and her friend Xan, an AWOL soldier from Earth, acts as Tina's advisor which, after some confusion, manages to get things back to normal. Or as close to normal as it can be on this space station.

The second novel in The Midsolar Murders series, Chaos Terminal was a very quick read, an enjoyable science fiction/mystery. You definitely need to read Station Eternity first, in order to follow the story. While not on a par with the author's Six Wakes, this is a thoroughly engaging series and I look forward to the next Midsolar Murders novel.

“Chaos Terminal”(Midsolar Murders #2) by Mur Lafferty ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: SciFi Mystery. Location: Station Eternity (sentient alien space station in outer space). Time: Near future. Suggestion: If possible, read book 1 first.

THE SERIES: Since Mallory Viridian was stung by alien Sundry insects, she’s connected to their terrifying hivemind. She’s also drawn to places where murders may be committed. But Mallory doesn’t want to be a detective. She moved all the way to Station Eternity to avoid it. But when a new arrival to Eternity is murdered, Mallory’s back investigating alien crimes done to aliens by aliens.

THIS BOOK: SBI Agent Donald Draughn harassed Mallory on Earth because of her abilities. Now he’s arrived on Station Eternity, along with Mallory’s high school best friend Amy, and Amy’s twin brother Parker (Mallory’s high school crush). It all feels very wrong to Mallory. Then someone from the latest Earth shuttle is murdered. Mallory has to deal with her mysterious illness, a killer, her fugitive alien friends, a takeover of the Sundry hivemind, and Eternity’s alarming behavior.

This is book 2 in the series. That means there’s backstory, and we don’t learn it all at once so early chapters can be confusing. As the book continues, you’ll learn more about the characters’ backgrounds-and about aliens. Author Rafferty’s clever world-building will introduce you to the massive rock-like Gneiss (including Tina who transformed into a giant snarky battle mech), the small Gurudev with their bark-like skin, and of course the hives of wasp-like Blue and Silver Sundry. Her writing is full of engaging aliens, it’s complicated, it’s chaotic, and it’s 4 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️Thank you to NetGalley, ACE Penguin books, Berkeley Publishing, and Mur Lafferty for this early ecopy. Publishes 11/7/2023.

Another top notch entry in the Midsolar Murders! I enjoyed the story and the characters are delightful. The interactions between the aliens and the humans really make this series fun. Highly recommended!

Murder mystery set on a sentient space station. Fast paced with characters and aliens that I like spending time with and learning about. A touch of ridiculousness which I greatly enjoyed. I did find this one hard to get into at the beginning, not sure if it was because I forgot lots of the facts they were referring to, or if it was because the author needed to provide backstory to get to the plot. Once the murder solving got started, it was a race to the finish. I liked the first book in the series more, but that is mostly because this contained noticeably more romance. I agree with others that this would be a fun TV series.

Another day in Mallory Viridian's life, another murder. And this time with Mrs. Brown away and the new Earth ambassador arriving with a host of new (and old) faces it's up to her to keep Station Eternity and all her lifeforms intact.

Chaos Terminal, the sequel to Station Eternity and second book in the Midsolar Murders series definitely stands up to its title and continues the sci-fi/mystery mash-up that worked so well for me in the first book, but adds more (human) characters for Mallory and Xan to interact with and, of course, as with all mystery series, the danger of yet another murderer aboard the station.

Like the first book, there is a lot of absurdity and humor to the story, even when dealing with crisis and that's right up my street. If you too are a reader who isn't afraid of weird stuff going down, hooks coming from left field, and general fucking metal chaos erupting across the page, you may like this book. For those folks who prefer linear narratives and more 'realistic' style sci-fi/mysteries, this may not be your cuppa.

Chaos Terminal is just as goofy and chaotic as Station Eternity. Old friends and enemies visit the station, and Mallory is feeling out of sorts. The sentient Station is also out of sorts. The Sundry, the sentient wasps, are also out of sorts. And there is a murder, which Mallory is expected to solve.

Like book one, I had trouble getting into this one. I’m sure it would be easier reading them back to back. I would really like to see a TV series or movie based on these books because I have a hard time picturing some of the aliens. Once the action started, I enjoyed the book.

Tina the giant metal battle mech is much much more annoying in this book than in book one – a little of her goes a long way. The “solving” of the murder was a little anticlimactic, as the murderer just ups and confesses to the reader in a chapter told from the murderer’s point of view. But the pop culture references are fun, and the book left me in a good mood. I’ll read book three.

3.5 stars - I'm always here for a character driven sci fi mystery, which is definitely what this delivers! Not a standalone, you'll need to read the first book to understand what's going on, but it was good to pick back up with the characters we met there and to also have new character and new elements of the world come in. As the title suggests, there is A LOT going on in this book, and the chaos was honestly kind of stressful to me. It felt like 20 pounds of action in 10 pound bag. So for me, that wasn't my favorite vibe, but respect that it was purposeful authorial choice.

I found it difficult to get into this book, but it was more of a me thing than a book thing. Will still try more from this author in the future.

Just when Mallory thinks life will go back to normal, she's informed she'll be in charge of Eternity while Mrs. Brown is away since Mrs. Brown is worried something is wrong with the station. Meanwhile the new ambassador to Earth is arriving along with people from Mallory's past, bringing confusion and the very thing Mallory has been trying to avoid, murder. However, this case doesn't come as easily as her previous ones since there's also something up with Sundry, making it difficult to find the usual connections to solve the mystery. Overall, a great continuation of the series that explores more of the friendships on Eternity and delves more into Mallory's past and her connection to the Sundry. Most of the previous cast is mentioned at some point with a focus on the Gneiss and the Sundry and less on Eternity.

Once again humans are coming to the sentient space station Eternity this time carrying several people from Mallory’s past as well as a new ambassador from earth. Mallory is worried because when humans are around her murder soon follows but to complicate matters she is just feeling off, in fact she is found unconscious in her quarters and comes around just in time to attend the welcoming party for the earth delegation. She is surprised to find her high school best friend, Amy, on board along with the police officer who persecuted her but most shocking is Amy’s twin brother, the boy Mallory had a huge crush on in high school and whose existence she had totally forgotten until she saw him again. When one of the earth delegation is murdered Mallory investigates while also trying to find out what is wrong with the station whose systems are going off line with no explanation.
We learn more about Mallory’s past and her connection with the alien Sundry species. Her teenage friends seem to be deeply involved with the murder victim and Xan is a bit off his game since his ship, also sentient, is gone having taken station host Mrs Brown to a different station to learn more about her duties with Eternity. Tina seems to know more about the station’s problem than the other do and comes up with a creative way to solve both the her own and the station’s problems.
This was a quick and satisfying read. We are learning more about our characters as they are learning more about each other and themselves. I did not suspect who the murderer was until about the same time as Mallory. This series combines two of my favorite genres - cozy mysteries and space adventure - and I look forward to reading more about Mallory and the rest of the residents, human and alien, on the space station Eternity. Highly recommended.

After revelations about why murders have plagued her for her entire life in the first book, Station Eternity, Mallory thinks she’s out of the investigation game. But those dreams are dashed in CHAOS TERMINAL. A shuttle arrives with human passengers, several with ties to Mallory including her childhood crush and the law officer who hounded Mallory on Earth, suspicious of her proximity to so many murders.

When someone is murdered, Mallory takes up sleuthing again.

As always, Mur Lafferty dazzles with detailed world-building. She’s created an amazing universe with several species of fully realized aliens including their cultures and politics. While murder is a serious business, she works in touches of humor. The story is intricately plotted with secondary storylines about the space station and civil war between aliens. The mystery is complex and kept me guessing until the end.

Mallory is a resourceful and resilient character and I enjoyed learning more about her backstory. Can’t wait to read the next book!

We're back on Station Eternity, where human Mallory Viridian has landed after fleeing Earth to get away from all those murders. But the murder plots just keep following her (as we now know, it's because of the bees!) But the hivemind that gave her this murder-seeking ability is having it's own issues, as is the sentient space station, and murder may be the least of her problems.

I liked the first book in this series, though I thought it was a bit over-plotted and had trouble following all the action scenes and characters. Unfortunately it's worse for me here, and I could never just sink into the story and enjoy it. I found it especially rough at the start, and it took me several tries to get into the book - not a good sign!

3.5/5 stars - A fun addition to the Midsolar Murders series, though I wanted more of some of the sentient station. But this filled in much backstory, so it went more back and forth in time, maybe making it feel a bit less space-station-y.

I did enjoy this book, but not quite as much as the first in the series. I felt like there was so much going on that I would occasionally get lost and have to go back and re-read a chapter to see if I missed something or if we had just changed perspective again. The author states in the acknowledgements that there will be a book 3 and I look forward to continuing the series.