The Fifth Ship

di Joey Stardust (Autore)

Lurking Fear Publishing, 2025

The Fifth Ship by Joey Stardust Out beyond the edge of mapped space, silence has a sound—and it's calling humanity home. The Fifth Ship is a haunting, cinematic science fiction epic about discovery, loss, and the fragile line between exploration and extinction. Joey Stardust crafts a breathtaking odyssey through deep space where mystery, memory, and survival intertwine. Decades after the fall of Earth, the Helios Fleet—five colony ships carrying the last survivors of a dying planet—was launched toward the stars. Only four ever made contact again. The fifth vanished without a trace. Now, nearly a century later, a faint distress signal echoes from the void, bearing an impossible signature: it's from the missing ship. Commander Arlen Vega, haunted by the ghosts of missions past, is chosen to lead a recovery team aboard the Erebus, a new generation vessel equipped with experimental quantum AI. Their goal: trace the source of the signal and uncover what happened to the Fifth Ship. But as they approach the coordinates, the laws of physics—and reality itself—begin to distort. What the crew finds drifting in the black is not a wreck. It's a relic. Inside waits a world that defies comprehension: a living ship fused with alien architecture, its halls echoing with human voices long presumed dead. Every door opens to a different reality. Every shadow holds a memory not their own. As communications fail and time fractures around them, the crew begins to unravel—psychologically and physically—drawn deeper into a sentient labyrinth that knows their fears, their secrets, and their true mission. Vega soon realizes that The Fifth Ship didn't simply disappear; it transcended. And whatever intelligence lies at its core has been waiting for them to arrive. In a universe obsessed with finding life, Stardust asks the question no one dares—what if life finds us first? Blending the existential awe of 2001: A Space Odyssey with the psychological tension of Event Horizon and the philosophical depth of Arrival, The Fifth Ship is a story of cosmic discovery and human fragility. It's about explorers confronting not aliens, but the reflection of their own creation—the terrifying mirror of what humanity becomes when it reaches too far. When the stars finally speak, will we recognize the voice that answers? Perfect for fans of: Hard science fiction and cosmic mystery Psychological and philosophical sci-fi thrillers Space exploration gone wrong First contact stories with a dark twist Character-driven speculative fiction in the style of Clarke, Blomkamp, or Garland The Fifth Ship isn't just about what's out there. It's about what we bring with us when we go. Because sometimes the greatest danger in the universe… is remembering who we were.

• Autore: Joey Stardust
• Anno edizione: 2025
• Editore: Lurking Fear Publishing
• Formato: EPUB2 con DRMFREE
• Lingua: Inglese
• Compatibilità: Tutti i dispositivi (eccetto Kindle)
• Layout: Reflowable
• EAN: 9798232038472