It really doesn’t matter what season we’re in or what the weather is, because it’s always a good time to pick up a sci-fi novel. This time, I’m talking about The Woman in the Ship by Sapphira Olson. This book came out this month and will take you on a ride through the stars like no other sci-fi book has taken you before. Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity to take a peek at this new book.
Title: The Woman in the Ship Author: Sapphira Olson Publisher: Lether Press Publication year: 2025 Length: 378 pages Genre: Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, LGBTQIA+ Pace: Slow Story focus: Characters
Sally is the captain of the spaceship Ascension, tasked with the very important mission to paint some rich dude’s ashes onto the hull of the Voyager 2. Some people have way too much money. When they inch closer to their destination, the crew is awakened from cryosleep to find some disturbing images: Earth blew up. Well, the crust was what blew off and with it every little living thing on it. Still shaken by the news, the crew decides to continue with the mission while they also try to bring back the onboard AI, Nova. Fully in control of everything on the ship, Nova was tasked to self-destruct along with the crew, but upon seeing the images coming from the satellites orbiting Earth, she went into shock. Stubbornly avoiding talking or complying with her orders, Nova keeps quiet, and only Sally can make her open up while sharing trivial stories from their childhood. This is how the story starts, but it’s so far away from where it ends.
When I opened this book, I was expecting the traditional sci-fi story. Set aboard a spaceship, the crew is tasked with a mission, but something goes wrong, and the crew has to solve all the problems for a chance to go back home. But when home is a bunch of flying debris launched into space, you kind of really don’t know what to do. And so painting some guy’s ashes into a space probe from the 70s sounds like a good plan. But then what? And this was a question I had a lot on my mind. What is happening next? Where is the story going to go? Where can it go? I’m really used to being presented with a plot and then watching it unravel until the last page. But the plot “ was solved” in the first quarter of the book. Then what is the rest of the book about? At this point, I stopped questioning and gave in.
Now that I’ve reached the end of the book, I can look back and see: this is purely a love story. The Woman in the Ship is a sci-fi sapphic romance full of hope, wonder and the literal last of man… womankind. It’s quite a different spin on the post-apocalyptic type of fiction. It’s the end of the world, no home to return to and yet these characters still don’t want to die. They are full of life and dreams. It’s quite an upbeat tale of the extinction of all the species, which makes it unique. At least I haven’t read anything like this before. The chapters are bite-sized, and like candy, you just want to eat one after the other. Having no idea where the story might go next just makes it even tastier.
The story has a big emphasis on memories and past lives, and how that interconnects with the present and predicts the future. That’s what brings hope and lightness to what would otherwise be a heavy tale. Earth being gone stops being a problem and becomes a reality easily accepted. There is no panic, no stress, no anxiety about survival. The characters simply exist without any policing, completely free. And the reader is there, witnessing, enjoying the ride. And that’s the best way to read this book. Don’t question. Don’t wonder. Just let it all happen.
I’m still in that state where I don’t quite believe yet what I just read. You close the book and don’t quite know what to do next. The brain still needs time to process all the information. The heart still needs time to discover what to feel. And what I keep coming back to is hope. It’s such a hopeful tale. Nova becomes such a bright character, someone you can’t be sad around because her will to live, her spirit of wonder, is contagious.
I enjoy post-apocalyptic stories because of the thriller and suspenseful aspect they all carry. But in here, there isn’t much room for that. Earth is gone, or it appears to be, and there’s no way to solve that problem, unless they find a time machine. And yet, I’m not anxious. I’m just sitting there with them aboard Ascension, listening to stories about oranges, sailing the seas, and teaming up with Flash Gordon to save the universe. I don’t care if there isn’t a home to go back to because the characters create their own home, together.
