Killing Gravity – Corey J. White

Mariam Xi can kill you with her mind. She escaped the MEPHISTO lab where she was raised as a psychic supersoldier, which left her with terrifying capabilities, a fierce sense of independence, a deficit of trust and an experimental pet named Seven. She’s spent her life on the run, but the boogeymen from her past are catching up with her. An encounter with a bounty hunter has left her hanging helpless in a dying spaceship, dependent on the mercy of strangers.

Penned in on all sides, Mariam chases rumors to find the one who sold her out. To discover the truth and defeat her pursuers, she’ll have to stare into the abyss and find the secrets of her past, her future, and her terrifying potential.

Killing Gravity is a kick-ass, whip-smart sci-fi short story/novella/novellette(?) which is a pure joy to read. It’s short, sharp and stunningly bloody, with a fiercely independent, void-damned spacewitch as the main protagonist. Echoes of Firefly abound, with a close-knit (albeit smaller) crew on a series of adventures as Mariam ‘Mars’ Xi goes on the hunt for vengeance. For such a short book, a *lot* gets crammed into the narrative.

The cast is refreshingly diverse and *interesting*, and it features what Warren Ellis described as ‘a cute space ferret of death’. Tell me you’re not intrigued!

It’s not perfect – for me it’s a little too short, and the action, whilst fantastically realised feels perhaps a tiny bit rushed. I’d have loved to see the story breathe a little more, giving us space to discover more about Squid, Mookie and Trix. That said, this is book 1 in the Voidwitch Saga (and it was only a couple of quid for the ebook), so I’m hopeful that we’ll get some meatier tales!

For those minor niggles (one of which boils down to GIVE ME MORE, DAMNIT), I’m greatly looking forward to reading more from Corey J. White.

Killing Gravity by Corey J. White was published May 9th 2017 by Tor.com. You can find Corey over at his website, coreyjwhite.com or on twitter @cjwhite

I picked this up from a recommendation in Warren Ellis’ excellent email newsletter, Orbital Operations. I’m a sucker for a good email newsletter, and Warren’s is a fine example of the art. You should subscribe. And go follow Morning, Computer while you’re at it.