The Ships of Aleph is a Novelette by Jaine Fenn, published as a chapbook by the Birmingham Science Fictino Group, for the occasion of Novacon 42, where Jaine was Guest of Honour.
The cover is, as usual for these Novacon Specials, by the esteemed 'Space Artist' David A Hardy - you can find out more about him and his art on AstroArt.org.
The story follows the viewpoint of a boy, born into a medieval setting, whose intelligence and questioning mind puts him at odds with his environment. He is offered a place on an exploratory ship, which tries to find out what there is outside the ‘current’ which is considered the end of the navigable sea.
The ship sails over the edge of the world, only for the protagonist to discover that there’s more to his environment than he imagined in his wildest dreams. No, I won’t spoil your enjoyment, read it for yourself!
This is an fun and interesting take on a standard trope, with some reversals and twists I didn’t see coming, but which I rather enjoyed.
Recommended reading if you can get your hands on one of the 300 printed copies (no idea if this will become available online at some point)!
More Jaine Fenn
Title: The Ships of Aleph
Author: Jaine Fenn
Series: Novacon GoH Chapbook
Series Number: 42
Reviewer: Markus
Reviewer URL: http://thierstein.net
Publisher: BSFG
Publisher URL: http://www.birminghamsfgroup.org.uk
Publication Date: November 2012
Review Date: 130112
Pages: 45
Format: Chapbook
Topic: SF
Topic: Uplifting
