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novelswithnora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The first 2/3rds felt slow and then the last third had a whole lot jammed into it. The resolution was incredibly disappointing and felt rushed. I really liked the plot and characters, I just wish that the conclusion felt more satisfying.
maismatu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
ljcarey011's review against another edition
5.0
I loved S.A. Barnes' science fiction horror debut, "Dead Silence." As soon as I finished it, I ran to check for other books in the genre by her. No such luck, so when her follow-up SFH arrived on the scene I snatched it up, then hesitated to read it. Dead Silence was SO good, and second books often tend to be a little weaker.
I was so, so wrong. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. In the early pages, I found Ghost Station's protagonist a little bit less of my cup of tea, but I quickly saw the error of my ways. Barnes' style is very smooth and sucks you in. Her characters feel fleshed out. She's also excellent at tension. (I did find Dead Silence "scarier," but Ghost Station does it's own thing very well.)
The story slowly reveals itself to be a locked room mystery. The characters have descended to an alien planet. Those aliens are long dead and the planet is under regular onslaught from dangerous storms that make lift off essentially impossible. The site was abandoned by the last human team that took it on for research and reclamation, but the reason isn't clear, despite the weather. The characters are about to find out exactly why the last team quit the job. The main character is a therapist who just witnessed the gruesome suicide of a client. Her incredibly wealthy family treats her as the black sheep, the daughter of a man who went mad due to the psychological effects of space life and butchered his fellow spacefarers. She wants to prove herself and get away to work on the sort of stressors that causes such psychological breaks, and a team who just lost a team member and plans to take on a hostile planet seems a perfect match. Bloody deaths await. Great stuff!
If you loved Dead Silence, I think you'll like Ghost Station, and if Ghost Station was your first Barnes book, I recommend treating yourself to Dead Silence ASAP.
I was so, so wrong. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. In the early pages, I found Ghost Station's protagonist a little bit less of my cup of tea, but I quickly saw the error of my ways. Barnes' style is very smooth and sucks you in. Her characters feel fleshed out. She's also excellent at tension. (I did find Dead Silence "scarier," but Ghost Station does it's own thing very well.)
The story slowly reveals itself to be a locked room mystery. The characters have descended to an alien planet. Those aliens are long dead and the planet is under regular onslaught from dangerous storms that make lift off essentially impossible. The site was abandoned by the last human team that took it on for research and reclamation, but the reason isn't clear, despite the weather. The characters are about to find out exactly why the last team quit the job. The main character is a therapist who just witnessed the gruesome suicide of a client. Her incredibly wealthy family treats her as the black sheep, the daughter of a man who went mad due to the psychological effects of space life and butchered his fellow spacefarers. She wants to prove herself and get away to work on the sort of stressors that causes such psychological breaks, and a team who just lost a team member and plans to take on a hostile planet seems a perfect match. Bloody deaths await. Great stuff!
If you loved Dead Silence, I think you'll like Ghost Station, and if Ghost Station was your first Barnes book, I recommend treating yourself to Dead Silence ASAP.
melodyemcintyre's review against another edition
3.0
Dr. Ophelia Bray is a psychologist trying to escape her past. The unwanted daughter of an infamous family, she is shunned by those who know her real identity, even though she is more victim than perpetrator. When something gruesome happens, it’s easier to blame the closest target. In order to propel herself beyond her childhood trauma, Ophelia has dedicated her life to studying what she believes was the cause - ERS, which is a space-induced form of madness that drives people to murder. The most famous case resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people.
An opportunity arises to accompany a small exploration team who have recently lost one of their own, and she takes it, hoping to redeem herself by saving them from further loss. The team is reluctant to have her (an understatement) and Ophelia struggles to fit in. Things only get worse as something - ERS, madness, something else - begins to affect the crew and they turn on each other.
Dr. Ophelia Bray takes the idea of a “flawed protagonist” to a new level, and is a bit of a baffling lead for this story. She is a psychologist, but has plenty of her own mental health issues that she barely manages to keep in check, even before things start to really go awry. The crew is openly hostile to her, even before knowing her past, and her attempts at winning them over are rather clunky, and she develops inappropriate feelings for one of them. I wondered at times why she was hired for this mission in the first place as she felt rather incompetent.
Some of those issues added to the growing tension on board, but at other times, it was more distracting than anything. The reveal about her past and how it affected her is well done and sufficiently terrifying, and does serve to explain her long list of neuroses. I definitely found her realistic as a person and in her motives, desires, etc, but I wondered at her place in this group.
The other characters range from interesting to infuriating, but I didn’t find myself drawn to any particular one. The plot has a few twists, but not many that are shocking. I think the strongest part of the book is the ending sequence where everything is revealed and the team must work together to escape their fates.
Overall, I had a mixed reaction to this book. Some parts were well done, while others kind of lagged. I enjoyed it enough to try out Barnes’ other novel, Dead Silence.
An opportunity arises to accompany a small exploration team who have recently lost one of their own, and she takes it, hoping to redeem herself by saving them from further loss. The team is reluctant to have her (an understatement) and Ophelia struggles to fit in. Things only get worse as something - ERS, madness, something else - begins to affect the crew and they turn on each other.
Dr. Ophelia Bray takes the idea of a “flawed protagonist” to a new level, and is a bit of a baffling lead for this story. She is a psychologist, but has plenty of her own mental health issues that she barely manages to keep in check, even before things start to really go awry. The crew is openly hostile to her, even before knowing her past, and her attempts at winning them over are rather clunky, and she develops inappropriate feelings for one of them. I wondered at times why she was hired for this mission in the first place as she felt rather incompetent.
Some of those issues added to the growing tension on board, but at other times, it was more distracting than anything. The reveal about her past and how it affected her is well done and sufficiently terrifying, and does serve to explain her long list of neuroses. I definitely found her realistic as a person and in her motives, desires, etc, but I wondered at her place in this group.
The other characters range from interesting to infuriating, but I didn’t find myself drawn to any particular one. The plot has a few twists, but not many that are shocking. I think the strongest part of the book is the ending sequence where everything is revealed and the team must work together to escape their fates.
Overall, I had a mixed reaction to this book. Some parts were well done, while others kind of lagged. I enjoyed it enough to try out Barnes’ other novel, Dead Silence.
maryleong's review against another edition
2.0
(2.5/5) It took a leap of faith for me to pick up this novel after Dead Silence, which I hated for its glacial pace and barely-there horror. With that in mind, it wasn't hard for this novel to exceed my expectations, though once again, I found the pacing tedious, particularly in the first half.
Ophelia Bray is a psychologist who specializes in ERS, a mental disorder brought on by long stints of isolation in space. The most severe cases result in a psychotic break, violence, and clinical insanity – like "Bloody Bledsoe", a man who murdered dozens of people on a mining station. When a crew loses one of their team members, Ophelia is brought on to help them cope with their grief and anger, but they resent her presence and refuse to cooperate. At the same time, she has to grapple with her own memories and violent childhood. As the crew – including Ophelia – begin to experience hallucinations and hear voices, have they been struck by ERS? Or have they been gripped by something far more sinister? (On a petty sidenote, it infuriates me that the acronym ERS is never defined.)
For most of the first half, the true horror is being stuck on an alien planet with the most insufferable crew members imaginable (hell is other people!) There were many points at which I was tempted to stop reading, simply because nothing was happening aside from petty sniping and bickering. The plot picks up halfway through the novel with several notable discoveries. The base where the crew is housed seems to have been abruptly abandoned, and archaeological finds on the planet only raise more questions. As the crew descends into madness, S. A. Barnes does a good job of building a sense of claustrophobia – there is no escape, only inevitability.
While I'm glad I gave this novel a go, I don't think I'll be picking up Barnes' next book. While this packed more of a punch than Dead Silence (once again, not hard to do, since nothing happens), ultimately I still found the pacing challenging and the horror to be less compelling than I'd hoped.
Ophelia Bray is a psychologist who specializes in ERS, a mental disorder brought on by long stints of isolation in space. The most severe cases result in a psychotic break, violence, and clinical insanity – like "Bloody Bledsoe", a man who murdered dozens of people on a mining station. When a crew loses one of their team members, Ophelia is brought on to help them cope with their grief and anger, but they resent her presence and refuse to cooperate. At the same time, she has to grapple with her own memories and violent childhood. As the crew – including Ophelia – begin to experience hallucinations and hear voices, have they been struck by ERS? Or have they been gripped by something far more sinister? (On a petty sidenote, it infuriates me that the acronym ERS is never defined.)
For most of the first half, the true horror is being stuck on an alien planet with the most insufferable crew members imaginable (hell is other people!) There were many points at which I was tempted to stop reading, simply because nothing was happening aside from petty sniping and bickering. The plot picks up halfway through the novel with several notable discoveries. The base where the crew is housed seems to have been abruptly abandoned, and archaeological finds on the planet only raise more questions. As the crew descends into madness, S. A. Barnes does a good job of building a sense of claustrophobia – there is no escape, only inevitability.
While I'm glad I gave this novel a go, I don't think I'll be picking up Barnes' next book. While this packed more of a punch than Dead Silence (once again, not hard to do, since nothing happens), ultimately I still found the pacing challenging and the horror to be less compelling than I'd hoped.
devineirony18's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
fancypantsben's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
alindenm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
madmac1014's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I enjoyed the story overall, but there were a few parts I felt dragged a little. I would’ve like to cut some of the middle and add it to the end to get more information on how everything was resolved.
I enjoyed the story overall, but there were a few parts I felt dragged a little. I would’ve like to cut some of the middle and add it to the end to get more information on how everything was resolved.