Biko And The Thief and other Stories official synopsis:
Lindewe Glover is smart, funny, daring – and a world class thief. But when she attempts to rob the Steven S. Biko – a massive starship bound for a new home for thousands of African-Americans fed up with life on Earth – Lindewe finds that she may have bitten off far more than she can chew. Also included are two more stories set aboard the Biko as it heads towards a new beginning for black people in the unknown of deep space.
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Thank you to the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by to check out my review of a great Scifi Novella that had me turning the pages as fast as my 41 year old eyes would let me. This book has become a 2020 highlight for me. With daunting SF concepts mixed with truly funny moments, a warbot who gets a major personality upgrade, and many other positives, I beg the author to write a continuation.
As the story starts, we are given some history of a man who would become one of the world’s richest men as a result of his scientific genious. The gist of things is that he puts together 5,000 of the most intelligent and successful African-Americans to shoot for the stars. His advanced tech engine makes reaching another planet possible. Soon after the sleep pods are filled and put to work, a daring thief sees easy dollar signs in the form of getting on board while everyone’s sleeping,, making a mad dash through the ship, plunder the personal safes, and ride off into a very rich sunset. Of course, things don’t go as planned, and the following events come to life in so many ways. I have to hold back to avoid spoilers, but it was a page turner.
The backatory proves very interesting, although short, and paints a very understandable, and clear vision of a time that doesn’t seem far off, and is wholly plausible.
He makes up his mind to build a ship, using a new propulsion drive that would allow normal human beings the ability to reach a planet outside our solar system, and in the system of another star, in 40 years travel time. The people would sleep in their pods, and wake up to the sound of a new History for humans. What really sets this books apart at this point is that the 5000 humans, are all African – American. The media, and plenty others will of course joke it up, but its His tech, his ship, his rules. He does it his way because he can.
Looking at events happening still, everyday, all over our world, or country, state, province, city, and of course its easy to see old behaviors and biases all over the media, so it is easily believable. In no way did I feel like the author was just trying to make a statement. It does make one though, and says a lot about our society and how much further we have to go in regards to equality, and downright getting along. Especially if we want the aliens to see that we are NOT a threat and deserve to be welcomed into the galactic community. Yes, that part was tongue in cheek, well, kind of.
The blast I had while reading this is also a reminder of why I read in the first place. Blogging and reviewing SFF books is not a job, and can’t really call it a hobby. It’s a natural response, or reaction, to a great experience i have after finishing a great book. Not all books provoke that, so when it does, I like to recognize it.
Im going to go sideways for a moment here,, so feel free to skip ahead,, or just go ahead and purchase the book already! Being sober for almost eight years now, I seek a high from normal things in life that upon introspection, are anything but normal. Like books, specifically Scifi and fantasy books. The reason I am seemingly so off topic is connected with Biko the Thief and how a dream the author had one night, and then set about writing it down in order to share it with us speaks to the mystery of ideas, and where they come from. The “where do dreams really come from?” question has yet to be fully explained by science, and is a topic for another day, but is so interesting when a great book is written because of a dream. Its all just fascinating, and kind of mysterious to me when paired with magic that is a great book.. To be engaged, entertained, surprised, and remembered long after its over is more important than the number of pages, a typo, or if the book has a starred review.
This book is a prime example of being rewarded for having a willingness to read a self published, and mostly unheard of title. Being in the midst of an infinite number of self published works, you know some are not going to hit the mark. I always want them to, but you know, they don’t always. Biko and the Thief hits the mark, and hits it hard. It smashes the mark, and then whips it over his head and smashes it again. The story being told in segments, and chronilogically(mostly) worked really well, and hopefully brings forth additional stories of Lindi’s lonely voyage of forty years aboard the Biko, and the interesting experiences she has along the way.
I am shocked by how much I loved this scifi book. The humor was so wonderful in contrast with the setting. For a shorter read, it packs a ton of heart, in the form of the main character Lindewe. In an attempt to pull off a heist on the first human ship setting off for an exoplanet to start over, she finds purpose, bravery, and adventure.
It was so unique and original, while still carrying a strong and epic scifi torch. I would be overjoyed to see more of this.
Kevin Greene needs to continue writing and producing amazing cover art, and hopefully word gets out how much fun this is!
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Thanks again for stopping by, I appreciate every second you spend here. This wraps up my first full year with the OllieSpot blog, and I hope next year sees a lot of fun stuff being posted. Catchya Later!
Ollie
The Stone Cloud 