TROUBLE IN THE STARS

A shape-shifting stowaway, a motley crew of space pirates, and a gung-ho agent of an autocratic interstellar government walk into the galley of a spaceship....

Ripped from the lonely dark of deep space, Trouble remembers that they are on the run from something unknown, that they are seeking something—though they don’t recall what—and that they are not just a shape-shifter, but the only one. When they are captured by StarLeague soldiers who are after a dangerous prison escapee, they turn into a dog and manage to get away, hitching a ride on the dilapidated cargo ship Hindsight. Trouble (now assuming the form of a pale, brown-haired human child) falls in with the ace crew of the intrepid Capt. Astra. Gradually, they come to find companionship among the crew of misfits—even a hitherto-unfamiliar sense of home. But when a surprise StarLeague attack prompts Trouble to make a truly monstrous shift, they and their new family must undertake the most dangerous mission of their lives. The story starts off a bit clumsily before settling into a conversational tone and slapdash action sequences. Once it hits its stride, however, it plows onward with admirable pluck, energetically wrestling with topics like love, family, forgiveness, and the definition of humanity—while simultaneously embarking on a space chase that would feel right at home in the world of Star Wars.

Unexpectedly out of this world.