This was my second story from the “Far Reaches” collection, and I enjoyed it much more than the first one (“The Long Game”). Having already read and loved John Scalzi’s “The Kaiju Preservation Society,” I was hoping for something special here—and I wasn’t disappointed.

“Equipped with the entirety of human knowledge, a sentient ship is launched on a last-ditch journey to find a new home for civilization. Trillions of miles. Tens of thousands of years. In the space between, the AI has plenty of time to think about life, the vastness of the universe, everything it was meant to do, and—with a perspective created but not limited by humans—what it should do.”

Blurb

For me, the story delivered. It’s not as humor-driven as Scalzi’s other works, but the AI’s reflections are fascinating and thought-provoking. I especially appreciated the fresh angle on a sentient ship narrative—both the premise and the way Scalzi explained it felt engaging and convincing. Not every idea was entirely new, but the execution made it compelling.

All in all, it was an entertaining, clever, and surprisingly reflective read. Even after finishing, I found myself turning some of its ideas over in my head—and that’s a lot to get out of just 50 minutes reading.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️