Richard Paul Russo_27

Sank deeply into this one: clever, well-crafted, literary sci-fi by Richard Paul Russo. 'Ship of Fools' takes familiar sci-fi tropes—self-sufficient multi-generational starship, first contact, insurrection—and adds religion and a cracking plot. Interzone called it "a fine metaphysical thriller... best construed as 'Alien' with an intellect", which does the job nicely. 'Ship of Fools' won the Phillip K Dick Award when it was published in 2001 and I can see why. Sadly, the copy that arrived at Hello St Marks was well-loved and fell to bits so this one won't be boomeranging back to the Library.