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Ghosts on an Alien Wind
Science Fiction! Horror! Adventure!
Something murdered the Galaxy. There was no warning, no explanation, and no mercy... except for humanity. Humans were the only sapients spared, and nobody knows why. Now Earth and her colonies gingerly explore the Tomb Worlds, picking through the ruins of dead civilizations for answers, or at least treasures. The researchers sent out can bring back wonders. If they survive.
Pamela Tanaka is the Chief Pilot for a research outpost on the terrifyingly comfortable world of One-Eighteen, and she is precisely where she wants to be. But when madness, murder, and mass sacrifice profane her chosen home, she must search for answers on her own - but not "before it's too late." Everybody who goes to the Tomb Worlds knows 'too late' has already come and gone.
Something murdered the Galaxy. There was no warning, no explanation, and no mercy... except for humanity. Humans were the only sapients spared, and nobody knows why. Now Earth and her colonies gingerly explore the Tomb Worlds, picking through the ruins of dead civilizations for answers, or at least treasures. The researchers sent out can bring back wonders. If they survive.
Pamela Tanaka is the Chief Pilot for a research outpost on the terrifyingly comfortable world of One-Eighteen, and she is precisely where she wants to be. But when madness, murder, and mass sacrifice profane her chosen home, she must search for answers on her own - but not "before it's too late." Everybody who goes to the Tomb Worlds knows 'too late' has already come and gone.
345 pages, Paperback
Published October 2, 2023
1 person is currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Moe Lane
16Ìýbooks18ÌýfollowersMoe Lane is a stay-at-home father who has been self-publishing books since 2020. He likes fantasy, science fiction, roleplaying games, a judicious amount of horror, and both general and alternate history. Eduard Karl Joseph Michael Marcus Koloman Volkhold Maria Habsburg-Lothringen (Ambassador of Hungary to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta) once remarked of him, "Rarely anybody has grasped that well what the Habsburgs are up to." He is the most interesting man alive, at least to himself.
More of his - okay, my - work can be found at the Patreon link below, or at .
More of his - okay, my - work can be found at the Patreon link below, or at .
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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January 25, 2025I am one of the judges of team Space Girls for the SPSFC4 contest. This review is my personal opinion. Officially, it is still in the running for the contest, pending any official team announcements.
Status: Cut
Read: 27%
Now that I am close to finishing the final few books in the contest scout phase, I know for certain the news this book being cut so much later into the initial phase must be devastating for the author. And in all fairness, the book is not bad. Without spoiling too much ahead of time, some judges in my team enjoyed reading it a lot.
The mystery surrounding the potential ghosts of a far flung 'tomb' planet where some humans and all terran animals become posessed is arguably the best aspect of the book. And the chapters focusing more on the inherent weirdness of this planet were the highlights of the novel. In retrospect, if the rest of the sample had been equally immersive as the mystery chapters, I would have voted yes.
So, what happened?
Well, you see, the book starts out with some writing choices that in many respects, would work in plenty of books and yet didn't quite work here for me. For instance, a good chunk of the first 10% of the novel is more comedy. Which in comparison to the mystery unfurling as the plot continues, did feel a bit out of place for me. Moreover, because the type of humor in the novel just didn't work for me. This doesn't mean the humor is bad or anything, so I do wish the author doesn't feel downcast about this. I notoriously couldn't understand why so many people like the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy so much. Like, I know the one book in the series I read 25 years ago was not poorly written in any way, I just didn't understand the type of humor in the book. So, in this book's defense, I am certain there's tons of readers that will vibe with the humorous scenes and that any problems I had with the humor is solely on me and not because the book has anything wrong with it.
However, what I did feel was a problem with the book that could have been handelled better was that some aspects seem undeveloped. I liked the protagonist Pamela Tanaka, but I didn't understand why they selected her to be first investigating planetary software piracy and later the strange psychosis that afflicts some people living in this planet. Why is that? Because the first chapter spends most of the time explaining she's a courier space pilot that hauls mined materials to space.
If the book does make a good mention of exactly how this issue was addressed other than it's because she's the person that had lived in the planet the longest without getting the disease, then ignore this issue. I might have missed the exact point in the book where this gets explained. I still feel confused they would choose her instead of the computer software technie guy. Ok, so he's only lived there for 2 years. But I still think the plot could have had him start the research first, only for things to go wrong and have Pam being tasked with fixing the aftermath.
As for the planet, we don't get to know much about it within the first 30% of the story other than the houses in the planet's 10,000 human population are preassembled modules. I would have enjoyed getting to know the vegetation a bit more and the not-cows. While I tend to like books that focus on the character interactions over excessive decriptive purple prose, this book could have used a bit more immersion. One problem I had with the book is that I tended to confuse characters a lot and never knew if Greg is the same person as Selg. Most likely other readers won't have these problems while reading the book.
In a nutshell, I do believe this book will be enjoyed by tons of readers that want a lighter alien posession mystery story. Even though it was not the right book for me, I am certain plenty of readers will enjoy it a lot.
Status: Cut
Read: 27%
Now that I am close to finishing the final few books in the contest scout phase, I know for certain the news this book being cut so much later into the initial phase must be devastating for the author. And in all fairness, the book is not bad. Without spoiling too much ahead of time, some judges in my team enjoyed reading it a lot.
The mystery surrounding the potential ghosts of a far flung 'tomb' planet where some humans and all terran animals become posessed is arguably the best aspect of the book. And the chapters focusing more on the inherent weirdness of this planet were the highlights of the novel. In retrospect, if the rest of the sample had been equally immersive as the mystery chapters, I would have voted yes.
So, what happened?
Well, you see, the book starts out with some writing choices that in many respects, would work in plenty of books and yet didn't quite work here for me. For instance, a good chunk of the first 10% of the novel is more comedy. Which in comparison to the mystery unfurling as the plot continues, did feel a bit out of place for me. Moreover, because the type of humor in the novel just didn't work for me. This doesn't mean the humor is bad or anything, so I do wish the author doesn't feel downcast about this. I notoriously couldn't understand why so many people like the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy so much. Like, I know the one book in the series I read 25 years ago was not poorly written in any way, I just didn't understand the type of humor in the book. So, in this book's defense, I am certain there's tons of readers that will vibe with the humorous scenes and that any problems I had with the humor is solely on me and not because the book has anything wrong with it.
However, what I did feel was a problem with the book that could have been handelled better was that some aspects seem undeveloped. I liked the protagonist Pamela Tanaka, but I didn't understand why they selected her to be first investigating planetary software piracy and later the strange psychosis that afflicts some people living in this planet. Why is that? Because the first chapter spends most of the time explaining she's a courier space pilot that hauls mined materials to space.
If the book does make a good mention of exactly how this issue was addressed other than it's because she's the person that had lived in the planet the longest without getting the disease, then ignore this issue. I might have missed the exact point in the book where this gets explained. I still feel confused they would choose her instead of the computer software technie guy. Ok, so he's only lived there for 2 years. But I still think the plot could have had him start the research first, only for things to go wrong and have Pam being tasked with fixing the aftermath.
As for the planet, we don't get to know much about it within the first 30% of the story other than the houses in the planet's 10,000 human population are preassembled modules. I would have enjoyed getting to know the vegetation a bit more and the not-cows. While I tend to like books that focus on the character interactions over excessive decriptive purple prose, this book could have used a bit more immersion. One problem I had with the book is that I tended to confuse characters a lot and never knew if Greg is the same person as Selg. Most likely other readers won't have these problems while reading the book.
In a nutshell, I do believe this book will be enjoyed by tons of readers that want a lighter alien posession mystery story. Even though it was not the right book for me, I am certain plenty of readers will enjoy it a lot.
October 31, 2024
I read 30% of this book as a judge for Space Girls in SPSFC4 and gave it a Y to move forward (whether it is safe or not will depend on views of other team members) � I also couldn't put it down after the initial 30% and have read this to completion.
January 2, 2025
Ghosts on an alien wind is definitely interesting, and maybe worth your time. I really enjoyed the unique take on AI (the Process, which is genuinely helpful to all humans and so... Not so useful in a conflict...!) and an unique universe of past aliens that left monuments and technology that are barely understood. This is cleverly treated as a scientific approach to "magic"...
So why only 4 stars? I found the exposition of the actual story a bit frustrating, like a series of random things one after another. The agents in the world were opaque and inexplicable, and I saw the ending coming a mile away.
I wouldn't let that put you off too much, it's perhaps worth it for the cleverness of the world...
So why only 4 stars? I found the exposition of the actual story a bit frustrating, like a series of random things one after another. The agents in the world were opaque and inexplicable, and I saw the ending coming a mile away.
I wouldn't let that put you off too much, it's perhaps worth it for the cleverness of the world...
March 14, 2025
Incredibly creative
Len has written something that is not your usual sci-fi novel. His world building is superb, filled with creative concepts that bend the mind. Literally � because many of the concepts have to do with mind alteration for good or for evil. The plot is convoluted and filled with what often seem to be too many antagonists, too many disparate problems. Yet the reason for those is eventually made clear. Dark and fascinating, yet also very human.
Len has written something that is not your usual sci-fi novel. His world building is superb, filled with creative concepts that bend the mind. Literally � because many of the concepts have to do with mind alteration for good or for evil. The plot is convoluted and filled with what often seem to be too many antagonists, too many disparate problems. Yet the reason for those is eventually made clear. Dark and fascinating, yet also very human.
October 9, 2023
Space fantasy with horror themes
If you want characters, unique setting, puzzlement as to what is going on, and finishing with more questions about the universe than you started with, then this is a good book for you.
If you want characters, unique setting, puzzlement as to what is going on, and finishing with more questions about the universe than you started with, then this is a good book for you.
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