Shield of The Mothership
by JCM Berne
DETAILS: Series: Hybrid Helix, Turn 7 Publisher: Gnost House Publication Date: July 19, 2025 Format: Hardcover Length: 404 pg. Read Date: October 12, 2026
“You have more Power than me, Rrekha, but you also have a lot more mass. Bigger isn’t always better. That’s what my girlfriend tells me, at least. She wouldn’t lie, would she? I mean, to spare my feelings?”
“Your prattling is as bad as everyone says.”
“Oh, it’s way, way worse. Give me some time. You’ll see. I might be the sector’s top prattler. I would say it’s a gift, but really, I earned this. I practice prattling all the time. You have no idea how hard it is to say so much when there’s so little meaning behind it.”
What’s Shield of The Mothership About?
Since the beginning of this series, we’ve known sentient spaceships of various sizes and ages and know that they can grow into bigger types—up to a space station. But we’ve never known where they come from. Until now. It’s in a system that’s harder to find than Battlestar‘s Kobol or Hitchhiker’s Magrathea—but Rohan needs to figure it out so he can go protect the Shipyard.
It turns out that Hyperion and his allies apparently abducted one of the three ships that can get there—and are likely doing horrible things to the ship to get the information. There’s nothing good that can happen from Hyperion having that information—the only reason to do that is to destroy the Shipyard which would cripple the sector, at best.
So, the il’Drach recruit Rohan to stop him. Just who he wants to work for, but the risks are too great for him to blow this off just out of principle.
So, Rohan and his band of allies have to solve the nigh-impossible and then go stop one of the nearest things to a god they’ve run across.
All in a day’s work for a Tow Chief, eh?
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I got this because before I was finished with Wistful Ascending, the first in the series, I’d pretty much decided I needed to read anything JCM Berne wrote. Yes, I haven’t done a great job of reading them in a timely way, but that era is about over.
I stuck with it because it’s as good as the rest of the series. But also, let me mention a few highlights:
an area of space where the rules of physics don’t work like they’re supposed to/humans think they have to
a giant intelligent and talking kaiju (of course, there’s a kaiju, if there’s one thing that Berne has to have…)
fracking great space battles. (possibly the fightin’-est entry in the series, which is a pretty high bar)
Berne’s/Rohan’s signature wit. I’m willing to believe that Berne was on an exclusive, steady, and large diet of the best The Amazing Spider-Man issues while writing this one.
The weirdest/most dangerous water you’ve encountered.
A Big Theme
I’m not sure this is supposed to be the theme behind this book or not, but it’s what I came away with: Fighting the Right Battle at the Right Time. (make that battle and fighting as metaphorical as you want). Rohan, his allies, his opponents, and the Shipyard’s residents/workers all have various and sundry obstacles/battles that they’re faced with in this work. And all of them have their place and time—most of them (not Hyperion and his group, to be clear) have noble and/or sound reasoning behind them. All of them would be justified in acting on them in the moment—whether it’s fighting a genocidal leader or enforcing bureaucratic norms that pre-exist anyone alive.
But something that just about all of the people listed need to learn and adapt to is that you have to pick your timing, you have to lose (or not fight in) the battle in order to win the war. Living to fight another day is a better option than losing a battle you cannot win (or cannot win without horrible consequences).
None of the characters in this book are great at this—but many of them (enough of them?) see the need. In a SF/Super-Hero/Space Opera kind of story, wisdom isn’t usually called for when there’s an opportunity for a big battle (which is not to say the book doesn’t have plenty of those, as I’ve already noted). But, every now and then, Berne’s creations have to take another path. And that’s a pretty cool thing to see in this kind of book.
“You look like you need some rest, Captain. No offense.”
She shuddered. “I’m not sure I’ll ever sleep again.”
He laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”
“What? The danger?”
“The danger, the existential horror, the certainty that you are a meaningless speck of life in a vast and uncaring universe. All that.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re used to it.”
“Maybe I lied. I do that.”
So, what did I think about Shield of The Mothership?
This is one of my favorites in a favorite series.
I fell for some red herrings (that might have been of my own invention/misreading), and the best kind of them—where the actual thing happening was so much better than anything my brain was concocting. Berne was at his best with the fighting, character work, and banter. We got some payoff on seeds planted earlier in the series (both much earlier and recently). The Shipyard could easily be the coolest idea that Berne’s had in this series
Most importantly, Rohan’s got some proof that some of the work he’s done on himself/with his abilities is paying off. This bodes well for him as a character and for the future of the series (the cover to the next book suggests the same)—big things are coming soon, and it’s going to be great.
I’m not sure what else to say at this point—get this series. This is a fun book regardless, but it’s so much better with the six previous setting you up for it. This is must read of a series.
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