The Gallion was just another corporate starship running a diplomatic errand between loads of researchers. But in a strange patch of blank space, they lost communications, power, and navigation systems. That's when they got a ping from the Jonah, a small, beat-up ship containing what seemed to be historical impersonators--members of the legendary Fortunate Five, who ended the Felen war more than 150 years before. But these are no actors, and the history that the Gallion knows by heart is upended. Hutchings' plucky space outlaws crash headlong into a time-space rift with their future and face the possibility they may have been exalting the wrong version of history all along. Strong characterization propels the narrative, from the outlaw Jonah passengers to the Gallion's supposedly squeaky-clean corporate crew. Their rich backstories unspool compellingly alongside the urgent need to turn a few days of power into a solution to save everyone on board and possibly the peace of their known universe. An engrossing interstellar escapade with appeal for fans of Becky Chambers, Alex White, and S.K. Dunstall.

Hutchings's intricate, clever debut plays familiar science fiction tropes backwards and serves as a reminder never to meet one's heroes. The alien Felen race waged war against humanity until five human Peacemakers overcame incredible odds to broker a peace with them. Now, 152 years later, the research vessel Gallion is on a routine mission carrying a Felen ambassador when an anomaly takes its engines and communication systems offline. The crew determine they're stuck in a rift in space-time, with no power to escape. A broadband local distress call leads them to a second ship lodged in the rift. But this ship is impossible: it is the freighter Jonah, the very vessel that carried the Peacemakers. Aboard are several people who are definitely not the Peacemakers as they've been mythologized. It's down to the crew of the Gallion to get them to be the right people, at the right place, at the right time--otherwise their peaceful future will be doomed before it can even begin. Tackling the way history sacrifices truth for hagiography, Hutchings lovingly fuses a sprawling cast of charmingly flawed characters and a plot with many moving parts into a smooth and satisfying whole. Sci-fi readers will be delighted. Agent: Bridget Smith, JABberwocky Literary. (May)

DEBUT When the research vessel the Gallion ends up in an unfamiliar pocket of space, they find and rescue a drifting ship. When they bring the old, battered vessel aboard, chief engineer Uma Ozakka discovers that it is the famed Jonah, populated with its brave captain, Eldric Leesongronski, and the Fortunate Five. The Five brought an end to an almost cataclysmic war with the alien Felen and are celebrated throughout the galaxy. Except Leesongronski is not the captain of this Jonah and the war ended about 150 years ago. As Ozakka, her captain Fransk, and facilities coordinator Shaan try to make sense of what history has told them versus the reality they encounter, the ship's power begins to run out, putting everyone--and the entire timeline--at risk. Multiple points of view, timelines, and racially diverse characters weave intriguing backstories into a race to survive a rift in time and space. VERDICT An engaging space saga with time-travel twists, and a compelling look at how past and future are created by not only by those who live it but those who record it.--Kristi Chadwick