Review of Moss’d in Space—More Cozy Sci-fi

No space ship captain wants to discover that the ship they’ve been saving up for is already inhabited. But what do you do when that inhabitant is a moss-based organic computer with abandonment issues? Moss’d in Space by Rebecca Thorne, which came out earlier this summer, joins the ranks of delightful cozy sci-fi that seems to be a growing trend.

Torian Razner is not good at her job. She’d been working security aboard a smuggling ship for the local crime syndicate until a botched fight got her demoted to the role of “scrap.” Perhaps even more humiliating is the fact that six months ago she shared a kiss with her captain Amelia, who has since completely ignored her. But none of that matters because Torian has finally saved up enough money to purchase a star ship of her own, which means she can get her sister off of Colony 13, with its bad air, and onto Rhymarra, the one terraformed planet in their solar system where simply breathing won’t poison Celise’s lungs—assuming that Torian can pass the entrance exams and convince the Rhymarran officials to let them in. First she has to get there, though. The scrapheap she’s purchased is an ancient ship of unknown alien origin that is covered completely in moss. But this moss is no ordinary plant—it’s actually a colony cultivated by an organic intelligence known as Moss (Mechanical Operations and Support Systems). Forsaken by its alien creator for over a century, Moss has abandonment issues and a bad attitude. All it wants is for Torian to be its new best friend and never leave—and to never have to see the “dog-turd fungus” who left it to rot again. Unfortunately, almost immediately after they leave the planet, the ship breaks down and they attract the attention of Moss’s former owner. Will Torian and Moss’s bad luck ever end?

Much like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Moss’d in Space asks us: What responsibility do creators have toward their sentient creations? Luckily, Moss is much more fortunate than Frankenstein’s creature in its early interactions with the outside world. While Torian and the other humans who encounter Moss are often startled and sometimes disturbed by the unexpected intrusion into their privacy, the visual appearance of the moss colony is far too mundane to be immediately labeled as monstrous. In fact, Torian expresses early on that she finds Moss “beautiful,” its verdant green a pleasant surprise on a planet colony where plant life struggles. Though a century of isolation has left its scars, Moss’s positive interactions with Torian allow it to develop in a healthy direction, slowly healing and maturing. Indeed, when Moss inadvertently spreads the ability for sentience to other systems on the star ship, it is in a healthy enough place, mentally and emotionally, to make an effort at responsible parenting. As part of Moss’s healing journey, the novel also explores a difficult topic I rarely see tackled in fiction: apologies. What does a good apology look like when you’ve seriously hurt someone, even if unintentionally? What does one need in order to accept an apology? Are some offenses unforgivable? One of the things I love about cozy fiction is that it can probe these deep and universal questions that continue to exist even in worlds where everyone is trying their best to be a good person.

We’ve been tossing around the word “cozy” a lot recently, and I think Moss’d in Space is a particularly interesting example of this rising subgenre. When I think of cozy sci-fi and fantasy, I usually think of stories that have taken the trappings of the “epic” version of these genres and then zoomed in on problems at a much smaller scale. Sometimes in cozy sci-fi, as in the works of Becky Chambers, the cozy feelings come from a utopian setting where society as a whole has moved in a positive direction. Other books signal their coziness through a focus on comforting hobbies like knitting or drinking tea, sometimes with a plotline of a character trying to open a small business in one of these fields. Moss’d in Space, on the other hand, has a mildly dystopian setting with harsh class divisions and an abundance of governmental corruption. And Torian’s not exactly the knitting type (her craft of choice is building starship miniatures). Instead, this book’s coziness comes from the way that all of the central characters approach problems. Torian, Moss, and the alien friends they make along the way deliberately move away from violent solutions and toward building community. The book also presents an optimistic view of our relationship with technology, envisioning a future where technology can be enmeshed with the natural world instead of always being in conflict. 

If you like your cozy sci-fi to include realistic characters engaging with real problems—or if you just love snarky robots with hearts of gold—definitely check out Moss’d in Space. You can find it on shelves now at your favorite local retailer or buy it online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. Once you’ve read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments!