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Alien Stars: A Harry Stubbs Adventure (Volume 3) Paperback – February 12, 2017

by David Hambling (Author)

4.6 146 ratings

Book 3 of 4: The Harry Stubbs Adventures

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London 1925: a grisly discovery in a ladies' rooming house sets ex-boxer Harry Stubbs on a new mission. An insidious alien force is at work, and the quest takes Harry from the lowest dives to high society, delving for occult secrets buried in the Horniman Museum and battling bare-knuckle with ferocious opponents. Harry's fighting skills and deductive prowess are put to the test, but telling friend from enemy is increasingly difficult and time is running out...a thrilling adventure where ancient mystery collides with 1920s science to the background of the Cthulhu Mythos,

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st edition (February 12, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 231 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1542793491
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1542793490
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.68 x 8 inches

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4.6 146 ratings

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David Hambling

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Non- Fiction: (Swarm Troopers, Weapons Grade) David Hambling is a freelance technology journalist based in South London.

He writes for New Scientist magazine, Aviation Week, Popular Mechanics, WIRED, The Economist, The Guardian newspaper and others.

Fiction (Shadows From Norwood series): Norwood in South London has deep roots. When I first moved here in 2001, I thought that that all London's history, like all the tourist sites, lay North of the river. I was wrong. Scratch the surface and this place is older and stranger than you think.

The houses on my street are modern; but they are built on Musto's Field, the name a corruption of 'Moot-Stow', a medieval village meeting place. The unremarkable woodland overlooking the garden is a remnant of the primeval Great North Wood which became Norwood. A wood notorious for outlaws, gypsies, hermits and other strange folk.

Our River Effra runs was diverted into an underground sewer a century ago. What hidden creatures flop and scuttle down there, what unhallowed Things are buried beneath those old oak trees, trees untouched since Druids sacrificed beneath them? I mused, and Shadows from Norwood crawled forth...

Follow the series on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/ShadowsFromNorwood

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Compulsive Reader

Keep writing them Mr. Hambling and I'll keep buying them.

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2017

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The third Harry Stubbs. Much more ominious feel than the prior 2, which is a minus for me - I love Harry's rather bright-hearted, pragmatic attitude, even when confronted with very dark circumstances, however this one got a bit darker than I'd hoped. Still love the characters, bits of history and science and the strong feel of the period in each book and hoping for more. Also love the tie in to The Dulwich Horror. Great melange of history, mystery and Lovecraft. Five stars from me!

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Timy

South London comes alive and you find yourself transported back in time

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2018

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After the Roslyn D’Onston case, Harry finds himself employed by a rich man called Safford, and working closely with Skinner. They tasks are doing anything Stafford asks from them be it following people, leading an investigation, capture a gardener gone wild or finding an artifact Stafford seeks. The latter turns into a murder investigation pretty fast and Harry will need his intelligence more than his physical strength to solve the case. Which not means he doesn’t end up giving a punch or two of course. Our dear old Harry always finds himself in a situation where he has to fight wether to save his life or to help out a youngster. But Harry, being a simple, however not unintelligent man, needs some help if he wants to get to the end of things.

For starters he has Skinner as a partner, who is even more simple than Harry. Being an ex-soldier who is quite sour about his past, finds reading a total waste of time, thinks he is a Don Juan and has a cunning, cynical personality. Personally I found him quite unpleasant and insufferable for some reasons. Perhaps because of the way he has seen the world, dismissing things he thought were unnecessary, like reading or questioning his employer’s actions or orders. He is a soldier through and through who follows order and don’t ask questions, a bit narrow-minded and strongly believing in hierarchy. As Harry says about him:

“He had no very great interest in the wider considerations, whereas I believed that only by a careful accumulation of knowledge could we make sense of things.”

His biggest help turns out to be a librarian, named Mr. Hoade, who obviously loves his job and is pretty proud of the Dewy Decimal System – everyone who spent long hours in a library trying to find relevant books knows what a blessing it can be that libraries actually have a system which is easy to navigate and you don’t have to use those cards anymore. Regardless, one of my favorite lines came from Mr. Hoade:

“Reference is the great, universal engine of the library, the powerhouse of raw knowledge. But literature—what you call imaginative fiction—is the embodiment of our wildest dreams. What is life for if you can’t dream? How can a man discover anything without imagination to draw on?”

Hoade is quite fond of crosswords and puzzles, so he happily indulges himself in finding information for Harry be it about significant stones in different mythologies or any connection between Harry’s murder investigation and the Horniman Museum. One of my favorite parts in this book is where different cultures’ mythologies are mentioned and Hambling draws up a parallel between Astarte’s cultus, the stone in Mecca and Jacob who sleeps on a stone and gets a vision. A stone like that pops up in history from time to time and every culture has a different name for it, but in this book it is called baetyl, a greek word, which refers to a sacred stone thrown from heaven. Probably more like a meteorite – this gets a significant role in the story, so I’m not going to say more. Suffice to say, this story has an interesting scientific undertone to it. I’ll get back to this in a bit.

We also have an old-new friend as side character, Sally, who helps Harry and Skinner out where a sensitive, smart woman can be more effective than two rough men. Plus Sally feels obliged to help Harry after all the things he did for her in Broken Meats. I liked Sally, and I am curious how her story will continue – if we meet her at all later. I also have to mention Stafford, who although a prominent figure in the story, gets minimal role and only shows up when he feels like giving some information or needs Harry and Skinner’s help to solve a certain problem. He comes out as a spoiled rich man with an obsession for stars and something he calls his Saint Grail, and also paranoid. He hardly shares any more information than necessary to keep the investigation going on. My other favorite part is where he tries to explain how many stars are out there and how big the Universe really is while using an analogy with a broomshed, where the said shed is the Earth and as the person ventures outside realises how big the world – and the Universe – really is. And this leaves Harry in an awe:

“I scanned from horizon to horizon and tried to think what a million stars would look like. Even that many would not quite fill the heavens, but they would look like the sparkles on a sunny sea, all packed close together.”

Back when I read The Elder Ice, I found the language hard to digest for some reasons. Now that I’ve read the third book in the series I somehow grew to love not only the language but Hambling’s writing style too. It reminds me a bit of Ed McBain (okay, it really reminds me of the hungarian translation) from my teenage years when my dad introduced his mystery novels to me. Under his pen South London comes alive and you find yourself transported back in time. The scene with the fair really made me wish I was walking alongside Harry and Skinner, eating toffee apples, looking at the booths, enjoying the nice summer day. Hell, I’d like to go to a fair right now if we had any nearby.

And while the writing style and characters are spot on, I struggled a bit to wrap my mind around all the scientific explanations going on regarding the meteorite and why exactly did everyone want to get their hands on it. At some places explanations were a bit too cryptic or non-existent – for example I still don’t know how did Madam Hester got into the picture in the first place, or why did Stafford wanted this peculiar artifact. Although in the end we get an explanation for that, but it comes from out of the blue and it totally caught me off guard. The problem might have been that so many things were going on, that there wasn’t enough space for everything to get in place. 50 pages or more would have done some good in this case. Honestly, I’m still amazed Hambling can write such complex stories in such short books. Also, the info dumps never feel like info dumps. Hambling can write them in a way that they are rather interesting and it never even cross your mind that they are what they are.

Alien Stars while keeping to the historical fiction genre, ventures deeper into Science Fiction. It also draws more from different mythologies and waves them together nicely. Alien Stars still has that unique atmosphere the other books also had: the prose is flowing, the characters are alive, and London leaps off the pages. If you are looking for a mystery, a historical fiction or even a science fiction novel, you’ll get all three in one. If you haven’t already checked out Harry Stubb’s adventures, I really don’t know what are you waiting for!

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The Writer's Beard

The Best Harry Stubbs Adventure Yet.

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2017

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Disclaimer: I purchased this book and was in no way compensated by the author for this review.

If you would prefer to listen to this review rather than read it you can visit: https://www.writersbeard.com/podcast/2017/4/28/episode-32-alien-stars-by-david-hambling

“Alien Stars” is the third book in the Harry Stubbs series by David Hambling. I stumbled upon David’s first book, “Elder Ice”, a few years back and made sure to keep an eye out for a continuation of the story. So now here we are, and I am talking about his third book. The third book of a series is important, at least I think so, as it really sets up whether a series has the legs to continue or it wraps up the story lines in a finale. Or, and this is unfortunately also common, this is where the series flounders. Luckily, David Hambling is a good writer and this book series only seems to be getting better.

But before I get too ahead of myself I should probably talk about the book.

This time ‘round Harry finds himself working for a new employer, and has a new partner, named Skinner. The two are tasked with tracking the whereabouts of a young woman, without really knowing more than that. When she turns up burned to a crisp in her apartment things get a little more complicated. Stubbs and Skinner set off to track down a mysterious “beetle” that was linked to the woman's death and whom their employer believes will lead him to the Holy Grail.

This book does quite a few things better than the previous stories, which shows that the author is letting Harry Stubbs grow organically and therefore can play to his strengths. The Harry Stubbs books have had a strong connection to Sherlock. They were written very similarly, which is both a boon and a hindrance. Let me explain, I am not sure how much I have talked about Sherlock in the past, but I love those stories. They are not without their faults, but by-and-large they are great. The point is they have a distinctive style that is immediately clear when someone is using them for inspiration. Because Sherlock was serialized fiction the stories always began really exposition heavy, with reintroduction of characters, themes, ideas, etc. This absolutely makes sense for a story published in a monthly pulp, as you never know if your reader has actually been reading the past stories or may not be able to get them and it is a quick way to catch them up. I don’t think that this translates well to a series of novels.

The previous two stories of this series suffered from this. The first book was heavy on exposition in the beginning and the second did the “Sherlockian re-hash” in its first chapter as well. But thankfully Hambling seems to be shaking off those Doyle shaped chains for the better. Rather than just telling you about Harry again and who this new chap Skinner is, he works it into the story as it goes. Which is how you should introduce/reintroduce a character, in my opinion. Sure there are still times when you have to spell things out for the reader but it is much less apparent in this book than in the previous iterations. For example in previous stories he would state things like “my training as a boxer allowed me to do ‘X’” or something to that nature.

We get to see Skinner get fleshed out as character in his own right and his status a foil to Stubbs’ straight-man, rather than have it simply explained to us. Which brings me to my next point. The addition of Skinner to this story was a good move by the author. Harry is kind of a melding of both Watson and Sherlock. But since he is reporter and actor he can come off as a bit dry, analytical and aloof. Of course this is a limitation of the “first-person written account” narrative style. That is why I think it was a good idea for Skinner to be a more developed character than Harry’s previous companions. In the past Harry is accompanied by a Doctor Who-esk companion on his adventures. But they tend to be simply plot devices rather than actual actors on the story. Skinner gets to add a little bit of levity and out of the box thinking that Harry lacks. That is not to say that Skinner is a perfect edition. At the end of the book when he and Harry need to find the source of tainted water he ends up being a bit of a Deus Ex Machina, just to get the story to wrap up but I can forgive that.

As far as the story itself is concerned we again see a borrowing of a classic Lovecraft plot. In “Elder Ice” we saw a play on ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ in “Broken Meats” it was ‘The Case of Charles Dexter Ward’. And “Alien Stars” is no different. Here we have a dive into ‘The Colour Out of Space'.

I don’t mean to suggest that Hambling is simply retelling that story. This book like the others takes Lovecraft’s idea and runs with it a bit. So rather than simply just an invisible energy vampire, there is a bit more nuance to the story, a broader narrative. And one of the great things about this story is how it all comes down to interpretation. Harry views the being or creature differently that his employer and different still from a mysterious American woman who enters the fray.

I have one or two criticisms but they are fairly minor and did not hinder my enjoyment of the story. First is, as mentioned, near the end Skinner kind of just magically knows what to do to move them into the final act. The Author used the fortuitous addition of a traveling fair to help get Skinner out of the story for now but it all feels a little convenient. The other little complaint is that Hambling seems to heavy hand a possible romantic sub-sub plot. I am not against this in principle, but I felt that it was a bit obvious. However, if I stopped reading every book that was too obvious I wouldn’t be able to read anything at all.

Before I wrap up I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one more thing that I like about Hambling’s stories, this book being no exception. Each of them have a grounding in history. He introduces actual historical figures that Harry either gets to interact with or have a hand in the events he is dealing with. It is a fun way to make the story feel more real, I enjoy looking up the names of historical members of ‘The Golden Dawn’ or turn of the century explorers and mystics. It is a very minor thing, but I am a history nerd and I always try to appreciate when a story puts itself in the real world, rather than existing outside of it.

Final thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It is clear to me that Hambling likes his characters and is letting them come into their own as he is telling their stories. I know I have not done a full episode about how I feel about series, but this series so far avoids most of the pitfalls that drive me crazy about series.

It manages to have a clear, beginning, middle and end. It ties up all of the loose ends it needs too while still leaving you wondering what could possibly be down the road for the characters. And most importantly, that you needn't have read the other two books to enjoy reading this one. I will talk more about my snarky criteria for a good series in a future episode. But until then, if you are a Lovecraft fan and always wanted to know how his various shambling grotesqueries would fare in post WWI London, then you should do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

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MichaelParrish

Another strong showing for Harry

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2024

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Hambling delivers another strong tale starring Harry Stubbs, former soldier, trained boxer, and current partner of a man named Skinner. Both are tasked with finding an item that is alien in origin and changing the world around it. Multiple people are looking to get their hands on the item as well. This tale introduces some folks I look forward to seeing more of: specifically Hoade the librarian, and an engaging femme fatale. As usual the author weaves in some real world characters - such as a match between 1920’s boxer Sammy Gold and Harry, to up the immersion and veracity. The race to the end was great, and Hambling sticks the landing. Can’t wait to read book 4…

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Myles

Another knockout for Stubbs

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2021

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Another great adventure of Harry Stubbs from David Hambling.

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Philip Hemplow

If you go down to the woods today...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2017

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I think one of the things I like most about Harry Stubbs is that he's a character we wouldn't normally get to hear from: the hired muscle; an ex-boxer; a henchman who gets called on when things get confrontational. Most stories like this would be told from the perspective of Skinner, his pal, with the lumbering heavy reduced to a 2D caricature. It's very refreshing to be told things from the perspective of the bodyguard and enforcer, and a welcome departure from the ruthless averaging, common to too much fiction, per which anyone with physical skills must be a lunkhead, and anyone with insight or knowledge must be a bit of a weed.

Which isn't to say Stubbs is omniscient or infallible--far from it. He spends most of this story playing catch-up, tussling with anomalies and puzzles which will also intrigue the reader. Hambling plays his cards close to his chest, and even those with a good background knowledge of the Mythos will take a while to figure out what's going on. As other reviewers have noted, it eventually becomes apparent that the Mythos background to Alien Stars lies in an HPL story that has been rather under-utilised by contemporary writers, and is all the more welcome for that.

Another reason I like the Stubbs stories is that the protagonist isn't trapped in amber: he changes jobs and circumstances, maintains relationships with characters from previous books, and develops throughout the series. This time, for the first time, there is even a tantalising hint of romance in the air for Harry. This is offset against the action, which is more frequent here than in the previous novels, particularly as the story reaches its macabre and violent climax.

Overall, a very satisfactory third outing for Harry and friends. These books deserve to be read (or listened to, for the audiobookers) in sequence, but when you get to this one you can be sure you'll enjoy it as much as the previous two--I certainly did.

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M. King

It's Harry Stubbs...what's not to like.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2017

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Well whilst it has the likeable characters from previous books and a cracking new librarian character, the story just doesn't feel to flow like it's predecessors.

There's also the naff "If you are reading this then I am dead", starter which usually always means "oh no they're not".

Bit cheeky in the authors notes to reference a Lovecraft story that this is almost a re-write of.

But..it's Harry Stubbs...so more please.

AndyL

An enjoyable adventure of cosmic horror

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2017

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This latest novel from Hambling once more features protagonist Harry Stubbs, and ex-boxer and now budding-detective, with a sharper mind than your average hired muscle.

Together with another veteran of WW1 he is hired by a secretive employer Randolph Stafford, and sent on a mission to confront a woman and retrieve an artefact - and elusive and all too dangerous “beetle” with which their employer has an unhealthy obsession.

This is an adventure of a cosmic horror that has the power to consume those that get too close to it, both mentally and physically, and Stubbs will need to use all of his wits as much as his muscle in order to succeed.

Set in 1925 Norwood, the same real-world area of London as the previous Harry Stubbs adventures, the writing employs a nice blend of old settings and new ideas. Hambling puts his knowledge of science and occult to good use, invoking the atmosphere of Lovecraft without ever becoming a pastiche

As enjoyable as the previous to Harry Stubs adventures, and just as highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

AndyG

Fantastic top notch Harry Stubbs at his best!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2017

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Harry Stubbs is back in another superb take on the world of H. P. Lovecraft. Set in 1930's South East London Harry now a veteran of Cthulhu esque encounters dukes it out with his most spine chilling opponent yet. This story shows his character as a more mature experienced investigator into the outré world of the chilling extra terrestrial beings which haunt the edge of reason. This story has the determined later day knight batting three for three and teamed up with other well written characters.

I highly recommend this story. It is at the highest end of the Lovecraft genre, definitely the best story out there at the moment. An intelligent well researched beautifully written piece.

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Bonnie

Polished to Perfection

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2017

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I cannot overstate how much I loved this book - honestly it should be a six star rating. It's not just that it's well-written and atmospheric with interesting and sympathetic characters; it's that it's SO well-written. There isn't a duff word or phrase in it, everything doesn't just work but works perfectly.

I am being completely sincere when I say this should be a textbook for writers - my own style has improved enormously since reading it and studying the author's techniques.

I do recommend reading the other two books in the series first - Broken Meats and The Elder Ice - but Alien Stars can be read happily as a stand alone too.

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Alien Stars: A Harry Stubbs Adventure (Volume 3) Paperback – February 12, 2017

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