Reviewed by Jo Rogers, MyShelf.com
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WORLDS APART is the story of the not-quite-doomed ship Aeschylus.  Zach Reginald Vance, a has-been entertainer trying to make a comeback, has agreed to dedicate the ship before its maiden voyage, and the event is covered by the media.  Martina Hodge, and her cameraman, Chet Newman, are but two of the media personalities there to witness the dedication.

The Aeschylus is a new breed of ship, the first to break light speed.  She is scheduled to go to Alpha Centauri, and get there ahead of the multigenerational ship, Europa, that has been launched years before.  But before the dedication is over, the ship sees an unidentified object that heading for Earth.  It is intercepted and brought aboard to be examined.

Of course, the UFO has an alien aboard, and it releases a "cleansing" virus that kills all but three people aboard, Medtech Susan Trenine, Chet Newman, and, of course, the obnoxious Zach Vance.  Also surviving is the sentient and intelligent African Violet that controls the ship, Herb.  When they finally find the alien, all it says is, "Oops."

WORLDS APART has some strange and memorable characters, and is a tongue-in-cheek spoof of Earth's first contact.  It contains some sections that are titled Interlude, but are actually an author's no-no, the dreaded infodump, information critical to the story all lumped in an aside instead of being worked into the story.  Save for that, and the foul language, WORLDS APART is a very interesting beginning to a promising series. 

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