AustLit

'In this science-fiction thriller, Max Barry explores interplanetary travel, human–extraterrestrial close encounters and the relentless spin of warfare. Manned by a four-person crew, Providence Five is the latest warship that’s going into deepest, darkest space on a search-and-destroy mission. Typical of the genre, the enemy aliens in the novel are depicted as intelligent beings but are suitably heinous: nicknamed “Salamanders”, they live in hives and have “wide, lipless mouths … black, orblike eyes”, six limbs and a body of translucent resin. Their power lies in their teeming numbers and their cunning.'  (Introduction)