Brilliantly crafted, Rhett C. Bruno’s story the Long Vigil has only two characters, Orion, the human caretaker for a colony ship, and Dan the AI who runs it.

Told in first person from the point of view of Orion, it covers the last day of his decades-long shift before he is due to return to sleep and eventual expiry. Orion is nearly fifty, but his controlled education gives him a near child-like view and the limits of his education become obvious. He works as someone it is easy to feel for, and because of that the story is gripping.

Raised by the AI, never interacting with another human being from birth to death, the caretaker would be lonely if he had ever known anything else. As it is, he can only look at the window, at the forbidden vastness of space and wonder because even the most sterile and controlled environment can’t stop someone looking for more.

The cover’s nice, and if there were flaws in the writing, formattings etc. I’d mention them. There aren’t. It is at least a four and I am tempted to give it a 5. It’s hard sci-fi, in the mold of the classic story the Cold Equations, and it is very, very, good.

For readers? Just read it. You don’t have to like sci-fi to enjoy this story. It’s one for anyone who has ever felt a sense of adventure or looked up at the sky and wondered what is out there.