A brief but enjoyable story about a generational colony ship and the struggles it and its crew face throughout the early stages of its centuries-long journey to an unexplored planet. The author crams a lot into just a few chapters and pages. As a result, the story moves very quickly, with the first few generations aboard the ship passing in the proverbial blink of an eye. Fortunately, Travis does a good job of providing enough essential detail to make the story feel complete despite its brisk pace and brevity. That said, it should be noted that this tale, despite having a potentially-satisfying conclusion, is continued in two additional stories that provide a more complete experience. Seasoned science fiction readers likely won't find much new to get excited about but in general, the story's concepts and narrative elements are interesting, and presented in ways that feel fun, technically-proficient, and compelling. All things considered, I'd say "Generational Space" is a solid little introduction, both to Tony Travis as an author and his style of writing, and I found myself eager to continue the series. Nicely done!

My review of part 2 - Arrival:

I will say, I enjoyed this second story a bit less than "Generational Space," largely because I found the extensive ruminations and discussion between the commanders regarding the differences between their respective crews a little awkward and (for lack of a better term) clunky, which took me a bit out of the story for a page or so. That said, it was certainly an interesting plot point, so I can see why the author felt compelled to dwell on it a bit. Other than that, I think "Arrival" suffers a little from being the middle third of a three-part story but I still found it enjoyable overall and do feel it serves as a solid and necessary bridge between parts one and three, which I enjoyed a bit more. This one was a 3.5 for me but as with part one, I still found myself eager to continue the series.

and part 3 - Separations:

"Separations" brings a nice bit of closure to the colony-ship story that started in "Generational Space" and continued in "Arrival," while still leaving the door open for it to potentially expand in a future work. As with "Arrival," I appreciated the pace of the storytelling slowing to match the relatively-short span of time covered in it. This allowed for deeper and more substantive connections with several characters, whose personalities and actions had more page time as a consequence. That said, like its predecessors, "Separations" is still very much a short story, so not every plot thread is followed or resolved but I still found the overall experience satisfying as the biggest questions are answered and things are left in a way that to me felt complete, if somewhat bittersweet. The series as a whole is one I'd recommend to any sci-fi fan interested in tales of space colonization, or any reader seeking a quick introduction to Tony Travis' efforts as an author.

Overall series rating: 4-stars