# Softspace: Shipbreaker

[published 2026-08-10](https://raven.garden/reviews/Elizabeth-Dumler/love-in-silent-space.markdown)

## A review of _Love in Silent Space_ by Elizabeth "@Lizstar" Dumler

The loneliest Yuri in space since Gagarin. A beautiful meditation on the familiar and the unknown (and also girls kissing).

Get the full (spoiler free) review below the fold.

https://lizstar.itch.io/love-in-silent-space

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### The Story

Shipbreaker Lucille "Lou" Belmont is a hard-working grease monkey, and more importantly the inventor of the quasi-drive, Earth's first (and last) foray into FTL travel. On her maiden journey she meets another explorer, Tee, but when they try to show each other their respective worlds, they find that their worlds are gone. Now, with nothing to their names but themselves, their ships, each other, and a language barrier the height of Mauna Kea, they must build a new world from the remnants of the old.

### The Romance

On a basic level, the romance is straightforward; they meet, they get to know each other, they kiss. There are no rivals or side stories, nor any grand misunderstandings, to distract from the progression of the relationship, it simply proceeds. The twist in the tail is of course the language barrier; Tee and Lou are alike in many ways, but they struggle to communicate this to one another, and the villain of the piece, such as it is, is this persistent struggle. As all villains must, it is eventually vanquished, of course, but the effort is perhaps a little one-sided. Since only one character really speaks to the reader, we don't learn as much about the couple as we could.

### The Action

The book is very light on both Action! and *action* 😏 but the story doesn't particularly cry out for either. On the one hand, there are a few moments of scenery flitting by, but no edge-of-your-seat drama with colliding space ships; even Max Ripper's journey into hell to scythe down demons by the thousands is treated (deservedly!) to little more than a brief observation that it is happening. On the other hand, the book has no spice to speak of. There is a kiss at the end, of course, but the story is about the start of a relationship, not its consummation.

### The Science Fiction

As a SciFi Romance, _Love in Silent Space_ is a romance story first, and a SciFi story second. While Tee's world and her people is a strong speculative fiction element, fans of machines making lots of noise (or of machines breaking down! Oh no!) will unfortunately not find a lot in this book. A universe of machines that Just Work, while utterly fantastical in its own right, leaves the Science Fiction to take a back seat. Like the machines of this world, what's here works, even if there's not a lot of it, and even if it's little more than set dressing. Still, fans of classic SciFi might appreciate the persistent and existential sense of loneliness reminiscent of Douglas Adams in his blue period, à la the Dirk Gently books or _Mostly Harmless_.

### The Rest

Like [Elizabeth Dumler's earlier work](https://lizstar.itch.io/all-the-time-in-the-world), the actual book documents (the PDF and the ePub) are unfortunately lacking in some respects, but as with _All the Time in the World_ these issues are minor. Especially if reading through the book in a single sitting, the lack of a table of content is not particularly troubling, after all. More regrettable is the absence of the gorgeous cover art by [Patrick "Boog" Sinnott](https://www.inkandrubbish.com) from the finished documents, but at least it's available for download on [itch.io](https://lizstar.itch.io/love-in-silent-space), and could be easily added to the downloadable ePub for anyone who wants to pretty up their digital bookshelf.

All in all, the book is certainly worth the $5 price tag, and it's probably worth putting in a bit more for those who can afford it!

### Conclusion: ✨ Recommended! ✨