The Edge (Starfleet Academy, #1)
Author: Rudy Josephs
Publication Date: 12/28/10
Publisher: Simon Spotlight


Blurb (GR): A new Starfleet Academy series for teens--filled with romance and adventure In "The Competitive Edge," Kirk finds out how much of a toll the intense training classes and grueling schedule of academy life is taking on all the cadets, including himself. But some recruits seem better equipped to handle the challenges. Is there something that is giving them an edge? Kirk is determined to find out, especially since one of the cadets with a little something extra is his new girlfriend. 




Review:
I am dying to read a YA series set at a school in space. DYING. I know, I know, Ender's Game satisfies that wish...only it doesn't. I want it to be high school students and I want it to be like Stargate/Star Trek/Firefly meets every YA high school book ever made. Anyway, this book seems to be as close as I can get. *sigh* But it was rather fun!

I've never watched any Star Trek--gasp--but I did like the most recent movie and this book is based in the movie version of Starfleet. This turned out to be both a positive and a negative for me. I was happy that a lot of my favorite characters were there and it brought up several scenes from the movie that made me feel like I understood everyone's motivations for going to Starfleet. On the other hand, I felt that the references were too blatant and it made me feel like this book was published more to ride the wave of popularity from the movie than to publish a genuinely well-written book. 

This book is described as following young Jim Kirk during his first few months at Starfleet. While it does do this, I'd say this book is actually about solving a mystery and romantic relationships between cadets. There was a lot of flirting going on and the relationship that I was most interested in was Spock and Uhura, for obvious reasons. I am a little disappointed there were no classroom scenes--it just felt a little hurried overall and, while I wanted to know more about each character, the narrative bounces back and forth between telling us about Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Bones, and it got a little frustrating. 

I'd recommend this one to people who might be dying for a space school story or people who really enjoyed the latest Star Trek movie. 

3/5 stars

Stray (Touchstone, #1)
Author: Andrea K. Höst
Publication Date: March 20th 2011
Publisher Andrea K. Hösth

Blurb (GR): On her last day of high school, Cassandra Devlin walked out of exams and into a forest. Surrounded by the wrong sort of trees, and animals never featured in any nature documentary, Cass is only sure of one thing: alone, she will be lucky to survive.

The sprawl of abandoned blockish buildings Cass discovers offers her only more puzzles. Where are the people? What is the intoxicating mist which drifts off the buildings in the moonlight? And why does she feel like she's being watched?

Increasingly unnerved, Cass is overjoyed at the arrival of the formidable Setari. Whisked to a world as technologically advanced as the first was primitive, where nanotech computers are grown inside people's skulls, and few have any interest in venturing outside the enormous whitestone cities, Cass finds herself processed as a 'stray', a refugee displaced by the gates torn between worlds. Struggling with an unfamiliar language and culture, she must adapt to virtual classrooms, friends who can teleport, and the ingrained attitude that strays are backward and slow.

Can Cass ever find her way home? And after the people of her new world discover her unexpected value, will they be willing to let her leave?

Review:
How useful would you be in an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic situation? My best friend and I had a discussion about this for a while the other day. (Well, to be honest I have this discussion all the time.) While we obviously tally people’s skills up in the positives column, we were in agreement that two of the biggest advantages a person can have is their ability to just go with the flow and their tendency not whine or complain about things. The reason I bring this up is because the first third or fourth of this book is about a teenage girl, Cass Devlin, walking home from school and suddenly finding herself in a completely foreign place. As she walks around, the thinks about what is going on in a very logical manner.  She thinks about where the sun is located, how long the days are, what kinds of wildlife is around, what she might be able to eat, how to actually make things from raw materials. Gosh, thanks for that Andrea K. Höst, because my reading partner and I were so excited to read about a character who actually thought about all the things a person should be thinking if they are somewhere they have never been before. I’ve read several books since I finished this one (as has my reading partner) and we’ve repeatedly said “Ugh, Cass Devlin would never do something like this.” I also enjoyed her sense of humor about her entire situation and the new society she finds herself a part of.

The interesting thing about this book, and this could really be a positive or negative depending on the reader, was how it was very in-depth setup for the rest of the series.  What this book needs is a kickass editor to contain the awesome. Here is a very scientific graph I’ve made for the occasion:

Wouldn't we all like to have that problem? I’d get overly excited if I were the author, too.  It is clear that Ms. Höst has mapped out this world, its inhabitants, the powers, technology, and the history...and I was into all of it! At a point, while I never lost interest, I was looking for a little less description of every single power, its amplification, and the different spaces the teams went to. (this sentence probably makes very little sense but I don’t want to ruin the plot of the book for future readers) Several of the characters intrigued me and I wished we got to know a few of them more in depth rather than tens of them by name only. In the end, this book has the potential to be a five-star read for me if it was completely edited. (There were a couple affect/effect, hanger/hangar-type errors but overall, the writing was fun and there were very few errors for a self-pub) However, the final product as it is was quite enough to make me buy the remaining two ebooks in the series to see how it all pans out and definitely enough to recommend it to a lot of people. 

Surprisingly, there is no concentration on romance, at least not in this installment of the series. There are 
a few hints and several possibilities but it was nice not to have that weighing down the plot. Instead of Cass wondering about what X or Y dude thinks of her, she actually wonders about how everything in the world works, how she might get home, and the ramifications of her choices. Crazy!

To the author, if you are reading this at any point (which you might be!), please write a survivalist or post-apoc novel! I will read it and love it. Until then, I'll continue with this series and enjoy those ones.

I never would’ve found this book without Goodreads. My pal Chichipio has an aversion to buying books that cost more than $5. Sure, I often yank his chain about this habit but this is it, Gonza, your REVENGE. I really loved this book, so thank you. (be sure to check out his review!)

4/5 stars 

Singing the Dogstar Blues
Author: Alison Goodman
Publication Date: 7/15/99
Publisher: Puffin

Blurb (GR): Seventeen-year-old Joss is a rebel, and a student of time travel at the prestigious Centre for Neo-Historical Studies. This year, for the first time, the Centre has an alien student, Mavkel, from the planet Choria. And Mavkel has chosen Joss, of all people, as his roommate and study partner. Then Mavkel gets sick. Joss quickly realizes that his will to live is draining away. The only way she can help Mavkel is by breaking the Centre's strictest rules . . . and that means going back in time to change history.

Review:
I’m always on the lookout for a fun space-related story. Singing the Dogstar Blues isn’t set in space but there is a very futuristic feel to it and ALIENS so it definitely hit my sweet spot. If you are wondering if this book reads at all like Goodman’s other book Eon, the answer, at least for me, is absolutely not. I enjoyed Eon but the pacing was off and I wasn’t especially attached to any of the characters. That’s not the case here. Joss Aaronson attends a prestigious time-jumping school and holds one of 12 coveted spots in the program for her year. She is a comp, which basically means that her mother used a donor to have her and comps are looked down on as genetically manipulated because people can use up to even 5 or 6 donors to create the child of their choice. She is snarky, sassy, and unlike Eon/a, it doesn’t take her eras to figure out what is going on around her. Thank goodness for that.

Overall, the book has a bit of a campy and adventurous feel. The plot primarily revolves around Joss and her new school partner, Mavkel, the first alien to be admitted. As expected, there are enemies and allies in the school administration and amongst the students but Joss and Mavkel hold this entire story on their backs and they succeed in doing so. I couldn’t picture what Mavkel actually looked like but it didn’t hinder the character development. His personality came through even with a language barrier and extensive cultural differences. He and Joss bond over music and that is where the title of the book comes from.

There are hints that this was Goodman’s first novel—the writing definitely favors utility rather than description, for instance. Since this is what I prefer in my sci-fi, I was more than happy with the style. And Ms. Goodman actually surprised me with a plot twist near the end. (I laughed out loud at the Petri dish scene) I wish this book started a series so we could find out how Joss and Mavkel’s partnership continued to develop during their school years. As it is, I guess I will just have to hope that Alison Goodman writes some more sci-fi one of these days.

4/5 stars

Feed
Author: M.T. Anderson
Publication Date: 2/23/04
Publisher: Candlewick Press

Blurb (B & N):
Brave New World takes a romantic teen twist in this disarming, engrossing novel set in a hyper-computerized future.

Spending time partying on the moon and riding around in his "upcar," Titus is an average teen of the future, complete with a computer chip implant -- the "Feed" -- that lets corporate marketers and government agencies broadcast directly into his brain. Then Titus meets Violet, and an anti-Feed hacker shuts down their Feeds for a short time; but when Violet's Feed is seriously damaged, she begins spouting some radical ideas.

M. T. Anderson has predicted the future, and it's startling indeed. Although Titus is a good, well-meaning kid, his blissful ignorance of the control over him leaves readers thinking twice about the destiny of earth's citizens. Beneath the book's techno-veneer, however, lies a romantic tale between a boy who gives into the system and a girl who sees beyond it. All told, Feed is a "meg" remarkable work of science fiction, and once readers begin, they'll be caught up in its powerful grip.

Review:
While I’m sitting here writing this review, a Seattle Groupon advertisement is trying to get me to buy nachos with some amazingly tasty-looking picture in my sidebar. Now I really want some nachos. I just turned on the television and the advertisements while I’m perusing the OnDemand selections (because who can be bothered to watch television in real time these days?) made me want to watch The Fighter again. But I’m not going to! (I’m going to watch Clueless, duh) My mom told me today that Bath & Body Works is bringing back Copa Cabana scented lotion so I just bought lots of it online. (It was Buy 3, get 2 free!! OMGZZ!) We are sick. Our entire consumer-based society makes me ill but I am a willing participant in a lot of it.

This book is set in a (plausible?) future wherein our consumer desires have taken over. Corporations rule the roost, run the schools, and implant wetware into humans so people can research online without having to do any work, receive targeted ads and shop 24/7, and chat their friends without, you know, having to move their lips. There isn’t an incentive to learn anything because your feed can just tell you what you need to know. It’s soooo MEG! Titus and his friends do all sorts of unit things like frag around in clubs on the moon, wear whatever the hip new style of clothing is (I actually laughed out loud at the conversation about the geriatric chic clothing—canes, walkers, muumuus—and the riotware—the “Kent State Collection”), and go mal (malfunction) which is the equivalent of getting f*&ked up. No one seems to give a second thought to the system they are a part of--save a few people. Titus meets Violet on the shuttle to the moon and she got her feed later than most. Because her parents are academics she still has a lot of experience reading actual books, speaking (in the air as opposed to chatspeak), and philosophizing. She, arguably foolishly, tries to get Titus and his friends to actually think about what their consumptive lifestyle means in the larger scale of things. It was frustrating to listen to his friends let her inquiries about their knowledge of worldwide riots, mass killings, deforestation, etc. just slide off them—they just called her pretentious and said she was on the lookout for any sign of the decline of civilization. Sigh.

This aspect of the book, actually thinking about the effects of disposable culture and (over)consumption really struck home for me. I am fascinated by attempts to create closed-loop manufacturing systems. (ideally, a circle from raw materials through to end product in which little to nothing is wasted and byproducts may be used rather than disposed of) and the entire seven generation sustainability concept. (making our ecological decisions based on their effect seven generations ahead). But do I get ecstatic thinking about new video games coming out? Yes, I totally do. Can our individual environmental choices actually effectively change anything? Is our only choice to either watch our entire world deplete its resources at a disgusting rate oroverthrow it all and start anew? Even at the end of this book, though it ends on a semi-hopeful note, I was still depressed. The types of people who would probably benefit the most from reading a satire like this will never read it.

While I feel like this book was successful at making me think a lot about our current society and its possible devolution into something even more corporate than it already is, I don’t know if this book is as successful as it could’ve been. I thought Unwind was so fascinating because it brought up tons of societal issues while still having an engaging plot. Here, I was only passively interested in what was going on in the story. Which brings me to the audiobook—awesome. The audiobook is narrated by one man but the feed portions are actually done by a cast and it sounds completely real. You hear all sorts of crazy commercials and advertisements just like you are actually experiencing the feed. I really don’t think I would’ve enjoyed this one as much in book form—maybe 3 stars—but the audiobook popped it up to a 4.

4/5 stars

D.A.
Author: Connie Willis
Publication Date: 6/25/07
Publisher: Subterranean Press

Blurb (GR): Theodora Baumgarten has just been selected as an IASA space cadet, and therein lies the problem. She didn't apply for the ultra-coveted posting, and doesn't relish spending years aboard the ship to which she's been assigned. But the plucky young heroine, in true Heinlein fashion, has no plans to go along with the program. Aided by her hacker best friend Kimkim, in a screwball comedy that has become Connie Wills' hallmark, Theodora will stop at nothing to uncover the conspiracy that has her shanghaied.

Review:
I won't tell you what D.A. stands for, as it would ruin the story. I will tell you that this story has gotten me all excited to read more of Connie Willis' books. In my mind, I always thought that she wrote inaccessible sci-fi (fine, go ahead and laugh at me), and maybe she does—I’ll find out soon enough. But this story was an absolute funfest to read. And it only takes about 20-30 minutes if you’re interested in that type of incentive…which I sometime am. (Anything to up my count. Damn you, Goodreads Challenge!)

Theodora attends a traditional high school at a time in the future when most kids are taught in online classes from home but her parents sent her to regular school to increase her chances of getting into The Academy. Students spend years trying to get perfect grades, taking classes on obscure space-related topics and learning random skills, all in the hope that they will get selected to go into space. Despite nearly every student dying for the opportunity, Theodora has never had the desire to go so imagine her surprise when a school assembly is called and a representative is there to congratulate her on her acceptance. She never applied, so what the heck is going on?

It’s a bit cliché and reads like a less genius-ridden, war-minded Battle School and Theodora spends most of her time being a downer, complaining, and sneaking around, but I enjoyed where it ended up going at the conclusion. I only wish the story continued so I could see her develop even further.

This short story came to me as a recommendation from my query for 'YA in space' on Goodreads. Since you can't close a query, I will probably continue to get recs on it until I am 50 but you know what? That sounds great to me! I'll never tire of space stories. Kaethe recced this one to me, and a huge thanks go out to her for it. Even if it is does end up being whatever the female equivalent of blue balls is…in that it ends when I wanted it to go on for much, much longer.

4/5 stars

If you like this, you might also like Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund, the Ender's Game series and Shadow series by Orson Scott Card, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, the new Starfleet Academy series, and the Galahad series by Dom Testa.

The Web of Titan (Galahad, #2)
Author: Dom Testa
Publication Date: 12/1/05
Publisher: Tor

Blurb (GR): When the tail of the comet Bhaktul flicks through the Earth's atmosphere, deadly particles are left in its wake, and mankind is confronted with a virus that devastates the adult population. A renowned scientist proposes a bold plan: to build a ship that will carry a crew of 251 teenagers to a home in a distant solar system. Two years later,Galahad and its crew is launched. If their mission fails, it will be the end of the human race…

After triumphing over a saboteur bent on destroying Galahad, Triana and her Council are eager to avoid any further complications. But as Galahad swings around the ringed planet Saturn, they encounter a mysterious metal pod orbiting the moon of Titan. The teens prepare to bring the pod and its contents aboard, only to be faced with a another crisis: an illness that is beyond their medical experience. Dozens of crew members fall into a comatose state, only to awaken with strangely glowing eyes. To make matters worse, the systems of Galahad begin to fail. With time running out, can Triana and her shipmates escape the Web of Titan?

Review:
I see no reason why my first drunk book review shouldn’t be a young adult book about space. I love space stories…almost as much as I love Red Hook’s summer seasonal Wit ale. Their slogan for it is “Made with Ginger, but still digs Mary Ann.” LOL Sometimes I wonder who I’d be on Gilligan’s Island. Who am I kidding? I’d probably be Gilligan. That one guy on that show was kind of a babe. The Professor. Then again, I keep picturing him looking like Captain Kirk and look at that! I’m back on my space topic. This second installment in the Galahad series is decidedly less suspenseful than the last. It is funny to read a series when you know there are already two more books released so, going into it, I was thinking, “Welp, they obviously get out of this pickle.” It really diminishes the thrill of it.

As most of you probably remember (HA, yeah right!), I found the fourth one of these randomly in the library while Bird Brian, Eh?Eh!, Jackie the Librarian, and BB’s wife were perusing the bookstore upstairs. In case you guys are wondering, I am that drunk person who realizes that they have been staring off into space for five minutes and not remembering they were writing a review. I’ve already done that a few times. But I will NEVER spell incorrectly or type slow. Remember Mario Teaches Typing? Also, randomly, I remember being in keyboarding class in junior high when we listened to the OJ verdict on the radio. OMG, this isn’t even a review. We should just change it to drunk diary entries.

Dear Diary,

Today I saw so-and-so. He is such a babe.

XO
Flann

Fine. Here we go,

Dear Diary,

The other day I read The Web of Titan. I was super into it because I have a female boner for space and all that it entails. All the teens are still on Galahad (duh) and this time, they are tasked to pick up a pod in open space near Saturn that the equivalent of the ISS launched. Earth( well the peeps on Earth) have been unable to contact the scientists there for a while so no one knows what will be on the pod. Geez, I don’t want to spoil anything. Do they catch it? I won’t tell you. Do they find a cat on it? Maaaaaybe, if they do catch it. (yes I know I kind of maybe just spoiled a tiny bit. It really doesn’t matter, though) OMG THERE’S CATS HERE. After a bit, people on the ship are getting sick and their eyes are turning orange and they are speaking some weird language. Want to know why? Then I guess you’ll just have to read this book, suckaaaaahs.

XO
Flannery

I will totally be continuing this series. It is not the awesomest thing that ever was but I enjoy a few of the characters (not all of them, some of them are really frakking annoying) and it is kind of like watching a dating reality show. All of them are going to start dating soon and lord knows I love reading about high school-age relationships…especially when everyone is a genius. (which they obvi are)

I’m just gonna post this without rereading it. I think it would take away from the effect if I tried to make myself sound better.

3.5/5 stars

A War of Gifts (Ender Saga, #5)
Author: Orson Scott Card
Publication Date: 10/30/07
Publisher: Tor

Blurb (GR): Orson Scott Card offers a Christmas gift to his millions of fans with this short novel set during Ender's first years at the Battle School where it is forbidden to celebrate religious holidays.

The children come from many nations, many religions; while they are being trained for war, religious conflict between them is not on the curriculum. But Dink Meeker, one of the older students, doesn't see it that way. He thinks that giving gifts isn't exactly a religious observation, and on Sinterklaas Day he tucks a present into another student's shoe.

This small act of rebellion sets off a battle royal between the students and the staff, but some surprising alliances form when Ender comes up against a new student, Zeck Morgan. The War over Santa Claus will force everyone to make a choice.

Review:
You know that part in Good Will Hunting when Robin Williams finally gets Matt Damon to realize that his childhood abuse was not his fault? Yeah, this book is kind of like that except I didn't want to sleep with the main character (which would be illegal since he is 8) and I didn't get the visual of how weird looking Matt Damon is when he cries.

What's that? You want an actual review? Well, FU. I think that's in the spirit of all the gift-giving and moral value reaffirmations that abound in this book.

3/5 stars

Blurb (GR): Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older. Then he was discovered by the recruiters for the Battle School.

For Earth was at war -- a terrible war with an inscrutable alien enemy. A war that humanity was near to losing. But the long distances of interstellar space has given hope to the defenders of Earth -- they had time to train military geniuses up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high-orbital facility called the Battle School. That story is told in two books, the beloved classic Ender's Game, and its parallel, Ender's Shadow.

Bean was the smallest student at the Battle School, but he became Ender Wiggins' right hand. Since then he has grown to be a power on Earth. He served the Hegemon as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Ender's defeat of the alien empire attacking Earth. Now he and his wife Petra yearn for a safe place to build a family -- something he has never known -- but there is nowhere on Earth that does not harbor his enemies -- old enemies from the days in Ender's Jeesh, new enemies from the wars on Earth. To find security, Bean and Petra must once again follow in Ender's footsteps. They must leave Earth behind, in the control of the Hegemon, and look to the stars.


Review:  Oh, jeesh, where do I even begin? Okay, well I love Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. No one really annoyed me in those two books. I can't speak to the remainder of Ender's series because I got so bored listening to Speaker for the Dead that I set is aside for a bit. I've finished off Bean's series with this one and phew, thank goodness it is over because I don't think I could've read/listened to another one. Why do I keep doing it? Good question. Answer: Because I do enjoy OSC's writing when his characters aren't talking about religion, military strategy, or BABIESBABIESBABIES. And the readers for his books are absolutely fabulous. I wish I could just have them walk around with me and narrate my life. Then again, I'd probably be lulled to sleep a little too much. As you can see by the graph, my annoyances hugely increased from Book 1 to Book 3. (I listened to them out of order) It was only downhill from there.

NOTE: The 10% I don't find annoying don't really make appearances in this series--Ender and Valentine.

2.5/5 stars

The Comet's Curse (Galahad Series, #1)
Author: Dom Testa
Publication Date: 10/10/04
Publisher: Tor

Blurb (GR): When the tail of the comet Bhaktul flicks through the Earth’s atmosphere, deadly particles are left in its wake. Suddenly, mankind is confronted with a virus that devastates the adult population. Only those under the age of eighteen seem to be immune. Desperate to save humanity, a renowned scientist proposes a bold plan: to create a ship that will carry a crew of 251 teenagers to a home in a distant solar system. Two years later, the Galahad and its crew—none over the age of sixteen—is launched.Two years of training have prepared the crew for the challenges of space travel. But soon after departing Earth, they discover that a saboteur is hiding on the Galahad! Faced with escalating acts of vandalism and terrorized by threatening messages, sixteen-year-old Triana Martell and her council soon realize that the stowaway will do anything to ensure that the Galahad never reaches its destination. The teens must find a way to neutralize their enemy. For if their mission fails, it will mean the end of the human race….

Review: I can pinpoint the start of my obsession with space stories to a date:  January 17-24, 1988. I was not even 5 yet but I remember watching Earth Star Voyager, a miniseries presented by The Wonderful World of Disney. We taped it and watched it over and over until the VHS started to get all crappy--well, crappier quality than VHS tapes already were.  No worries, though, because mon frère got all of his sisters DVD copies off of ebay a few years back so I can watch it over and over as an adult. Anyway, I love space. And YA.  I will watch any show that features teenagers in space and I’ll read any book of the same variety.

Here's a youtube video of the first few minutes of Earth Star Voyager in all its shiny glory:

Earlier this year, I started reading Across the Universe. I thought it rather interesting to start out but I got bored and passed it to a friend (are you reading this? Read it and give it back, jerk). After reading this book, I feel like AtU wasn’t as original as I had initially thought. (though I'm sure I will still enjoy that one when I get it back) I’m happy that more YA authors seem to be hopping on the space wagon, (visual image: space wagon)  especially because the genre is not yet saturated. Oldie but goodies Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Connie Willis have added quite a bit to the collection but newer stuff? There isn’t a ton. (I know there’s some)  Most recently, I’ve read Academy 7 and continued with OSC’s Enderverse books—but I like my space to be minus religion, heavy political strategy discussions, and with strong female characters who don’t go baby-crazy and turn whackadoo. (I’m talking to you, Petra Arkanian)

So, the other day I had a few Goodreaders over to my house. I took them to a local bookstore and went downstairs to peruse a small branch of my library. (Two things: (1) Crazy that the library is downstairs from a bookstore, right?; and (2) Way to go me for trying not to spend money!) I looked at the YA shelves and saw a book that said, “251 TEENS ARE SENT INTO SPACE TO SAVE MANKIND. WILL THEY SUCCEED?” Okay, I’m frakking sold. Then I found out it was number 4 in a series and they didn’t have #1. Screw you, library! But they had it at the bookstore upstairs.  (and I put the rest of them on hold and picked them up the next day. I was just kidding about being angry at the library. King County Library System is the shit.)

Fun, fun, fun.  This book is set in a future wherein a comet flew extremely close to Earth’s atmosphere and yadda, yadda, yadda, the comet’s particles create a deadly disease that is slowly killing most of the population. (Plausible? I didn’t really care.)  A few scientists pitch the idea of building a spaceship and sending 15/16 year olds off to colonize somewhere new in the galaxy. (adults are more susceptible to the disease and no one under 18 has developed it but they make the cutoff lower to be sure) The spaceship design is strikingly similar to that in Across the Universe or really, the opposite is true.  The narrative style was interesting, as it shifted from first person (the hilariously snarky ship computer that retains the personality of its creator) to third person, covering several of the primary council members. We learn the backstories of the characters as well as the history of how the project was developed and implemented.  Oh, happy day! Nearly every time I had a question, Dom Testa answered it.

The first installment of the series follows the crew as they head out and encounter a saboteur in their midst during the first week. The way each of them dealt with the situation and how they interacted with each other made me really excited to continue with the series. This book was exactly what I wanted to read at that moment and I hope the following installments will entertain me as much.  I don’t know if this will be as much of a homerun for regular YA readers, but for those who, like me, enjoy both traditional sci-fi and YA (there is some romance going on), this series is for us. NERDS UNITE!

3.5/5 stars