Two ships left a dying Earth to start new colonies, but problems with fertility for which one ship found a solution caused betrayal. Fifteen-year-old Waverly, one of the first generation to be born on the Empyrean had the normal worries of a teen. Kieran, the ship's captain-to- be, wanted to marry her and, while she knew he'd make a good husband, part of her felt drawn to the darkly handsome and brilliant Seth. No one realized that their counterparts aboard the New Horizon planned an attack to kidnap the young girls they needed to procreate.

With most of the adults dead, Waverly has to find a way to escape the New Horizon and Kieran must put his leadership skills to work immediately. While the New Horizon certainly looks like to the Empyrean, it won't ever feel like home to Waverly. To make matters worse, Waverly suspects the motives of the ships leader, Anne Mather. The Empyrean had few religious people on board, where religion and Sunday services seemed the fabric that held the New Horizon together. Waverly and Kieran both feel tremendous pressure to succeed in their tasks, but success may be the only means of survival.

GLOW, the first book in the Sky Chasers series from Amy Kathleen Ryan, is said to be as strong a series as the Hunger Games. It's a good book, but I can't go that far in my praise. It's a fast-paced adventure that switches viewpoints between Waverly and Kieran, giving the reader insight into both situations. The problem is that one story, the girls, is much more interesting than the boys. Without going too much into the characters, I had a hard time with the two main male characters. They seemed very black and white with few gray areas, so it was hard to take either of them seriously. Waverly, the strongest narrator had more depth, giving credibility to the choices she faced and the decisions she made. It's a minor point, but how could the kids pilot the smaller craft so easily with little training except for a simulator?

Ryan includes some very important issues that are great food for thought: is it more important to do what's best for oneself or for the group, where is the line between religion and power and is religion a passion, a crutch or both? It's a good story and the series has potential, and I certainly kept turning the pages. Perhaps, Ryan needs to not try to put so much into book 2. I'll likely check it out to see what's coming next.