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.
What if you were fifteen, bound for a new world, about to
pledge your life to someone you’d been promised to since
birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival –
not love – the issue?
Out in the murky nebula lurks an
unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a
distant planet in the wake of Earth’s collapse, the ship’s
crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue
its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their
zealous leader’s efforts will fail.
Onboard their sister
ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don’t know an
attack is being mounted that could claim the most important
among them… Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first
generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she
was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is
all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager –
until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-
be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and
with the pressure to start having children, everyone is
sure he’s the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants
more from life than marriage – and is secretly intrigued by
the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.
But when the Empyrean faces
sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find
out that the enemies aren’t all from the outside.
Glow is
the most riveting series debut since The Hunger Games, and
promises to thrill and challenge readers of all ages.
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