A Million Suns: Book Review

4.5/5 Stars

A Million Suns
Second in Across the Universe Series

By Beth Revis

Razorbill (January 10th, 2012)

Genre: YA Sci-Fi, Romance

(I get the impression Revis is British). I had seen this book a couple times and been a little reluctant to pick it up, it sounded a bit like Pandorum (a sci-fi horror movie, that I really liked BTW). So finally I decided why not, it has a pretty cover, sounds pretty good, I'll give it a shot. The funny part is after reading it, it really has little to do with Pandorum, there are similarities for sure, but not enough to say they're almost the same. But my misconception of the book isn't what takes the cake, the fact that it's the second book in the series and I thought it was a stand alone novel is what the kicker is. Yup that's right, I started the series completely out of order. I did have the nagging feeling that it seemed there was more of a back story I was missing, but in all honesty I didn't have to read the first book in order to easily follow the second. So my next book in like is of course the first one of the series, Across the Universe (makes me think of the Beatles movie). Unfortunately everything that happens in the book now, I'm going to know a head of time, so a lot less surprise and suspense, but I think I'll still enjoy this.

If you want to read this series I'd stop here, because there's about to be some major spoiler's. But I will tell you that, the series is about a ship called Godspeed that has left earth with a few thousand people on board, some of which are frozen since the journey is a couple centuries long, and the 'frozens' mission is to arrive at Centuri-Earth their new home and help cultivate it. The series focuses on two characters, a young man that goes by Elder (because he is in line as ruler of the ship that follows the 'Eldest System'), and a young woman Amy (who is a frozen that was awaken accidental before the ships arrival to Centuri-Earth, and is also the only person on the ship born on Sol-Earth and not on the vessel itself). Not only is her awakening harsh and painful but the people are just as cruel, her skin is pale and her hair is fiery red which is a sharp contrast from Godspeeds mono-race inhabitant who all have darker skin, dark hair and eyes.

Synopsis:

Aboard the Godspeed, a ship that has voyaged across the universe, a young man named Elder has assumed the role of leader of the ship far before his time is due. Eldest is dead, Orion is frozen and he was the next in line as leader. Elder has vowed to make a great change for the inhabitants of the ship. Refusing the assume the title of Eldest, and work in the ways of the past, Elder takes the residents of Godspeed off of Phydus, a drug that turns everyone who consumes it into submissive worker bees. Now that everyone can think for themselves they are not happy; some turn lazy and depressed and don't work, others aggressive and greedy. From Elder giving them free choice the ship is going to spiral out of control, and what's worse Elder discovers the terrible secret that Eldest hid from everyone including himself. With problems and tension continuously mounting, a rebellion seems to be reaching a boiling point, and it definitely doesn't help any that Elder has shown favour to the 'freak' Amy the only girl close to his age and also happens to be the only one on board that wasn't born on the ship.
A bread crumb trail is left for Amy to discover a giant secret that Orion was hiding and he scattered across the ship in cryptic clues. The ship is falling apart, the people are losing it, Orion's clues could be their only hope of salvaging everything.

Opinion:

I enjoyed this book and I had a hard time putting it down. I was on to who the 'bad-guys' were, but I was still a little shocked when my uncertain prediction came true. This story is definitely an interesting idea, and even if you don't like sci-fi it's still a great read. I liked the characters, the pacing was good, really kept you on the edge sometimes. The twist at the end was pretty good and the book itself was a lot different than the genre's I'm use to and I think that's what won me over, the idea behind the book itself. You could also notice other inner workings, satire, and deeper meanings. Like how 99% of the people on the ship are repelled by Amy just because she is different, she is still just as human as they are but her outward appearance and knowledge of Sol-Earth terrifies and disgusts the denizens aboard. The fact that once free thought was put into place many are not grateful for this, they want a new leader or their own power, they don't want to work, they turn on each other, some hoard, some even become violent and others murder. I would definitely recommend this book, and do plan on reading the first and third.

The third book in the series is planned to be released January 2013, and she has released a few short stories giving background to characters of the book - I'm not sure if I'll read these.