The story is set in an alternate present and revolves around a spaceship on its way to colonise a New Earth planet after humans and climate change have destroyed our current home. The majority of people who volunteered for this experience are in cryo sleep waiting to wake up on arrival. Our main character, Jordan, is woken up early because his talents as a fairly ordinary history teacher are suddenly needed. It seems that the drugs stopping crew members from becoming pregnant while on board were not strong enough and six babies were born in the first year after leaving Earth, unwanted by their busy biological parents they have become a very close knit found family. Now sixteen years into the journey their beloved caretaker has died and Jordan is the next best option. Now he has to get to know these space kids and win them over. Before long another tragedy strikes which finds the kids and Jordan crash landing on a different habitable planet than the one they were aiming for. How will they cope with only ordinary Jordan for guidance? Will the colonists ever find them? These kids have never set foot outside their spaceship, let alone encountered alien species and terrain of any kind. They are typical snarky teenagers who think they know best about everything - until they are harshly brought to the realization that they in fact do not! They have an AI for company, who actually does know everything and is able to guide them to a certain extent, but planetside Jordan’s camping skills prove more useful than he’d ever imagined they would.
This book is character-driven, the main plot being one of survival. The characters are realistic and their dialogue is believable. The crew of the ship range from officious, no nonsense types to friendly “you don’t have to be mad to work here…” types - recognizable personalities from most walks of life.
The teenagers all have their own skills and hobbies and go through a fair amount of character development by the end of the book - which ends in a way that makes you want to keep reading the next book immediately - hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for that one!
There is plenty of worldbuilding, and we get a sense of the bland hospital corridor-like feel of the ship. Then on the planet there is more scope for descriptive worldbuilding and I wanted more weird species of alien flora and fauna - but this took a back seat to the very realistic teenage angst and anxiety in the face of peril that is being explored.
Filled with snarky, irreverent humour and silliness - there is one scene on board the spaceship which reads like a Monty Python sketch - this book will be enjoyed by fans of Pratchett and Douglas Adams who like SciFi stories with a sense of humour and a ‘slice of life’ feel to them.
