droog79

The slow, somewhat boring start to this book really put me off reading it. I had to stop for a few weeks, but like the similarly-themed Across the Universe I picked it back up again this weekend and persevered. The Outline Life on earth has ceased, spaceships have been launched into the atmosphere, carrying the humans set to populate a new world for the race. Just when travelling through a murky nebula, one ship launches an attack on the other; with one thing in mind - get the girls. Infertility has made a whole ship's women barren, and now the crew of the New Horizon needs the young girls from the Empyrean to repopulate their ship, no matter the costs. Kieran and Waverly are two teenagers aboard the Empyrean, and when Waverly is taken from the ship, both have to find their own ways without the other. It's a fairly predictable plot line but it's kept intriguing and captivating by the viewpoints from both ships, and whilst very similar to Across the Universe, it does have good differences that make it a lot better. The World-Building Or ship building. Seeing as they haven't actually landed on the new world during Glow, the location is mainly space. The big, wide universe around us. Most of the book is actually set whilst travelling through a nebula, which in case you're wondering looks something like this: However, whilst this appears insanely beautiful, for the crew, it's actually a very negative experience. They miss seeing the stars and a very claustrophobic feeling is created - one that actually kind of makes you feel a bit sick looking at the above picture. Additionally, Ryan's research and knowledge is very realistic and presented in a believable way that is not overly technical, but also not too simplistic. The aspects of space and spacecraft are explained throughout and soon the words OneMan, air lock and zero grav become second nature to the reader. The Characters Waverly and Kieran are the main protagonists. Waverly is a fifteen year old girl, who I thought was very independent and strong, especially after all she experiences on the New Horizon, but there was nothing overly brilliant about her. She wasn't a WonderWoman as much as she was made out to be. Especially by all the girls and boys aboard the Empyrean. Kieran, on the other hand, is quite an interesting character. He's complex and has different levels to him. And I generally quite liked him as a character, because he had morals, but he also has these flaws that made him more human - he was slightly power-hungry, and sometimes his jealousy got the better of him. However, when Kieran turned all preacher-like in the last 50 or so pages, I found myself cringing. It was such a big change in his character, that it added more to the book, because although I didn't like his new job as Pastor, I could see how it would be explored in the next books. An interesting twist, in my opinion. As for the other charatcers, there were so many of the secondary ones, all with such stupid names, that I kind of thought of them all as one person. I mean some of the name! Amos Periwinkle Perwinkle! Seriously?! But, my friends, I'm sorry to say this...it gets worse. Much worse... Mookie Parker. Mookie. Oh, wow. Just...WHAT IS THAT?!?!?! Regardless of the strange names, however, and be assured - there was a vast abundance of them - I thought that it really added to the sense of community on board the ships. But in the end it did all get a bit Lord of the Flies...which was weird, and slightly random, to say the least. The Romance In the beginning of Glow, I was seriously diasppointed by the 'love' Kieran and Waverly appeared to share; it seemed they only associated in a romantic way due to convienience and necessity. But, I was wrong, because as the book progressed and the characters developed apart from each other, it bcame clear that actually they did have a bond, and in many ways needed the other for strength. Sorry, my spoiler button thing won't work - so just skip over the next paragraph! ------------------------------------------------------------ In addition, the reunion near the end of the book, was actually really tender and sweet and I knew that they were in love and it was a nice romance ------------------------------------------------------------ I can see a love triangle coming in the next book. Without a doubt. Kieran, Waverly and Seth will be the dominant part of the sequel, I'm sure of that. Which is kind of sad, because I think I'm growing out of love trangles, and I actually quite like Waverly and Kieran's relationship. Seth's a bit of a moody idiot, and I don't think he'd be too good for Kieran's rather large ego. The Writing Like I said before, Ryan is a really good writer for this kind of...fantasy (I'm not sure. It's not dystopia...maybe post-apoclyptic?). She knows what's too much detail and what's too little. The only criticism I have is the third-person narrative. I think it would have been a much more emotional book if written from the first person, because third always just seems so detached. Also, I think the relgious themes throughout, whilst sometimes pondering questions, was weird. At first I thought maybe it was trying to advertise God, especially when Kiean starts his services, but then what with the whole crew of the New Horizon being relgious...but also really kind of evil, it made me think - actually is Ryan trying to say that religion can corrupt? I couldn't really get my head around it, at the end of the day. Overall An enjoyable book, that did actually make me think about what it would be like to be on that journey and did create the landscape for me in my head very well, but it was robbed of a star by the religious stuff that seemed a little irrelevant and ...evil. And also the weird names. They were really odd!

2022-11-14 14:09