Do You Dream of Terra-Two?

Author: Temi Oh

Publication Date: 07 March 2019

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Pages: 520

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Synopsis:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet meets The 100 in this unforgettable debut by a brilliant new voice.

A century ago, scientists theorised that a habitable planet existed in a nearby solar system. Today, ten astronauts will leave a dying Earth to find it. Four are decorated veterans of the 20th century’s space-race. And six are teenagers, graduates of the exclusive Dalton Academy, who’ve been in training for this mission for most of their lives.

It will take the team 23 years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years spent in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong. And something always goes wrong.

My Thoughts:

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? an outstanding alternative history, YA sci-fi debut where six exceptional teenagers (Jesse, Harry, Astrid, Aria, Poppy, and Juno), alongside four adult experts, are tasked with spending 25 years pioneering the beta colonization of Terra-Two. This story is told from each of their point of views, which allows the reader to become fully immersed into not only the individual characters but their intertwining relationships as well.

Don’t expect this to be an action-packed sci-fi featuring aliens and time travel because it’s not. This story is full of beautifully descriptive scenes that focus on developing the relationships of the characters as they make their voyage on Democles to Terra-Two. In the process, we see alliances formed and dissolved, enemies turned to friends, and betrayal between friends. I really enjoyed the natural progression of the character drama because it makes the story even more realistic. If ten people were living in close proximity to one another for two decades, I think the character drama would probably be one of the more important aspects.  

I enjoyed learning the backstories for each of the crew members. Their stories played an integral role as to their purpose for joining the Terra-Two initiative as well as gave insight to their motivations once they were on board Democles.

The author does a fantastic job of kicking up the action towards the end of the book to jolt you out of the character drama that we had become accustomed to. I think the slow build of the plot made this ending even more exciting.  

Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for the advanced copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 stars