Space Travel

Margaret Bechard – Spacer and Rat

Jack has lived his entire life on a space station.  He and the other Spacers look down on Earthies until he runs into Kit.  She is stranded on the station with an illegal sentient robot.  Jack decides to help Kit evade the bad guys determined to steal her robot.  This is a fun action adventure romp in outerspace.

 

Orson Scott Card – Ender series

Child genius Ender Wiggins is being trained in battle school to become the next great general in Earth’s 100-year war against the alien race, the Buggers.  Ender’s sadistic brother Peter, and beloved sister Valentine, also have special abilities since all three were part of experiments in genetic manipulation.  I put his series in this subgenre because battle school is in orbit.  There are an awful lot of Ender books.  I managed to read only 4 or 5 of them. 

Catherine Jinks – Living Hell

Plenty of life or death action packs this quick read.  A space ship is transformed into a living organism and the crew is seen as invaders.  Much like our white blood cells destroy invading germs, the ship is capable of destroying the perceived threat – humans.

 

Annette Curtis Klause – Alien Secrets

A combination of mystery and science fiction make this an engaging read.  I like this book especially because it is classic science fiction.  Give me a book with a spaceship or alien planet as the setting and it is a plus.  Puck is on a space ship traveling to meet her parents.  On board, she meets an alien who is involved in a mystery and is in danger.

 

Beth Revis – Across the Universe

An enormous spaceship designed to last for multiple generations sets out with colonists.  There are two groups of colonists.  One group is cryogenically frozen to be awakened with the destination is reached.  One group is to live and breed and die keeping the spaceship alive.  Amy is jolted awake when she is thawed out much too early, and faces an altered society.   I felth the sense of entrapment and claustrophobia aboard the ship and got caught up in this well-paced mystery thriller.  SciFi Dystopia. Planned trilogy. Excellent!

Amy Ryan – Glow

Two ships of colonists set out from Earth.  Kieran and Waverly are the first children born in deep space aboard the Empyrean.  They are destined to be together and to lead their generation.  But something is wrong aboard the New Horizon that set out a year before.  The New Horizon has been waiting for them . . . Great characters, action, heroism.  Cliff hanger ending.  More to come!  Anticipate huge demand for this one.