Glow

Kieran and Waverly are two strong, admirable characters. Kieran is an amiable, good-looking boy while Waverly is a headstrong, independent girl. If the Empyrean hadn’t been attacked, they would have been two strong leaders for their generation. As it is, they must struggle to survive on their own with Waverly looking for opportunities to free the girls from the New Horizon and Kieran fighting to gain control over the boys on the Empyrean.

A fast-paced novel, Glow had me switching my sympathies constantly with its many, many twists and turns. The story is told alternatively from Kieran and Waverly’s perspectives, and as is bound to happen, the two form their respective opinions about the people around them. I found myself hating a show more person one minute and finding him or her decent the next. One problem that I’ve noticed with novels incorporating multiple points of view is the lack of sufficient details, but Amy doesn’t have this problem. You really get to know both Kieran and Waverly and the problems that they face.

For a YA novel, Glow is dark, very dark. I can’t count the number of times that I despaired over Kieran and Waverly’s situations. With every victory gained, a high price is paid, and even the ending left me wondering if the children will reach New Earth with their sanity intact… if they ever make it. Out of all the potential conclusions I came up with, I never saw the ending coming. If it weren’t for the alternating perspectives, I would have thought that the next problem for the children would be making it to New Earth by themselves. However, it seems as though they still have some issues to resolve before they get there….

Glow is a sci-fi/fantasy / adventure / dystopian novel that is not to be missed. Glow will be published on September 27th 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin, and I'm already anticipating the sequel! show less

Earth has become unlivable. Two ships are launched into space to locate and establish New Earth. Forty-three years into their journey, one of the ships, the Empyrean is attacked. Most of the adults on board are killed, the ship sabotaged, and the attackers have taken all the girls prisoner. The attackers: the Empyrean's sister ship, the New Horizon. Women on the New Horizon are unable to have children and their population has no way of replenishing, so in their desperation to survive as a people, they have come after the Empyrean girls.

The story follows Waverly Marshall and her boyfriend Kieran Alden. Waverly, now aboard the New Horizon faces off against the captain, Anne Mather who is also the ship's religious leader, who tries to show more convince the girls they rescued them from the Empyrean before it was destroyed. Waverly bravely fights and looks for a way to escape. Mather has ordered the eggs to be harvested from some of the girls and given to women of the New Horizon. The people of the New Horizon are blinded by faith in Mather and don't see the wrong in this. Kieran deals with mutiny aboard the Empyrean as he is thrust into a leadership position when the only adults left aboard are sick with radiation poisoning. Kieran struggles to maintain order aboard the Empyrean, while Waverly desperately tries to escape from the wrongs being committed on the New Horizon.

I was a little hesitant about the religious aspect of the book, but I ended up liking the story a lot! An exciting story with lots of twists and turns that leave you trying to figure out who is good and who is not. Interesting themes about the power of hope and how easily power can be abused. Waverly reminded me of Katniss from the Hunger Games as a strong female character who has been through a tragic ordeal. I enjoyed Waverly's storyline more than Kieran's, but I liked how the story was told from the two perspectives. Lots of unanswered questions at the end. Will definitely be looking for the sequel. Recommended for fans of dystopian stories. show less

I’m not quite sure how to rate this book so for now I’m going with 3 nebulous stars.

Glow is a futuristic SciFi thriller set deep in space where two colony spaceships, the New Horizon and the Empyrean, search for New Earth. These competing sister spaceships engage in a galactic battle against each other as they try to ensure their survival. Aboard the Empyrean, Waverly and Kieran are separated during this war and become tangled in a web of lies and deceit ultimately having them question who they can trust, including each other.

There were aspects of Glow that I really enjoyed, such as the SciFi element that I’ve recently realized I can be a huge fan of. I also liked the pacing of the story and the suspenseful scenes that never show more really felt drawn out. The whole galactic war theme can be pretty intense especially when Ryan infuses crafty twists and turns that leave the reader doubting which players in this battle they can trust.

However, there were elements of the story that had me wanting to jump ship. Is it just me or did anyone else feel claustrophobic when reading this book? The setting was so vivid that at times I actually felt closed in! I never got that feeling when I was reading Across the Universe, but with Glow it felt like the walls were caving in, which was frustrating at times but possibly intentional… who knows??

In addition, I have to point out that I felt the story became preachy towards the end. I didn’t like feeling that once I was drawn into the story, suddenly a hidden agenda was revealed. Whether it’s for or against cult type following and fanatical preaching, I’m not a fan of storytelling with hidden motives. I really didn’t care for that, but thankfully that was only towards the end of the book.

Lastly, the violence towards the girls and what the protag went through while captive on the New Horizon made me sick. I didn’t like how that was played out and once she was violated I felt removed from the story and didn’t really want to reengage fully after that. I’m just not a fan of that type of drama. (view spoiler)

Overall, I think Amy Kathleen Ryan had a good concept. With the exception of a few elements, I have to say I was entertained and drawn in. I think fans of AtU will find this a good series to check out. show less

This was an extremely interesting little story. Simply put, the Earth is in its final days with most of its resources spent and its life quickly running out. Two ships depart the dying planet and begin the long journey to New Earth, a distant planet that holds the promise of a new life. The ships carry with them a miniaturized version of the departed civilization, complete with the technology and resources to reestablish life as they have known it on this alien planet. It is expected, and indeed vital to their mission for the ship's people to procreate; these future generations necessary to keep their little world alive as the ship crosses unfathomable miles on a journey that will take more years than a lifetime to complete.

Two ships show more set out. One ship is alive with children, it's women fertile and the future of their people secured. The other ship houses a dying people, their women barren and unable to replenish the now aging population. Half way to New Earth, the second ship, their situation now dire, calls for a rendezvous with its sister ship...who refuses. In the midst of a distant nebula, its celestial whirlings rendering it undetectable and completely cut off from all other life, the barren ship lies in wait for the sister who refused to help...

We have several elements working in this story's favor. We have a sci-fi dystopia with breeder undertones thrown in for shock value- something you can never go wrong with. We have a strong, intelligent female lead, a male driven mutiny (that for some reason kept bringing to mind Ender's Game), and a nice little romance to tie them both together. An excellent mix and cast of characters- people to love and people to hate and an existence the likes of which one can only hope never comes to pass. While the hint of a love triangle tinges the romantic air in the story, it's not blatantly advertised in glowing, flashing neon. Ryan is giving us room to sweat and wonder. Good girl.

Now, the biggest shocker for me wasn't the religious undertones, because they were so apparent that they could hardly be considered to be hidden, nor were they so over the top that they smothered the story, but rather, and this is very hard for me to say- that they added to the story in ways that it would have been lacking without. If you've been with me for awhile you'll know that I DO NOT appreciate religion in my fantasy fiction, and yet, I saw the need in regards to this story. I enjoyed the inclusion. It made everything all the more vital, their cause all the more righteous and it opened the door for some vastly refreshing and unique heroes and villains.

I approve of this being a series (not all books warrant one) and I can't wait for the next book. Things are going to happen, not to mention the bigger picture- discovering a new planet and I'm ready for it. When might we have it Miz Amy? show less

An uncomfortable read, mashed on many ick points for me, including the Lord of the Flies segment, the odd gender divided plot, and several others. If I were religious I might also be bothered by some of the anti-religious viewpoints, although in truth I enjoy seeing this treated by SF, even if it's done as heavy-handedly as it is here.

There is also an uncomfortable tension between it being YA SF, which I have been trained to not expect much scientific rigour from (all those Heinlein juviniles on Mars and Venus, etc..), and it being a generation ship story, which is a SF framing that demands at least pretty plausible science -- otherwise why bother? And the scientific slipups are just so egregious here, including unexplained show more instantaneous communications, while also seemingly so easy to fix.

Worst of all, it may have sucked me into reading a sequel. show less

In the not too distant future Earth is becoming uninhabitable; its collapse is imminent. Two large ships and crews, the Empyrean and the New Horizon, leave earth on a voyage into deep space to colonize a new planet, New Earth. It will take many years and several generations to reach the new world.

On the Empyrean fifteen-year-old Waverly, one of the first of the new generation born in deep space, is an average teenager. The ship, a peaceful farming vessel, is the only world she knows. Her biggest problem is whether she should marry Kieran, a handsome young leader destined to be the next captain, or date others. But her life would soon change dramatically.

On the New Horizon, all is not well. The women of that ship are infertile and there show more is no next generation to carry on the mission to New Earth. In desperation the crew plan and carry out an attack on the Empyrean and kidnap the young girls with the intent of using them to repopulate their ship. The unsuspecting adults on the Emyprean are easily captured or killed as their world has only known peace for decades. Now the children must quickly mature and assume leadership roles.

This was a fast-paced, dystopian tale filled with timely and relevant topics that I found riveting to listen to. Fertility and religion were both addressed and presented well. There was romance, conflict and a love triangle. This is not hard scifi but more of what I would call space opera. We were in a new world but without a lot of the world building that often accompanies scifi, fantasy and dystopian novels. That did leave a lot of questions unanswered, and more than a bit of mystery to eventually be revealed, but that did not distract from my enjoyment or understanding of the story. On the contrary, it kept me listening.

The book is written in the third person and our narrators are Waverly and Kieran. A disadvantage of using third-person storytelling was that I couldn’t really feel what Waverly or Kieran were thinking. This was a story with a lot of emotion and first person would have worked to convey more of that to the reader or listener.

The audio production had two narrators, Ilyana Kadushin and Matthew Brown, neither of whom I had listened to before. Both did a nice job with the reading. It was easy to tell the difference between the adults and children’s voices and emotions such as anger and rage were clearly expressed.

Glow is the first book of the new series, Skychasers. The second book, Sparks, has an expected publication date of July 2012. I don’t read a lot of YA, but this series reminds me of the type of books I adored when I was a teen. I am looking forward to the next installment. show less

I received an advance copy of this book through Goodreads! Amy Kathleen Ryan takes young adult novels where few have previously tread- deep into outer space. The first book in her new series, Sky Chasers, Ryan offers her readers a look into a dog-eat-dog future of desperation, uncertainty, and just a little bit of faith and hope. Two young lovers traveling across the universe on the Empyrean, one of two space ships on a mission to revive the human race on a planet called "New Earth", are forced to grow up when thrown into violence and unimaginable danger at the hand of the captain of their sister ship, the New Horizon. Although written for a teenage audience, it's graphic and violent and features more adult themes such as duty to show more society, religious faith, bravery in the face of opposition, and questions the morality of advanced human fertility practices. While I saw the necessity of religion in the overall plot of the book, I did find it to be a little too preachy in a couple places.

By taking her characters out of the world we know and placing them into the fantastic unknown of deep space, Ryan had the opportunity to carve her own world out of uncharted territory. She fully took advantage of this situation and puts the reader directly into her own interpretation of life in a space ship- from the design and structure of the ship itself to the social structure, hive mind, and a level of desperation that we don't always get the chance to feel with our feet planted firmly on planet Earth.

I was very impressed by the level of passion in the characters' emotions. I felt equally as angry as Kieran for being held prisoner for crimes he feels he did not commit, and as hurt and devastated as Waverly, defiled and held against her will aboard a captive vessel. I found that Ryan's descriptive writing style, especially while conveying a character's deep inner feelings, ignited real emotion in myself- it actually felt like I was the one being wronged rather than simply reading about events in the life of a fictional person. I wanted to jump into the pages and deal out the justice the protagonists so badly wanted.

As in any other novel catering to a young adult audience, Glow is also a love story. Thankfully, it's a more realistic romance than other books of the genre. The author doesn't dwell as much on the blind romance of two teenagers, paying fair attention to the more pressing conflicts in the story. Waverly, a nearly 16-year old girl, maintains rational thinking and isn't blinded by her young love for her betrothed, Kieran. This balance reminds the reader that while there is a little romance, there are more critical issues at hand to be dealt with. I greatly appreciated the lack of mushy love scenes and professions of undying love, as those would naturally be absent in the situation these kids are thrown into, though it is by no means void of heart-felt moments of love and yearning.

I don't give five stars very often, but I feel this novel really deserves it. The end left me wanting more but, alas, I must wait. It's one of the best books I have read this year and I truly look forward to the release of its sequel! show less