Satellite by Nick Lake

I loved this book.  It is science fiction on the edge of becoming reality.  Limited space travel and space stations are here and it is just a matter of time before we go further into space.  This book addresses a very real issue, can humans survive being born in space/weightlessness and then could they ever transition to gravity.  It's something I have pondered many times before reading this story, 

From the moment I put my hands on it, I couldn't help but open the front cover and start reading, even though I already had three books on the go. 

Leo, Orion and Libra were all born on a space station orbiting earth.  Scientists determined that they would need to live there until they had physically matured enough to tolerate the forces of a trip to the earth.  Now as they all approached sixteen years old, it was deemed time for that trip.  As the calendar approached the day, plans were made and reviewed and reviewed once again.  The three kids knew what they wanted to experience once they reached the ground, after all, they had watched movies and news shows and figured they knew what to expect and what they had been missing.  It would be perfect, well, other than foreshadowing that said of course it wouldn't be.

That's all I can tell you without spoiling any plot lines.  Each time I figured out some plot line, a twist would develop and I'd be re-calculating what could happen next.  The cast of characters was great, I couldn't figure out who were being honest and who had hidden agendas.  Other than Leo's grandpa, he was excellent.  The perfect grandfather that all kids would want in their corner.  The bond between Leo and his grandfather felt so real, reminding me of my bond with my grandmother.  I'm sure author Nick Lake could write an entire book about grandpa's earlier exploits.  Leo's mother was an enigma to me.  How could she behave as she did, or was it an act of self-preservation. 

You don't need to know a lot about science and space to enjoy this novel.  It's more about the kids and their expectations versus their reality and how they and those around them deal with it.  How much control do the kids really have in their lives.  If you enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir, you'll enjoy Satellite.


I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music Inc., in exchange for an honest review.

Cover image courtesy Penguin Random House Canada.

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