- I received this from TOR Teen – apparently it’s been optioned for a motion picture!
I also recommend:
- Across the Universe by Beth Revis
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Summary from GoodReads:
The classic YA science fiction adventure by Nebula and Locus Award–winning author Pamela Sargent The ship hurtles through space. Deep within its core, it carries the seed of humankind. Launched by the people of a dying Earth over a century ago, its mission is to find a habitable world for the children—fifteen-year-old Zoheret and her shipmates—whom it has created from its genetic banks.
To Zoheret and her shipmates, Ship has been mother, father, and loving teacher, preparing them for their biggest challenge: to survive on their own, on an uninhabited planet, without Ship’s protection. Now that day is almost upon them…but are they ready to leave Ship? Ship devises a test. And suddenly, instincts that have been latent for over a hundred years take over. Zoheret watches as friends become strangers—and enemies. Can Zoheret and her companions overcome the biggest obstacle to the survival of the human race—themselves?
My Review:
To be honest, when I first looked up Earthseed by Pamela Sargent on GoodReads I choked a little bit with laughter seeing it’s original, 1983 cover. It was cheesy, embarrassing, and frankly everything I remember reading when I was 10 years old in the 80′s.
Thankfully, the edition I received from TOR Teen featured an updated cover and, after reading a few reviews, I dove into the story with hope.
After just a few pages I was immediately reminded of Beth Revis’ Across the Universe – which was not a bad thing, just made me remember the hope I had to see more sci-fi leaning Young Adult fiction out there and less paranormal-romance.
Earthseed gave me just about everything I look for in a sci-fi-”lite” book. It wasn’t too filled with technical terms that I had to struggle to figure out what was going on, in fact almost immediately I knew exactly what was happening, between the sentient Ship and the children. What I had an issue with, however, was the blatant type-casting of both races and disabilities. Since this book was written in the early 80′s I think it’s safe to say that Pamela Sargent was definitely not aware of what we are today. So if you want to read this book, keep in mind the year it was published – not that it gives Sargent an excuse (and I’m rather surprised that TOR Teen editors did not tweak it a bit), just that it was written nearly 30 years ago.
Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!
