Starflight by Melissa Landers

 

A job and a new life await Solara Brooks on Vega, a newly terra-formed planet in the lawless outer realm. But first she has to get there. Which means indenturing herself in exchange for her passage. Too bad the only taker is Doran Spaulding, the handsome, entitled heir to the galaxy's largest fuel corporation...and the guy who made her life hell in school. 

When Doran threatens to renege on their deal and leave her stranded on some outpost, she stuns him, kidnaps him, and uses his money to gain passage on a rundown spaceship called the Banshee. This time he's her servant. 

Their journey gets even more complicated when Doran is framed and suddenly finds himself the galaxy's most wanted felon, while space pirates try to force Solara into an unwanted marriage for her mechanical skills. Solara and Doran must rely on each other, and on the eccentric crew of the Banshee, if they ever hope to win their freedom.

My thoughts:  Starflight is a rollicking YA science fiction adventure with lots of action and humor. There's an excellent twist towards the end, too. I had so much fun reading this one! It doesn't feel like a YA book full of teen angst and drama. The world-building is great and the characters are well-drawn. I really enjoyed how Solara and Doran start off as enemies, always sniping at each other, then gradually come to trust one another as friends...and more. Their relationship, and wanting to know what will happen between their two shipmates, Cassia and Kane, has me eager to read the sequel. 

Happy Reading!

Some science fiction fun...

Title & Author:  Wreckers by George Ellis

First line:  "I might not be the smartest guy in the galaxy, but I do know my way around the place. I also know my way around every kind of space ship in it."

Main character:  Denver Boyd is 19 and the captain of his own souped-up spaceship (which used to belong to his uncle); his 'crew' consists of a one-eyed cat named Pirate and Gary, the ship's annoying AI navigator. He's a talented mechanic, awful with a gun but good with his fists, likes beer and junk food, and is clever, sarcastic and funny.  

My thoughts:  This character-driven novel is a very entertaining and humorous science fiction adventure. Ellis's writing and voice is so good. And all the pop culture references in it made me laugh. Denver Boyd is a great character; I liked him immediately. As a wrecker, he mostly repairs and tows other spaceships for money, until he tangles first with the Federation and then with the Tracers' piratical leader. Now he's on the hunt for his missing brother while half the galaxy is hunting for him. I loved the action and humor in this book, as well as the other quirky characters Denver meets along the way. At just 287 pages, this one reads fast. It's very fun, and I really hope the author writes a sequel to it soon. 

Happy Reading!