Ian E Slatter

Set in the future, 200 18 year olds on a ship many many lightyears away from earth are all that remain of humanity. Sent off into space as embryos and raised by robots, they are nearing the end of their journey. But just days before they land Maya receives a series of mysterious videos that had been hidden on her Carebot, telling her that it was humans and not the sun that destroyed earth and that those who had organised the mission had hidden the truth about the diversity of humans. Chaos ensues as the inhabitants of the Renaissance 3 fall into two factions - those who believe the videos and want to learn more and those who see it as an act of sabotage to destroy the mission.

The book started off strong. I would love to know about the man in the prologue, for example. He seems interesting and I'd love to know how he fitted into is world. When the main story started, I enjoyed learning about the Maya and the ship (even though the worldbuilding was not detailed and I have questions. Particularly about the robots.). After the discovery, however things started falling apart a bit. I appreciate what the author was trying to convey, but I think it depicted an overly simplified view of reality. Yes, maybe it focussed on two people at the extremes, but I would have loved to have seen more of those who fit in the middle. While the short timeline may have helped to reach the (somewhat unexpected) conclusion, it made things feel a bit rushed. I think a more gradual build up of views, which could still have resulted in the kind of escalation we see, it would have provided a more realistic picture of how views change and unfold. y the end I was frustrated by both sides although I do think the way they talked past each other is a pretty accurate representation of how real world politics works. (Again, where were the robots? Why did no one step in at any point?) But everyone's strong insistences and attitudes was just frustrating and made everyone unlikable.

My complaints aside, this was a quick read. It managed to keep my attention and I did really enjoy the earlier parts. I just wish that there had been a bit more nuance when things started falling apart. If it interests you I'd still recommend you take a look! Just be aware that it focuses less on the ship part and more on political discourse/ drama/ extreme disagreements.… (more)

Started off good, and just got worse.
Maya- who is the main character of all this starts off great, I didn't really have any love or hate towards her when issues started happening.
Which basically made the book you either believe in the cause or you don't. Rather then having any emotions about the actual characters themselves.
Plus having all those teens on one ship and no one is fooling around or have broken any of the directives?
It was a very much all or nothing stance on this, goes from Maya showing her friend Milo the videos, to them then showing everyone on the ship without even knowing what the rest of the videos would be about.
Then it just became one side yelling at the other for many pages which really got tiring fast.
Not a book I'd recommend to anyone much.… (more)