feel the burn

In the Quick by Kate Hope Day

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: science fiction

Review: At an unspecified point in the probably-not-too-distant future, humanity has a solid start at space exploration, with bases on distant moons and regular liftoffs of supply rockets.  It looks a little different from what we might expect; for one thing, rocket launches take place somewhere that's very cold.  For another thing, the whole program seems to be organized around the protégées of Peter Reed, who invented a new kind of fuel cell that makes long-distance space exploration possible.  This fictional space program also seems a rather down-and-dirty affair, not the gleaming high-tech of NASA.

When the fuel cells on the first long-distance mission malfunction, though, all long-distance exploration is on the verge of being scrapped.  Everyone assumes the crew is dead, except for June Reed, Peter's niece, a young and difficult genius in her own right.  Only twelve at the time of the malfunction, she must bide her time training for space before she can set her plan to save the crew in motion.  It is six long years before she is assigned to the moon that was meant to the be the gateway for supply runs.  Here she is able to collaborate with one of her uncle's students, and together they try to reconfigure the fuel cell so that they can mount a rescue mission, and reopen deep space to humanity.

The harshness of space is not new to the science fiction reader.  In Kate Hope Day's hands, that harshness feels very immediate, as June trains for, and then tries to work in space.  Giving equal measure to the human and the science is the mark of the best science fiction, and Day is more than up to the challenge.  June is the only character to get full authorial treatment, but seeing the universe through June's eyes, and walking with her as she struggles to see her vision realized is a treat for the reader.  She's a character who won't soon be forgotten, and her dream is one to build on.

FTC Disclaimer: I recieved this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.