The Earth’s ecosystem isn’t dying—it’s almost dead.
The world bands together to launch humanity’s hope for a future, to the stars.
A single ship, eighty women, a trans man—and a sperm bank.
And then an explosion throws them off course and kills crew members they can’t afford to lose.
The Deep Sky is a new and intriguing entry in the sub-genre of humanity searching for a new home on a distant planet. Yume Kitasei skillfully interweaves the mystery of the explosion with the crew’s dynamics, their experience at the school created to train them, and the familiar interpersonal dynamics of a group of young people, compounded by intense competition to succeed and be selected.
Everything seems to go according to plan—until the explosion. No spoilers. I’ll leave you to read the book and find out just what the heck is going on.
The story moves between action on the ship, events and incidents at the school, and the main character’s backstory. The author handles these movements back and forth with adept skill—the reader always knows when and where the action is.
On board the ship, a rich emotional caldron of friendships, allies, enemies, and competitors that shift and change drives a thriller as the crew strives to reach their goal and stay alive. Layer on the main character, Asuka, dealing with her guilt for how she was chosen, knowing she was not quite Japanese enough, and the interpersonal dynamics of the crew are complex, to put it mildly.
One of the first features of the journey that struck me was the approach to re-populating the species in a new world. Head-on, Kitasei subtly shows that all you need is women to start. Often, these tales put a crew on board with both men and women, either in “cryosleep” or in a generation ship scenario. In The Deep Sky, the crew starts in hibernation but is awakened far enough in advance that they can begin populating the next generation. The on-board sperm bank ensures genetic diversity—what an intriguing method for producing a new society.
Another fascinating idea is the characters’ reliance on augmented reality throughout the book to view their domain—both on Earth and on the ship. It’s an “always on” situation. They view the world they want to see. Needless to say, it relieves the starkness of life on the ship. One wonders if we’re heading there.
These are just a couple of ideas that make the story not just thrilling as they search for the saboteur and the motive for the explosion, but fascinating as the reader is absorbed into the characters’ reality. The story is at once epic and personal as you meet the crew and become invested in their journey.
If you like high stakes, a mystery to solve, saving humanity, cool tech, dynamic interplay between characters, and a story of a fascinating main character, Asuka, finding her place and her destiny, you’ll love The Deep Sky.
Find The Deep Sky at—
https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Sky-Novel-Yume-Kitasei/dp/1250875331