A Million Suns (Across the Universe) [Paperback]

I always worry about second books because they tend to fall into the trap of setting up for the final installment rather than being any good themselves. "A Million Suns" is not one of these books. It had me glued to the pages for hours (when really I should have been doing something far more productive) and I just couldn't put it down until my eyelids refused to stay open any longer.

This second installments kicks off shortly after the events of the first book where Amy and Elder are trapped on Godspeed with no idea when or if they'll ever reach the new planet, Centauri Earth. We see Amy struggle the most I think within this book to come to terms with the lose of her life on Sol-Earth. She is incredibly lonely and spends most of her time staring at her cryogenically frozen parents. Elder on the other hand has bigger fish to fry. The entire ship (now free of Phydus - the mind calming drug) is beginning to rebel. After all, they didn't ask for Elder to be their leader. There was democratic vote. They want choice. Elder spends almost all of the book fighting off this rebellion and trying to prove his right to be the Eldest (despite refusing to change his name).

What's really clever is that Revis has shown what a population of people are actually capable of when free from a drug like Phydus. The human race isn't displayed in the kindest of ways but I think she perfectly portrays what a little bit of free choice can bring out in people, good or bad. The ship therefore is much less safe then it was when Eldest was the leader. Infact, we see dozens of murders, dozens of betrayals and a refusal to do the general jobs on the ship. Which means not enough food, not enough resources and a lot of angry, hungry people (which of course is brilliant fun to read about!).

I was also very impressed with the portrayal of the characters this time around. I liked Elder and Amy in the first book but nothing really grabbed me about them. However, Revis really made them come alive for me this time. Amy in particular was depicted in an interesting way. I liked that she toyed with the idea of choice and love; she doesn't seem convinced that Elder really is the one for her like so many stereotypical female leads, but instead spends quite a portion of her narrative debating about whether she only likes him because she has no other choice or no other person her age to choose from. What's even more impressive is that she actually is shown to have the guts to actually vocalise this to Elder and for that I was truly impressed with her character and had a lot more interest in reading about her and seeing how things played out. Her debate seemed such a human response which I think is sometimes lacking in YA fiction where romance is concerned.

This book becomes more of a "find the truth, spot the clues" kind of book. Amy has been left a bunch of clues by Orion (the currently frozen bad guy on the ship) telling her that she must follow the clues to find the truth. And Wow. When she finds it you'll just be blown away. Along the way both Amy and Elder discover so much about the history of the ship, the true nature of the plague, the potential to get to the new planet and the real purpose of the mission. I loved the way Beth Revis introduced all of these new ideas by using clues and that we could try and figure it out ourselves too (I admit I failed miserably).

I couldn't have asked for a better read, it really is a fantastic series full of new ideas that I think are unique amongst YA fiction. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next installments after the shocking revelations of this book. I definitely recommend this book, the only fault I could give is that some of the plot twists (although only one or two) were a little predictable but the final revelations more than make up for that! Get yourself a copy, you won't be disappointed.

WOW!!! I can't put into word how good this book is. It's amazing. The ship is falling apart, People don't want elder to be eldest and refuse to do their job's and chaos breaks lose. And not to mention someone is going around killing people on board and leaving little messages like 'follow the leader'. This book is just...... WOW (I've said it before I know) but.... WOW, you're hooked from the first page and won't be able to put it down. I just loved this book and when you find who has been killing the passengers you're completely shock. Buy it!! it's just absolutely amazing!

Because so many trilogies stumble or completely fall apart in their second installment, I feel like one of the highest compliments I can pay to A Million Suns is to say that it is just as strong as Across the Universe. Because it is - fortunately for this series, there's plenty of rich story opportunities to be mined from life aboard a spaceship. A Million Suns sees Elder take on the position of leader of the Godspeed. He wants to do it differently from the previous ruler Eldest, i.e. honestly and democratically, which soon reveals a problem: If the people of Godspeed are allowed a choice of who should lead them, they might not choose him. A Million Suns works best when it's exploring questions, of whether it's better to lie to keep the peace, or tell the truth and invite chaos, what makes someone a good leader and are leaders even necessary at all?

A Millions Suns has more than enough going on to keep you hooked. The ending is....on the one hand, how cruel to end it there. But on the other, how perfectly Beth Revis has made sure you will be gasping for the next book. If the final installment keeps to this standard, Across the Universe will be one of my favourite YA series of all time.