GLOW (Sky Chasers) [Illustrated, Unabridged] [Paperback]

A science fiction novel for teenagers, but it's good enough to be enjoyed by older readers as well.

I would say the best reading age for the former is fifteen and up, since it's about characters who have just passed puberty. And there are some mild adult references and some rather dark things do happen.

It runs for three hundred and seven pages and is divided into five parts - which contain shorter chapters - plus an epilogue.

Also, it's the first book in a trilogy thus it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

The story starts onboard a spaceship called the Empyrean. One of two ships launched from a seemingly doomed Earth to colonise another world. Waverley and Kieran were the first two children born on the ship during it's long voyage. The two are now sixteen and on the verge of romantic commitment.

When trouble strikes, from their sister ship the New Horizon. As a result, both are thrust into terrifying and unfamiliar situations and have to fight for their lives and for the lives of all around them. And even if they can survive, things may never be the same.

Waverley and Kieran are the two viewpoint characters as well, and after the opening the story splits between them, each alternating part describing what is happening to one of them.

Waverley is a prisoner in unfamiliar territory along with other girls and has to fight adults who claim to have their best interests at heart in order to escape. Kieran and other boys find themselves having to save their ship. And disagreements among them have consequences.

This does do very well what I once heard described as being a great way of writing this kind of thing. Break your reader's heart. Both the two main characters are thus put into terrible situations and whilst you can really feel for them as a result you can't tear yourself away from the book because you're desperate to know if they will survive and pull through.

They also face the best kind of villains. Those who think they are doing the right thing and will do very bad things towards that aim.

Both the main character do develop an awful lot through the course of the story and the ending is pretty powerful because it makes it clear how things have changed for them as a result.

And it also makes you desperate to know what will happen next.

A strong start to what should be a very good trilogy. Looking forward to part two.

This story is set in space, about 50 years after two space ships launched from a dying Earth with colonists for 'New Earth'. Halfway into their journey, the most pressing thought on everyone's mind is keeping the human race going to avoid extinction and populate New Earth. Initial fertility problems have pressurized the issue so much that Waverly and Kieran, the oldest of the next generation at 15 and 16, are expected to marry and begin doing their part for humanity.

The plot unfolds with the introduction of the second ship's crew, who never fixed their fertility issues, and as such, have no children and no future. This is where the real drama sets in, and it happens early on in the book to create a real sense of pace. Waverly and Kieran become separated, and each has to deal with the consequences of being the eldest child in a society where, as children, they were doted on and never pushed too far.

I found elements of the plot similar to the end of Outside In by Maria V Snyder, and I think that this is actually a good complementary read. You are never quite sure who the "bad guy" is because everyone has a compelling story waiting to win you over. There are things which happen to both main characters that are disturbing and challenge them, and it is very interesting to see how they grow and adapt. I also enjoyed comparing how societies form and build themselves to maintain purpose, which was explored quite a bit here.

I did sit up late into the night to finish this book, in a single sitting, and I'll look forward to the sequel as there is a lot left to get from this concept. There were a couple of things which annoyed me about this book though: I was attracted by the title, but it has no relation to the events of the book which is just a little annoying, and finally, I became seriously irritated by the number of times "Waverly" was written. I knew who the passage was about, and it ended up feeling like the author loved the name so much she had to keep using it. It seemed to crop up every other sentence... its a small thing which perhaps other readers wouldn't notice, but like a dripping tap, if you do notice, it will probably annoy the heck out of you!!

Amazing first book in the Sky Chasers trilogy I can't wait for the second and as soon as I'm able to pre-order it I will definitely be doing so. I have managed to read three what I would call absolutely amazing teen novels this year and this book Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan is most definitely one of those three (the other two are Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini and Dearly Departed by Lia Habel). If I could have given this book more than 5 stars I would have and just to clarify I have no personal connection to the author or publishers etc whatsoever, I am a totally independent reviewer.

The story is set in the future in space where two ships The Empyrean and the New Horizon have set off from a crumbling and dying Earth in search of New Earth. The idea being that the crews from both ships will populate New Earth and save the human race. The New Horizon set off a year before The Empyrean and so should have been trillions of miles ahead yet has slowed down to allow The Empyrean to catch up with it and as the story starts the New Horizon is maintaining course next to The Empyrean. Both ships have their own orchards, fisheries and granaries and are in fact identical so the crew of the New Horizon should not have any reason to slow down to meet up with the Empyrean, so why have they? The answer is that the one thing that the New Horizon doesn't have on board is children whilst The Empyrean does.
On board The Empyrean are the stories main characters Waverly and Kieran who have been seeing each other for a while and Kieran has just proposed to Waverly. Straight away within the story the action starts as the crew of the New Horizon forcibly board The Empyrean. Whilst the adults are trying to defend their ship, the crew of the New Horizon whisks away The Empyrean's girls on a shuttle and take them away leaving the boys behind. Why would the other ship and their supposed allies attack them and why only take the girls and not a mixture of the girls and boys? Can the boys aboard The Empyrean save their damaged ship and the few adults left and can the girls ever get back home? Will Waverly and Kieran ever be together again?

This book had me absolutely hooked and I ended up reading it in under 24 hours from start to finish, I was so hooked that I ended up sitting up till 5.30am this morning finishing it as I couldn't put it down. Brilliant read I thoroughly enjoyed it and the sleep loss was definitely worth it!

....Update..... The next book in the Skychasers series - Spark is being released 17 July 2012, just pre-ordered it and can't wait to read it.