Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Offworld, reviewed



The first four people on Mars end up being the last four people on earth in Robin Parrish’s Offworld. On the way home from their successful mission to Mars, the crew of the Ares mission mysteriously lose contact with Earth two months out from their arrival. Barely surviving a harrowing re-entry, they are shocked to discover….nothing. Not one living thing, human or animal, at the entire Kennedy Space Center complex. Security footage shows that one second everyone was there…and the next they were gone.

What follows is a harrowing journey across country towards Houston, Texas, where satellite imagery shows an inexplicably bright light emanating from, something that must be connected to the disappearance of the whole world. And as the obstacles between them and their destination grow more treacherous, they soon realize they’re not as alone as they thought…

I liked this book. It’s an imaginative spin on the post-apocalypse genre, and it’s very quick paced and action-packed. It will also keep you guessing until the very end. The book has religious undertones but they are done with expert subtlety, it feels very organic to the story and never gets preachy. In fact there’s a line I particularly liked in the book that goes something along the lines of “Everywhere I look in the world I see poetry. And the thing about poetry…it doesn’t write itself.”

My one complaint is that that the four main astronaut characters seem flat. Can't put my finger on exactly why, they just seemed kinda bland. The book was a fun enough read I didn’t really care, but for some reason I just found them hard to get invested in.


Offworld isn’t a YA book but it’s an easy enough read that high schoolers should have no trouble with it. It’s available for Kindle and in paperback. 

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