Synopsis
The year is 2221, and humans have colonized an earthlike planet called Thetis in the Silver Foot Galaxy. After a tragic accident kills off dozens of teenage colonists, Thetis's leaders are desperate to repopulate. So the Mayflower 2, a state-of-the-art spaceship, sets off across the universe to bring 177 new recruits to the colony.
For Jonah Lincoln, an orphaned teen who's bounced between foster homes and spent time on the streets of Cleveland, the voyage is a chance to reinvent himself, to be strong and independent and brave the way he could never be on Earth. But his dreams go up in smoke when their ship crash-lands, killing half the passengers and leaving the rest stranded--not on Thetis, but on its cruel and unpeopled moon, Achilles.
Between its bloodthirsty alien life forms and its distance from their intended location, Achilles is far from an ideal resting place. The situation is already dire, but when all of the adults suddenly disappear, leaving the teenage passengers to fend for themselves, Jonah doubts they'll survive at all, much less reach Thetis. Especially when it appears Achilles isn't as uninhabited as they were led to believe.
 

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My Review
Achilles is the first book in a sci-fi trilogy by Greg Boose.

Set in the year 2221, Earth is basically being ravaged by war. However, scientists have discovered a wormhole in space, which lead them to the discovery of a new galaxy, complete with a habitable planet called Thetis.

The first attempt to populate Thetis goes horribly wrong, and the teenage colonists are killed in an accident. So the Mayflower 2 sets off for Thetis with a new set of teenagers and adults. Unfortunately for them, they don't quite reach Thetis. Instead, they crash land on Achilles, one of the moons of Thetis.

Achilles is not a friendly place to be, and the group has to try and figure out how they're going to get rescued and eventually get to Thetis. Too bad things don't goes as planned. Once the adults disappear, things get crazy.

I really quite enjoyed Achilles. It was fast paced and fun, with lots of crazy twists and turns. The characters were developed well, although there were some I would have liked to have fleshed out a little more.

Jonah, the main character, has had a hard life. Orphaned and put into foster care, he's had to learn to survive. Mostly because all of his foster families were craptastic. Seriously, they're awful. The mission to Thetis is a chance for him to start over and have a new life. But landing on Achilles only brings about more bad news for Jonah. Like, this kid just cannot win. At all.

There are other characters you'll find yourself liking and rooting for, too. Like Brooklyn and Vespa. I really liked those characters. Vespa was strong, determined, and smart. Brooklyn was kind of sassy, but also smart and kind.

Then you have characters you'll find yourself annoyed by. Hopper is one of them. As is Tunick. To be fair, though, Tunick has serious issues. There's a reason he's like that, but I won't spoil anything.

And then you have some characters who are sort of vague. You won't know if they're good and trustworthy, or if they're complete and utter trash. You'll just have to read through to discover their secrets and what type of person they really are.

The world building is really well done. I quite liked all the interesting flora and fauna found on Achilles. There's jungles, bodies of water... stuff like that. I suppose certain aspects of Achilles could have been described a little more thoroughly, but overall, I had a really good picture of what the moon was supposed to look like.

The plot chugs along at a decent pace, and there's enough going on to keep you, the reader, turning those pages, eager to find out how everything will play out. At least it was that way for me.

Like I said before, I really enjoyed Achilles, and I can't wait to read the second book in the series. Definitely looking forward to that one!

I give the book 4.5 stars. Highly recommend if you enjoy sci-fi similar to Lost (the TV show).

**Thanks to Diversion Books for sending me a ARC paperback copy to read and review**


Author Bio 


The fourth of six kids, Greg Boose grew up on a large produce farm in northeast Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree from Miami University, and then later received his M.F.A. at Minnesota State University Moorhead where he focused on screenwriting and fiction.

Greg is the former Los Angeles and Chicago Editor for BlackBook Magazine, and his work has appeared on/in many magazines and websites, popping up in culture and news publications like Chicago Public Radio, The Believer, The Huffington Post, Time Out Chicago, Chicago Reader, and NFL.com; writing silly shit for humor sites like McSweeney's, Cracked.com, Yankee Pot Roast, Monkeybicycle, The Nervous Breakdown, Feathertale, and Opium; and working hard on writing TV pilots, humor shorts, and plays. His one-act play "Everybody Else's Fault" was performed by Bakersfield Community Theater in 2010, but he was too broke to travel and see it live.

When he’s not writing or reading, he enjoys skateboarding, boxing, tennis, following the Cleveland Browns and Cavaliers, collecting turtle skulls, and testing to see if people read everything closely.

He lives in Santa Monica with his two young daughters.


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