| Title: | Paradise 21 | |
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| Author: | Aubrie Dionne | |
| Publication Date: | August 2, 2011 | |
| Publisher's Description | Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.But Aries has other plans. When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price. The life of the man she loves. |
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| My rating: | **** | |
I was really impressed with this book. The premise drew me in, which I found surprising, since I don’t usually care too much for space operas. Aries was a fascinating lead character, one whose struggle for autonomy in her incredibly regimented life was easy to identify with. In the hands of a lesser author, Aries could have been a kind of Mary Sue, but Ms. Dionne managed to give Aries’s naivete resonance and keep her interesting regardless of the situation she was in. The world she inhabited was basically Space Communism, right down to the type of covert rule-breaking that was endemic to those who were in charge and above public scrutiny. I liked the way the book ended, with everybody set up to get more or less their just desserts, in a way that maybe not even they understood. I look forward to the next book in this series.
I highly recommend this book not only to science fiction fans, but also to people like me, who never thought that they’d be into science fiction, but are always up for a good story.
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