The Lightyears Between Us
In Shannon K. English’s science fiction novel, rivals clash over duty and agency.
After wars leave Earth uninhabitable, humans survive aboard the Eden space station. There, Will, the daughter to a royal leader, goes to school and campaigns to ensure her father’s continued leadership. She also has immature battles of wits with a classmate, Paige, who, despite her own family’s influence, champions freedom for commoners and detests Will’s nobility. Will finds Paige irritating: She keeps up with Will in school while still having friends and a life outside of politics, which Will cannot. After the Eden‘s lottery makes them work partners, they’re forced to coexist.
The novel makes excellent use of its minimalistic settings aboard cramped spacecraft while exploring Will’s and Paige’s lives and Will’s inner perspective. Her status as royalty is engaging; she makes personal sacrifices to live up to her name. Paige’s story is involving, too: She cares for troubled friends with ailing families and nips at Will about her privilege and ego. Emotional highs land as Will’s softer side reveals itself: She is a lonesome teenager longing to belong.
Life on separate parts of the Eden, where people live as close to normalcy as their circumstances allow, is well detailed. People go to school, fall into social cliques, space race, and hold elections. Meanwhile, the lottery summons commoners to probe space for new frontiers every twenty-five years. Will and Paige become participants and bond on their mission. Their rivalry blossoms into friendship, surprising them both. When secrets are revealed about the lottery and the Eden, Will is driven to look toward a more fulfilling future. The finale is tantalizing, making room for sequels.
In the science fiction novel The Lightyears Between Us, relationships are formed beyond the bounds of social status.
Reviewed by
Brandon Pawlicki
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