Later, we find out that her mother had also gone to Paradise-1. Trying to live up to her mother’s expectations is what got Alexandra into Firewatch in the first place, and what eventually led to her downfall were her attempts to quell rumors of nepotism.

In essence, their complex relationship is key to everything that happens. From the beginning, Paradise-1 presented a captivating study of Alexandra Petrova, who has spent her life living in the shadow of her mother, a woman both revered and reviled. What could be affecting the human colonists on Paradise-1 as well as their onboard AI, making both behave in such an erratic, hostile manner? And in the meantime, the crew still has to figure out how to survive the relentless attack from the hostile ship.įirst, the good: Character development was superb. They also learn that their ship’s AI is corrupted and trying to reboot itself in an endless loop, while communications sent to the colony are going unanswered, leading to a desperate race against time to find out why. Zhang, and Parker are literally shaken out of their pods, waking up to almost complete destruction. Joining them is also an artificial intelligence in a fabricated body named Rapscallion who will be overseeing ship functions and life support while the humans are placed in cryosleep for the long journey.Īs their ship makes its final approach on Paradise-1, however, they are ambushed by a mysterious vessel. Zhang Lei, a socially awkward researcher who is haunted by his past, and Sam Parker, the ship’s pilot and a former lover of Alexandra’s. On the day of her departure, she discovers that the vessel transporting her only has two other human passengers-Dr. When the mission ends in disaster, she is unceremoniously exiled to Paradise-1, a nascent colony on a distant planet.

Alexandra Petrova of the Firewatch is first introduced when the story opens on Ganymede, where we find her in pursuit of a dangerous serial killer.

The premise was definitely more to my liking, but the book also suffered from some of the same issues as well as uneven pacing.ĭespite the urgency implied by the publisher description, the story also does not in fact begin under such harrowing circumstances. On the one hand, I liked it better than his last book I read, The Last Astronaut. I’m of two minds about Paradise-1 by David Wellington. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own. I received a review copy from the publisher. Book Review: Paradise-1 by David Wellington

The Last Astronaut by David Wellington