Review: A Million Suns

A MILLION SUNS
Beth Revis
Razorbill

Warning: this review contains spoilers for the FIRST book in the Godspeed trilogy, Across The Universe.

With Elder as the new leader of Godspeed, things are different. He's determined to lead his people without the use of Phydus and to face the truth of what's wrong with Godspeed. This is, of course, more complex than it at first seems as it quickly becomes apparent that Godspeed's problems are deeper than he ever imagined and that, without Phydus or the firm leadership of Eldest, the society on Godspeed is falling apart. While some people are depressed, others still take their newfound freedom to new heights, demanding a change in leadership. Meanwhile, food supplies are dwindling and Amy's on her own quest to discover what lies at the end of the mysterious clues Orion left for her as well as struggling with her feelings for Elder.

I am so glad I kept reading this series. In my review of Across The Universe, I stated that it was a book I wanted to like so much more than I actually did, but that the world was complex and interesting enough to keep me interested in the sequel. As it turns out, I was right. A Million Suns is the rare sequel that actually surpasses the first book. It's complex, mysterious, interesting, and all the different plots are woven together so neatly. As in the first book, there's a series of murders, but there's also so much other stuff happening. Dwindling food supplies. Rebellious or depressed citizens. For Amy, there's the threat of Luthor (the man who attempted to rape her in the first book) around citizens of Godspeed who still regard her as a "freak." Elder has to contend with being thrust into a position of power at a young age, and must somehow gain control of the ship's population all while he tries to fix the numerous problems - most of them hidden from everyone else - that are happening. Elder and Amy's storylines fit together perfectly and while I still sometimes had some trouble differentiating between their voices, because everything else was so good it bothered me less this time.

Though I wasn't a fan of the reveal of the murderer near the end of this book (the scene felt a little overwrought to me), the ending itself was fantastic, with the different storylines coming together so nicely and a perfect set up for the last book in the trilogy. Having read this second book in the series I can say that I definitely recommend the Godspeed trilogy for anyone wanting a good, honest sci-fi series. Call it dystopian if you want, but this book (and series) is so solidly sci-fi and I love it for that.