Paradise-1 by David Wellington

Alexandra Petrova screwed up. As punishment she's been tasked with a deep-space mission to check on Paradise-1, a colony her own mother relocated to less than a year ago. Along with a brilliant by troubled doctor, a snarky AI, and their pilot, the small crew is to travel to the planet to find out why there's been no recent contact from the colony.

Unfortunately for the crew, they're awakened from cryosleep only to find that they're under attack and the ship has been severely compromised. 

This is a chonker that clocks in at almost 700 pages, which obviously requires a bit of a commitment. But only a bit because this book moves FAST!

I've been reading Wellington for some time now. I love his Monster Island series, the Cheyenne Clark series, and the Laura Caxton series. So yeah, he's a bit of an auto-buy for me. And he certainly did not let me down with this latest. 

I will warn you, though, this is the first book in a trilogy...

I love the characters and their backstories. Petrova is a member of Firewatch, essentially the police. Her mother was their former head and the new person in charge definitely seems to hold it against Sasha. But it's nothing compared to the training instilled in her by her mother. So though she's not exactly happy about her new assignment, she knows fighting against it is futile. 

Zhang Lei has his own problems to worry about, not the least of which is the fact that he has a government ordered "babysitter" that injects him with drugs any time he gets a little too excited. But he has seen things that no one else can even comprehend. And, as mentioned above, he's undoubtedly brilliant. 

Sam Parker, the pilot of Artemis is an interesting part of the mix because he and Sasha have a past. And neither of them is exactly thrilled to be thrown together now. But they can both be professionals. Mostly. 

There are other side characters that make an appearance, including the ship's avatar. But my favorite character of the bunch is Rapscallion. He's a sentient robot tasked with being part of the mission. He's snarky as all get out but exactly what the crew needs for this mission in particular. 

I don't want to ruin anything but I'll add that this is an absolutely perfect read for fans of sci fi horror (which I adore), anyone who enjoyed Martha Wells's murderbot books, and James S. A. Corey's Expanse series!

Order a copy from Bookshop.org!