At the end of the day (literally as well, since I mostly read in bed), ‘Playgound’ is not for the active reader, but more for the troubled youth who otherwise might feel indifferent about reading. Besides, I retired my teen bling long ago…

In lieu of ‘Playground,’ I read the biography of Steve Jobs. If you’d like to read my thoughts on that, just click my username.

A space-aged whodunit, Across the Universe tells the story of a boy, Elder, learning to become the successor of the leader of an interstellar spaceship, and a girl, Amy, accidentally unfrozen from her cryogenic sleep.

The spaceship Godspeed is on a centuries-long voyage to an Earth-like planet, dubbed Centauri-Earth. Her passengers exist in a peaceful Utopia, living their lives in a structured environment, unquestioning the faux reality around them.

The path of the characters in this novel, especially Elder, detour the day that Amy awakes from her frozen state. Her perspective, though hundreds of years-old, gives way to new thoughts and revelations in Elder, who begins to question the authority. The two rely on each other to get to bottom of who is responsible for her unplugging, as well as a series of murder and attempted cryo-murders.

I was surprised to find that this novel adopts the split perspective technique, alternating between the two primary characters as each chapter begins. The previous book I read as part of this giveaway, Future of Us, also used this format. Having never read a novel written in this fashion, it is very strange that I have now read 2 in a row utilizing this style.

While I found it difficult to identify with either character directly, one being a teenage girl who left a life on Earth behind, the other a teenage boy being groomed to lead a small pocket of humanity, I did find it easy to imagine their circumstances. I have an understanding of cryogenics (being a fan of Futurama, and Red Sox great Ted Williams) and space travel (Star Trek), and given the nature of man and the power that can be grasped, Across the Universe was a fairly interesting read.

Imagining an entire world within the confines of a ship, along with rules and reasons, has to be a difficult task when writing a book. The author Beth Revis did a wonderful job of painting a mental picture of this lifeboat in the stars. A great deal of suspense exists within the pages of Across the Universe, enough to keep the sci-fi reader wanting to find out what happens next. It is not as much of a love story as advertised, given the book jacket, however that was quickly resolved by reversing it, yielding a blueprint of Godspeed.

Across the Universe may not be a re-read for my book shelf, but I am generally happy with the amount of imagination I expelled in building this world. I would recommend this book to a late teen who is interested in science fiction.